"The Mentor Search"

Finding guidance in your organisation.

Something happened in a client meeting recently that perfectly illustrates what most people get wrong about the mentor search. We were discussing a candidate they’d rejected, and the reasons they gave told me everything.

If your job search feels scattered, Job Search Strategy can help you build a clearer plan and stop applying blindly.

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.

Need personalised help with this?

I have spent 15 years on the hiring side of the table. I have interviewed thousands of candidates and seen exactly what works and what does not. Book a session and I will give you direct, honest advice based on your specific situation.