Recruiters, which Star Wars character is your boss? Part 3: The Bumbler

Its fair to say that our industry attracts its fair share of sociopaths.  Most of us are nice folk; even tempered and well adjusted.  But then there are those amongst us who, to put it kindly, aren’t quite as balanced.  And sometimes those individuals are actually quite good at recruitment.  And one of the interesting traits of recruitment is that, regardless of which side of the sociopath line people sit, if they are good at recruiting they often get promoted into management roles. 

So how do we categorise them?  Star Wars of course.  Although we like to think of ourselves as cheeky smugglers, starry-eyed farm boys or quick witted princesses, we also have to accept that many who hold positions of authority within our industry are in fact Sith Lords, Hutt Gangsters or riddle talking small green things (metaphorically speaking).  So which of these Star Wars character most resembles your recruitment manager?  Over the last 2 weeks we have discussed The Motivator and The Manipulator.  This week we look at the recruitment archetype known as The Bumbler.

The Bumbler

There are some characters in both cinema and in recruitment who should be likeable and amiable and yet are, for some reason, so loathsome that you wish their head would get sucked into the engines of a pod racer.  For a case in point, take The Bumbler. 

The Bumbler is a manager who’s incompetence is matched only by their inexplicable good luck.  You can see no reason why they have survived this long and yet they have not only survived, they have in fact thrived and, galling though it is to admit it, they outrank you and you find yourself having to answer to them.

They have reached the heights of management through their association with others.  Maybe they were given great accounts, maybe they recruited in the right industry at the right time or maybe they got rescued by Liam Neeson during an oddly boring planetary invasion, but whatever the reason for their rise to prominence, rise they do. Watching them is like watching a slowly crashing movie franchise.  They bumble into things without apparent cohesive thought, jumping from one ill-advised strategy to the next, their actions spelling certain doom for the organisation if it weren’t for those around them picking up the pieces. 

They hire haphazardly and nominate dangerously unsuitable people into positions of power.  They are influenced by almost everyone around them and continually second guess their own decisions. But for whatever reason they get moved up the ladder (maybe somebody at Director level likes them) and before you know it The Bumbler is suddenly in control of your Gungan army/recruitment career. 

What to do

Get out now.  The Bumbler may tone down their bumblyness as time goes on but they are still, and always will be, The Bumbler. They will always, literally or figuratively, drop a spanner into everything they touch.  Your career will forever be held back and tarnished by their bumblings. 

And god are they annoying whenever they talk. Next week we talk about the The Dodmatist. 

Sounding familiar? Time for a change? 

If you work for someone who resembles The Bumbler why not check out our vacancies here  or get in contact with me for a confidential chat. [email protected] 

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Or find out what it would be like to work for The Recruitment Company here