16 January 2013

Bogan's Rant - with Michael McShane - The Dump Run

Dear fellow Australians,

There are some people in your life who are going to make you wish you had diplomatic immunity for the crime you're about to commit. Not the least of which are your in-laws or Telstra call centre worker. Oh, or the neighbour that sings religious songs until the small hours of the morning. Or the guy that lets his dog take a dump on your lawn twice a week. The Australians who don't appreciate a good lamb chop.

When you are moved to a postal worker rage by these unavoidable irritants I say… "Suck it up Princess!!!" It's part of life, deal with it. I can give you a bandaid for your imaginary wound, but you know... I'm lazy. Were you waiting for some helpful advice? Here it is.

Who are the people in your life who give you the sh*ts that you choose to deal with? And why!? Life is too short to be miserable.

Last week I had a phone call from a loyal client, I'd go as far as calling them a friend. He had a problem arise where an agency had done the wrong thing by both the company and the candidate they were representing. I won't go into too much detail, but to say it was unethical would be apt. When Mr client called to sort the problem out, the agency had a go at him. Are you serious??

So I'm sharing my commiserations about some pretty lousy service and Mr client drops some vital information. He gave the agency another role to work on! Why work with somebody who give you the sh*ts?

Next day I have a phone call from a candidate whose resume had ended up in the hands of a client they would never choose to work for. No notice, they hadn't given permission. They received a phone call from the client to attend an interview. They then spent 15 embarrassing minutes trying to explain that they never applied in the first place. So they called the agency with the intention of complaining.

Great, progress in the right direction! Nope. No such luck. The candidate makes no move to stop the agency from forwarding their CV and 1 week to the day later his CV ends up in the hands of another company that does not meet his ideals or even his vague preferences.

He admitted that he was angry and the company had given him the sh*ts but still chose to deal with them. And still I have no answer to my question. WHY!?!

In life there are so many situations and relationships that you have very little control over. Why not exercise control over the ones thatarewithin your control. If a relationship no longer serves you then let it go. Put it in the Ute and take it the dump. You'll feel a lot better and so will I.

You know it makes sense.

I'm not Sam Kekovich. But I am Bogan McShane.