What to do with all that negativity?

I recently spent an afternoon at a local Chuck E. Cheese arcade. I love playing the Whack-a-Mole game. You take these little plastic bats and whack the moles on the head. Just as soon as you hit one of the little moles, two more pop up.

This game reminds me of candidates who have unresolved issues lurking under the surface. You may think you are a positive person. You imagine that you have dealt with all the emotional issues from your previous job. But all it takes are a few pointed questions during an interview for an old mole to rear its ugly head.
As a recruiter I can always tell when I have touched a nerve with a candidate. Questions about how they have resolved conflict in the past, constructive feedback they have received, or what they liked best about their last manager will often reveal any unresolved emotions.

We cannot push our problems down and hope they won’t come back up. They will keep popping up when we least expect it until we take the time to actually work through them in a healthy manner.

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