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I was recently asked to interview a candidate who we are entertaining to join firstPRO. Business continues to be brisk, so adding talent to make us better and drive productivity is a sensible concept, though interviewing for new talent anytime is always a smart idea.

This same candidate enjoyed a productive career, along with year over year successes. The candidate’s business colleagues had positive things to say about the candidate’s ability and skills. However, I was surprised to learn that the candidate did not have a resume. Despite the fact this candidate had an impressive business pedigree and sales acumen, the candidate has never needed a resume over their career for the positions for which they were hired.

When it comes to something like interviewing candidates for our companies, we tend to rely on resumes. It is standard practice. A comfortable expectation. But a candidate, interviewing for a role with firstPRO, and not having a resume, left me uncomfortable. How could I interview someone without a resume? To what could I compare their qualifications? These, and other questions, flooded my mind before the interview. It threw me off my normally comfortable game plan.

The concept of getting comfortable while feeling uncomfortable is not a new concept. My experience serves as a reminder to be that we need to go outside our comfort zones sometimes to learn something new. Often, we find reasons not to do something. I read once that ‘fear kills more dreams than failure ever will.’ Change is difficult. However, it is in changing that we learn and experience new opportunities. To make change happen in our lives, we need to push ourselves to change.

In the case of my candidate review and recent interview experience, I sought opinion. Was I wrong to feel uncomfortable? And how could I make myself more comfortable with the situation I faced? Simply put, by being open-minded and plugging forward, I found interviewing a candidate, who did not have a resume, to be a positive experience. In fact, I ended up enjoying the conversation. Yet, I never would have excelled unless I pushed myself to try. Think about it these two relatable ways.

We go on a diet. Diets stink. But we remind ourselves of the end goal and keep eating salads and rice cakes.

We start working out. Working out is boring. However, we remind ourselves we want to look nice at the pool-side this summer, so we run another lap and do that extra squat.

The more we repeat a new activity, the better we become at it. Confidence fuels our appetite to be better. And who does not want to be better at whatever it is they do?

So, get comfortable being uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable can generate comforting returns.



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