So I’ve started to write this and I already have the theme song in my head: “I want to be the very best that no one ever was. To catch them is my great task, to train them is my cause…”
So, it’s very easy to see how being a Pokémon trainer and a Recruitment Consultant can have similar traits. From the theme song we can see that as recruiters we all would like to be the very best and become the top biller with our clients and in the industry as well. Finding a top candidate or CV is like catching an ultimate Pokémon and placing them in their dream job is our cause. Now, with a recruitment outlook on the theme song, I can see how being a Pokémon trainer and recruitment consultant have similar traits.
So how does Pokémon Go relate to recruitment?!
As recruiters we make it our duty to find only the best candidates for our clients, be it if we have to meet them at a local diner during a lunch break or go on the hunt after hours, we won’t sleep till we get that superstar candidate. But with any Pokémon hunt, you end up having to go through a lot of weaker Pokémon to find your Pikachu. Once you find that Pikachu, the reward is so worth the afterhours hunt and Poke balls (or missed calls in this case) used to get him.
Rattata’s and Zubats!
As you would of guessed, Pokémon GO is a revolutionary game and has already taken most of our social time along with data charges and battery life. We are stuck with Rattata and Zubats – which are excellent Pokémon to have but either one of these would suffice. We want the legendary ones, the Charizards and Pikachu’s of the Poke world. There are some strong candidates out there but how many of them are your B and C grade candidates, that although they are great candidates, they aren’t necessarily the strongest ones out there. This is vital for recruiters to keep the hunt going and to ensure they catch the strongest & most rare Pokémon.
Gym Battles
In Pokémon GO, if you have the strongest Pokémon and battle a gym, you can get control of that gym. Getting in with you clients is vital to you placing with your superstar candidates with them. If your opponent has a Rattata in with your client and you send through a Charizard, one can only guess what the outcome would be.
Charizard would get the Gym, therefore you blow the opponents out of the water, (sorry Squirtle – for us nerds, he is a water Pokémon). Always ensure that when you take on a job spec and dealing with a client that you send through the strongest and rarest of candidates. If this means hours of hunting and missed poke balls the end result is definitely worth it.
Only difference is that at least when hunting a candidate you’re not running around on the road or breaking into people’s back yards to get the candidate, which means less embarrassment and hopefully not a criminal record for trying to catch the Bulbasaur in your neighbor’s yard.
All in all, it’s all about the hunt. So that’s my cue as I think I just saw a Pokémon across the road.
Happy hunting, Recruiters.
By Matthew Neethling, Recruitment Consultant at Pro Appointments
