About four weeks ago (Sept 2018) I bumped into Milan Lad. He was standing outside Cannon Street station handing out CVs. “I’m looking for a job in Investment Banking. Can you help?” he asked as people walked past. He was smart & well-spoken and, most importantly, was clearly getting off his backside to make something happen.
We’re always on the lookout for interns, so I stopped and took a copy of his neat, one-sided CV and went on to my meeting. We aren’t the right company for Milan, but I reflected on how I might be able to help and decided to put a photo of his CV on LinkedIn.
39,000 views and 254 likes later, Milan has a job.
I got a message from Milan yesterday.
“Hey Andy! I’ve been very busy recently! I’ve had interviews with several firms such as Merrill Lynch, Trade Link, Santander, Sparta Global to name a few! People have called me for telephone interviews, recruiters have put me in touch with people they know of or with any jobs they’re advertising! I’ve had an offer from BigBank [I removed their name] for their consultancy business analyst programme, which I have accepted! I start work on 1st October. And I cannot wait.”
So, what’s the story here? There are a few things I could explore:
- The reward Milan has had for being creative, determined and brave?
- The way the LinkedIn community, and Bankers in particular, recognised Milan’s spirit? I particularly like the ‘Views by Company’ stats: EY certainly some way ahead, then Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citi and PwC were the companies who viewed the CV the most.
- The ‘Shares to Views’ conversion rate being almost exactly as expected? (LinkedIn statisticians tell us that typically one ‘share’ will result in 145 views)
- The staggering stat that nearly 600 CEOs read the CV?
But I think the story here is far simpler and not at all profound. The fact is that when we make a small effort to give others a hand, it can make a disproportionate difference to others. It isn’t always as visible or conclusive as it has been for Milan, but rest assured it matters.
And what did I get out of it? I’m delighted for Milan, reassured about our business community and generally enthused by the invisible humanity that exists everywhere, but which rarely grabs the headlines.