Page 185 - James Caan - Get the Job you Really Want

before they make their final decision and the opportunity has
disappeared? Ask, ‘Could you talk me through your recruitment
process? Is it typically a two-interview or a three-interview
process? How long would that process take? And when would
you like the ideal candidate to start?’

Responding to redundancy

If you have recently been made redundant, the question of
perseverance and resilience is doubly important. I have inter-
viewed many, many people who have been made redundant,
and I find, more often than not, that one of the reasons they

are finding it tough to get another job is that the job function
they used to carry out is now much harder to find. I always
recommend that before anybody dives into the job market they

analyse how the job function they previously filled is performing
within that particular industry in general. If you were working
in the music business as the sales manager responsible for CD
sales, there won’t be many vacancies for CD sales executives
any more. That part of the industry is dying. The job function

is disappearing.
Take a calm, considered look at your former job. Did it disap-
pear because the company was performing badly, because the

industry was going through a tough period, or because the job
function is now outdated? The world evolves, and we have to
adapt. Take retailing. Not that long ago, if you were a retailer
with a hundred stores, you would automatically plan to grow

173 perseverance