Everyone enjoys a good story, whether it’s a blockbuster film, a classic novel or even just a recount of a bizarre incident from over the weekend. As human beings we cannot resist a good story and the classic formula for a good story is that it has a beginning, a middle and an end. It seems rather redundant to be honest, of course stories have beginnings, middles and ends but the question really is: are they the right beginnings, middles and ends?

Valuable advice to writers is that if you have a strong beginning and a strong end then the middle will work out itself anyway and on thinking about this and our current situation at Cullen Scholefield, I believe this advice is more than true for starting and ending a job.

We have three accounts from our current bright, young things here at Cullen Scholefield who are each perfect representatives for the beginning, middle and end of their careers.

Rob at the starting line

In the beginning, there was the first impression. This holds true all too often in life, but is particularly the case when starting a job somewhere new. Put your best foot forward and you’re less likely to get tripped up by pitfalls of working life that can instead be turned to your advantage. Come prepared and try to view any challenge you may face as an opportunity – admittedly sometimes easier said than done!

In my case, I can’t quite claim to be in the above position as I’ve had the advantage of having already had a taster of Cullen Scholefield life thanks to the Haywards Heath & District Business Association internship scheme earlier this year – the pitfalls, quirks and opportunities stemming from the business did not come as surprises.

However, in the working world, first impressions may also not be quite as simple as they seem. In fact, you’re almost certain to have made yours prior to even setting foot in the office on your first day, or for your interview. It may be a truism, but something as small as an overlooked typo in your CV can be key.

Keeping this in mind and keeping your motivations and desires in your role clearly defined and above board will set you on a smooth path into, or out of a career. And this is something that happens more than you might expect – depending upon which statistics you choose to believe, the average person will change jobs between 6 and 15 times in their lifetime. Speaking for myself, I’m not quite there yet, but it’s something I won’t forget!

Eleanor in the middle

As of Tuesday I have been with Cullen Scholefield for 3 months! It feels longer and shorter at the same time but I feel I have just about stepped out of the beginning phase and entered the long and fruitful middle! This makes me wonder, how do we define the middle of our career? It can’t be a halfway point as we don’t know when the end will come and it can’t strictly be defined by a number of days and months and years. So when is it? For me, as with previous jobs, it is when I finally feel at home in my position and this always comes about unexpectedly when I am able to tell someone where something is. Such a small thing knowing the location of a random item but for me it is a significant moment in any role. For example, my first job was in my village shop which sold everything from sweets and toys to gardening tools and fish food, I thought I would never know where everything was but one Sunday afternoon the poor naïve new guy asked me where to find radiator keys and I instinctively knew. In fact I still know where they are…  For me, this is how I know I am no longer new but simply one of the team.

I think when one leaves behind the persona of the ‘new guy’ they worry they have lost a kind of safety blanket. There is plenty of advice for starting a new job and leaving an old one but what about when you’re in the middle? The most common worry is that you’ll get stuck in a rut or simply lose interest once there’s nothing new to learn.

Well my advice, based on my short career history, is to treat everything as new. Cliché, yes but it works for me. I am in the process of finishing my first project here at Cullen Scholefield and I am excited that the next one is already in the works. It can be tough to maintain a consistent level of excitement but we get from our jobs what we put in and if we do our part then they will surprise us. My first job at my little village shop surprised me on my very last day when I found out that not only did we sell dog beer but that dog beer exists in the world. Who knew?

Hollie saying goodbye

In my last 2 years at Cullen Scholefield I have learnt an awful lot from Maureen and Carol as well as my colleagues and our candidates. Maureen has always maintained that “bright young things have to eventually spread their wings and move on.” I can’t thank her and the team enough for being so supportive.

It’s always good to leave a job on good terms and I have been extremely lucky here. Unfortunately not all endings are happy ones. I saw recently a facebook post from an employee who happened to forget that she was facebook friends with her employer. The ‘friendship’ seemed to come to a rather abrupt end.

This example highlights to me how important it is to maintain good working relationships with colleagues while you work with them but also after you’ve gone too!  The old saying goes that you ‘can’t cross bridges that you’ve burned’ and this is so true in the working world.  While it might be nice to tell a mean boss where to put it or to tell an employee what you really think about their last project, it is important to remember that you may need them in the future.  An old manager is hardly going to swoop to the rescue should you fall on hard times or an old employee use the company as a supplier in the future if your parting gift was insulting or negative.

To be sure to make your ending a happy one remember to:

• Tell your manager first.  It’s exciting news and can be difficult to keep quiet among your friends but let your manager know first to help keep down office gossip that may reach them before you do.

• Give reasons.  Money isn’t the only factor and managers like to know why you’ve chosen to move because they like to share your success too!

• Give plenty of notice.  When I told someone that I had asked for time off to go for an interview their reaction was “You’re mad, why would you tell them you’re going?  You don’t know if you’ll get it.”  Honesty is often the best policy and they’ll thank you for being so open.

• Leave a handover.  Doing this will not only ensure that any new member of staff will be able to adapt quickly but it also shows professionalism and that you value the company.

And finally, remember that exit interviews aren’t necessarily the place to air all grievances.  It’s a good place for constructive feedback not for insulting your manager or the organization.

Perhaps there is one other note to make on the subject of saying goodbye and that is to keep in touch.  I hope to hear from my colleagues, candidates and friends here soon!

So this is our little Cullen Scholefield story from beginning, middle to end! We will say goodbye to Hollie on the 25^th October but will we really mean it? She may have finished her chapter as a Cullen Scholefield employee and candidate but perhaps she’ll appear in a sequel as a Cullen Scholefield client? We wish her the best of luck in her new role and she will be sorely missed but we are excited for the future as always.

We look forward to seeing Hollie and our other candidate who have completed their CIPD and ILM programmes this year at our annual awards Ceremony on the 13^th December at the Holiday Inn, Oxford Circus.

And finally, we have the pleasure of announcing the winners of our summer competition from our “Are you a cobbler or a cobbler’s child?” blog. Our favourite three will be sent bottles of Ridgeview next week. The winners are:

• Edwina Kenny for: “The HR Specialist who hides under the keyboard when the door opens.”

• Helen Parsons for: “The Learning and Development Manager whose only solution is to go on a course.”

• Debby Lloyd for: “The HR or People Director who hasn’t read this year’s business plan.”

Congratulations to you all and thank you to everybody who entered.