Pester Esther

Q. I’m applying for an HR job at a publishing house, and want to write my covering letter in verse. Good idea or bad idea?

A. It could be good or bad – depending on how competent you are at writing verse. However, I love to see an individual stand out and this is often difficult to achieve with just a CV and a covering letter.

What type of publishing house is it? You could possibly tailor your verse to the style of its publications.

I’d research the publishing house first and then try some sample verses out on trusted friends. Just to check if they’ll get me noticed, or just laughed at.

I also think it depends on the HR role you’re applying for. How senior is it? It’s probably not so great an idea if you’re looking to be its next HRD.

Anyway, good luck. And if you do fail at the HR role they might at least take you on as a poet.

Q. Our recruitment manager has done one good campaign, and at least twenty lousy ones. Trouble is, she’s marketing the good one so hard everyone thinks she’s great when she’s not. How can I bring her down to size?

A. ‘Bring her down to size’ is quite strong language. Why would you want to bring someone down to size anyway – that’s not very collaborative or supportive, is it?

Is it just your opinion that she’s lousy at her job and that the previous twenty campaigns were no good? How do you know this? It sounds to me like you’re possibly a little bit jealous of the attention she’s getting from her self-promotion. This would suggest the issue is potentially more with you than with her.

I agree it can be a bitter pill to swallow when someone takes all the glory over just one campaign. But if people think she’s great because of it, then she must have done an effective job at recruiting for the needs of the business.

Is your real issue her behaviour? Maybe you could say something to her in a light-hearted way – if the campaign is quite old, suggest that it’s time she moved on to the next one.

Generally though, I suggest you rise above it and really reflect on why you’re feeling this way about her. You can change the way you behave and feel at anytime: the choice is yours.

About the author

Esther O'Halloran

Esther runs an independent HR Consultancy offering business-savvy commercial skills, practical solutions and insights to senior leaders and HR teams. She has been Managing Director at Paul, and worked as an HR practitioner for organisations such as Jigsaw, EAT, Pret a Manger and SpaceNK. Esther is a Fellow Member of the CIPD and enjoys Extreme Baking in her spare time.