Walked into a cafe yesterday to meet my Candidate “John”. Saw a guy sat on his own, and approached. “Morning! John?” “Yes, I’m John!” said John. I pulled up a chair and energetically entered into the obligatory small talk about the Melbourne weather. He responded eagerly. Even going as far as to tell me what the weather forecast was looking like for the back end of the week. Small talk over, I then started formally introducing myself, and gave him my pitch about being a 25 year Marketer who has now transitioned into marketing recruitment. “That’s amazing” said John. “Good on you!” he added for good measure. “Tell me about you, John” and he continued to tell me that he’d grown up in London, and moved to Stafford when he was young. He’d then followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, who had been a teacher. He was in full flow when he told me his eldest daughter had recently moved to Melbourne to broaden her horizons, and he and his second wife were thoroughly enjoying their holiday here in Australia. It was then - in that horrific moment - that I realised that this John was not MY John. I didn’t want to interrupt his little story, so I let him keep talking about the sights that he’d been particularly enjoyed whilst visiting Victoria, including The Great Ocean Road. I smiled, and just kept nodding, thinking “How the f#ck do I get out of this? And where the hell is MY John?” Eventually, after approximately 12 minutes of small talk about the weather, his daughter, his sightseeing adventures, and even a snippet on why his first marriage failed, I drummed up the courage to explain to John that there’d been a small mistake. He looked disappointed, and even a little bit sad as I made my very quick and very embarrassed escape. My “John” was sitting about 4 tables away. And he looked annoyed that I was 12 minutes late. From now on, I’m going to ask all my candidates to carry a single carnation to make sure this never, EVER happens again! Please tell me I’m not the only person this has happened to? 😆🤣😂 Marketing Mix Recruitment - The Marketer who became a marketing recruiter.

My sons just learnt their first lessons in “work equals reward”, and “influencing”. I was invited out to dinner by my boys (aged 9 and 13) on Friday night. “Mum, it’s on us”, they maturely declared, courtesy of three “best on ground” sports vouchers that had been proudly pegged on our fridge for the past 6 months, gathering dust! Burgers were on the boys (after Mum had to sweet talk the restaurant manager to honour one of the vouchers that had expired by just 10 days. Will (the little one) never doubted me on that front - “Mum, just smile. People like it when you smile at them”… 😆) Hopefully this sows the sesame seeds of a good work ethic equalling reward, the impact of a smile as a negotiation tool, and most importantly, looking after their Mum! Marketing Mix Recruitment - The Marketer who became THE Marketing Recruiter.