"The Ax", job seeking on the big screen!
Last week I went to see a provocative film whose subject concerns all those who work in human resources, recruitment, executive search and those who have ever lost their job or who could potentially lose it tomorrow.
The film is entitled “The Ax” starring José Garcia, a French actor more well-known for his comical and burlesque films…here, we find him in more of a serious role. He plays an ordinary character, a senior executive whose job was axed and has been seeking work for two years. One day, he tips over the edge and runs amok eliminating his “competitors.” In other words, he murders candidates with an identical profile to his own who could be competition for him in an eventual selection process. Quite radical as a strategy but effective by the end of the film! However, this is of course strictly not advised J
Beyond the intrigue, the scenario, the plot (excellent), the actors and the heart-stopping atmosphere, we can reflect on our job as a recruiter and on the way we treat candidates. The 
interview scene is so realistic (for those who have ever found themselves in this situation). The candidate looking for a job, stressed, exhausted from weeks of unsuccessful searching finds himself in front of the recruiter who is cold, insensitive to his situation and lacking in empathy. The visibly over-qualified candidate asks himself again why they have asked him to attend but he goes along with it as he is ready to accept a lower position just to get back in the game (isn’t it reasonable after all?). The interview only lasts several minutes and then he finds himself outside with the infamous phrase “We’ll be in touch.”
What we can take from this story is that job searching past 45 is arduous. Respect for individuals should always take precedent. The recruiter is there to evaluate and find the best candidate, of course it’s all part of the game. They should nevertheless show some empathy. They could also sometimes take risks. Why are unemployed candidates always considered inferior? Why offer them a lower salary under the pretext that they need the job and are therefore in less of a position to negotiate? Why make them wait longer in the reception? Why not take the time to get back to them following an interview? I know that not all recruiters behave like this but to think that our colleagues are specialized in career transition yet the reputation of recruiters precedes them, now that is a shame.
Go and see the film and say to yourself “That could happen to me, tomorrow I could find myself unemployed and at the mercy of newspaper ads and job boards and at the mercy of recruiters sitting in the comfort of their armchair in the process of analyzing me from head to toe!”