"The Phone Screen"

After fifteen years in recruitment, you’d think nothing would surprise me anymore. But last month, a situation came up that reminded me why I keep writing these articles.

What I’ve noticed over the years is that people dramatically underestimate the human element in hiring. They prepare answers and polish CVs but forget that on the other side of the table is a person with their own pressures, biases, and bad days.

That interviewer who seemed uninterested? Maybe they just found out they’re being restructured. That hiring manager who went silent? Maybe their budget got cut. That HR person who asked strange questions? Maybe they’re following a template they didn’t design and don’t believe in.

This doesn’t excuse poor behaviour, but it explains it. And when you can explain something, you can work with it. You stop getting angry and start getting strategic.

The best candidates I work with have this quality. They’re prepared, yes. Qualified, certainly. But more than that, they’re perceptive. They read rooms. They adapt. They meet people where they are.

My advice? Stop focusing solely on the technical aspects of job hunting and start paying attention to the human dynamics. Yes, your CV matters. Yes, your skills matter. But so does your ability to read situations, build rapport, and navigate uncertainty.

These are learnable skills. Every awkward interview, every confusing rejection, every drawn-out process – they’re all teaching you something if you’re paying attention. The question is whether you’re learning or just complaining.

I’ve seen people transform their career trajectory by simply becoming more aware. Not by getting new qualifications or gaining more experience, but by understanding how the world they’re operating in actually works.

That’s the edge that separates people who get stuck from people who move forward.