Articles From the Team
I'll do it tomorrow
At some point in our personal professional lives we have all been guilty of some form of procrastination. Outside of work I am sorry to admit that I am very lazy. I’m not a slob, I’m not slovenly and I’m definitely not a couch potato, I just take life at a very relaxed pace which then manifests itself in laziness. My sister once said if I won an award for laziness I’d probably send someone else to pick it up for me. It’s actually really hard to be lazy and it requires a phenomenal amount of effort to not get out of bed or move from the couch. It’s usually hunger that motivates me to move and I happen to really enjoy cooking (and eating) so once I’m up I tend to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I’m also very keen on hiking and rock climbing so with enough forward planning I quite often find myself back home in the peak district trekking a valley or attempting to sheer a cliff. Actually, I’m beginning to sound quite active aren’t I? The point it, we all have moments of laziness and some more than others. The problem is, “procrastination is opportunity’s assassin.” – Victor Kiam (American entrepreneur and the owner to the New England Patriots 1988-1991).
I’ve signed up to do a 10 kilometre obstacle course in September. It’s called the X-Runner Wild Warrior Run. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? I am terrified! Myself and three friends have decided to enter as a team called RunGishiRun... Of the four of us I am most definitely the least qualified to run a 10k, let alone a 10k obstacle course! Mike and Shevi are both seasoned marathon runners and Sam is a gymnast. So, in order to not let my comrades down I decided to join a gym and hire a personal trainer to get in shape for this venture. In the last three months I have been to the gym twice and completely forgotten my trainer’s name. This is nothing but laziness! Why do I keep putting it off? Surely the less I prepare the worse the outcome will be? I’m going to make an utter fool of myself and probably collapse in a heap if I make it to the end of the course, bringing embarrassment to myself and personal shame in letting my friends and team mates down. This is unacceptable! I promise I will start exercising again tomorrow! However, to quote Benjamin Franklin, “don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”
Relating this all to my professional life as a legal recruiter, I struggle to understand procrastination. I struggle to understand why a candidate looking for a new job wouldn’t provide an updated CV as soon as possible. I struggle to understand why, when invited to interview, a candidate might then take several days or weeks to let me know their availability. These are the frustrations I face as a legal recruiter and these are the frustrations I try to overcome on a daily basis so that I make sure that you (the candidate and the client) are provided with the best possible solution. These frustrations can often have a reasonable explanation, of course we’re all busy and we all have commitments outside of work as well, but; if it is simply procrastination then you have to ask yourself, what does this opportunity mean to me? If I put this off until tomorrow, what could go wrong? The short and simple answer is you could miss out on this opportunity to another applicant. It is my job to manage expectations in the best way possible so I will always be honest; if you need to move a little bit faster I will tell you and if I think you are wasting time, I will tell you.
Making a career change can be scary and the entire process from writing your CV to interviewing can be rather daunting. The task of writing or updating a CV can seem irksome and there’s sometimes a little voice in your head that says “you’ve had a long day, do it tomorrow.” But tomorrow becomes the next day, the next day becomes the next week, the next week becomes the next month and so on. If you are serious about making a career change then I implore you, please, do not procrastinate! Pick up the phone and give us a call. There are a wealth of opportunities available to you and we will even help you write your CV.
For more information please contact Gishan Abeyratne or visit our website BCL Legal.