Empathy for the employer
9 May 2018
As you sit down to start writing a job application, start there, with empathy.
That employer, that panel member, that recruiter is looking for something in your application and it is not your skills, your experience, your qualifications, or your knowledge (Well, they are, but at least not initially).
First up they want to get a sense that you care about them and what their needs are. And the rub is, that a lot of the time, their needs don’t have much to do with the job. Their needs are more personal.
Depending upon the context and the individual involved some wants in the back of their head might be:
- To feel excited by the prospect of your new ideas
- To know you will be useful to them and their career (this turns out to be a big one)
- To feel safe about the decision they are making
- To feel their colleagues are going to approve of their recruitment decisions
- To know you believe what they believe
- To trust you will challenge them or be a foil for their gaps
- For a friend on their side in a hostile team
- For someone they can mentor who will respect them
- For someone they can set and forget
- To get blind obedience
- To feel hopeful about your potential
- To..........................[fill in the blank]
The more you empathise with and understand the needs of your potential employer the more you can weave hooks into your application that reassure them you will meet their needs.
So, before you sit down to write a job application, connect with the employer. Have a real conversation, and take time to get into their skin, into their shoes, and to see the world from their direction. Then make a list. List what they might be scared of, what they might be hopeful about, what others might be expecting of them, what pressures they might be experiencing, what change they need, what change they don’t need…
Bring empathy to your job application, because even though they pretend it is about you, really it is about them.
As always wishing you a flourishing career.
Katherine