Congrats!
You found the one. After matching and mismatching with a few frogs, you found your prince(ss)! Contrary to what some agencies/people may think, this is where the real work starts. As everyone that has had a long term relationship knows, you have to put in effort every step of the way.
By asking for the advice of experts (my colleagues), I gathered the following tips!
- Communicate: keep talking. Be honest, transparent and dare to talk about the things that are weighing on you. Even if things get heated, it’s better to fight every once in a while than to leave things unsaid.
- Be an individual: Focus on your own needs. You need to feel comfortable with yourself, your values, needs and what motivates you. Then see how you can incorporate them within your relationship. By knowing and loving yourself you’ll be a much better partner in any relationship.
- Set your goals: what do you want in life and your career, how are you going to move toward that goal and how will that fit within the relationship? Is the other party willing to work with you? Are your goals similar or compatible? A great vibe just isn’t enough. You might have a great click with your Sales Manager but if it is actually your lifelong dream to be a pastry chef, then may be time to breakup…
- Respect: You can do all of the above, but without mutual respect it won’t make a difference. Make sure to see and hear one another. Applaud and appreciate the other’s strengths and accomplishments, and help and support their attention points.
- It’s a two way street: you can try as hard as you want but if your new employee stops showing up and checking in, it just won’t work.
Now it’s natural that some relationships might come to an end, people change and grow over time and so will their skills and needs. The relationship can evolve with them or end, which is okay!
At this point there is a different relationship worth maintaining, the one with your recruiter! Over the years M18 has had several candidates that keep checking in and give us a call after a breakup. These people trust that we will try our best to find their next perfect match, the current champion has won 3 jobs over the last 20 years!
As mentioned above, some relationships evolve, as does our relationship with some candidates. Several turn into clients, thereby changing the dynamics and keeping things interesting!