One of the first lessons I was taught when joining the world of recruitment is that you will hear 100 no’s before you hear a yes.

Before lockdown started, I had had my fair share of no’s – just like everyone else in my team! Some of them harder to take than others, but the ability to bounce back and continue my job was made easier being surrounded by a team of like minded people, advising, motivating and encouraging me to get back to it.

Then lockdown happened.

The team went virtual, teleconference software was on the rise and everyone adapted to the new reality of daily video chats, messages and phone calls to keep in touch and the momentum going. However, with the lack of human interaction, I had to find other ways to ride out these ‘no’s’, build my resilience and bounce back.

Within Barrington James, the lockdown has shown that our business can continue to progress in a ‘Work from Home’ environment and like everyone, we’ve adapted the best we can to our new norm but it was clear that there were three main factors which were being used daily by the ‘top billers’ to maintain their resilience, when they couldn’t be surrounded by their teams;

1. Things happen out of our control – they know that bad things happen and that it is part of life and the job that they do. It does not mean they welcome it in, but they are aware of it and this enables them to not to feel discriminated against when the tough times come and they just need to jump back on the horse (or in our case, get back on the phone).

2. Attention – resilient people are good at choosing where they focus their attention. They habitually concentrate their efforts on what they can change and accept the things that they cannot. This is a vital and very learn able skill for anyone who is looking to get into recruitment (and succeed) or is looking to change their attitude towards it. They are able to see the good in a situation and act on it.

3. Help or Harm? Resilient people will constantly ask themselves ‘Is this helping or harming me?’ A question which can become a very powerful tool in recruitment. Is the way that you’re acting helping or harming your value in the eyes of a client? Is that phone call helping or harming your relationship with a candidate? Is that one last beer on a Thursday night helping or harming your productivity on Friday?

So have I needed to be more resilient during lockdown? Basically no! Resilience is a vital trait required to succeed in recruitment and now with the lockdown restrictions lifting and our office getting back to the buzz and culture that we all know and love, we are looking to expand our team. If you want to find out how our team had back-to-back record breaking months throughout this lockdown period using these three simple tools, then contact me