# Top 3 takeaways from Stuart

- **Episode:** [196](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/196.md) (2025-05-13)
- **Type:** news-roundup
- **Tags:** takeaways, advice, career
- **Time:** 29:39–32:11 (start 1779s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/196?t=1779](https://truthliesandwork.com/196?t=1779)

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[29:39] Al Elliott: Absolutely. So Just quickly then, the top 3 things we're taking away from Stuart's story. Leanne, what are they?
[29:43] Leanne Elliott: Number 1, just talk to people. Communicate. If someone's putting the time and effort into applying for a role, the bare minimum is acknowledging that. You know, if you can give them feedback, candidates know that you are entitled legally in the UK under the Freedom of Information Act to request any information gathered on you during an interview process. So, if people are refusing to give you feedback, you do have a chance to get it. Employers, answer their questions, show them that you're actually interested in them joining the organisation. Um, and 2, just make the process human. And I know I use that word a lot recently, but you know, that company who asks for a 2-minute video instead of some epic application form, um, you know, at least they're doing something different. They're looking to actually meet the person behind the form. Um, you know, show us who you are. And don't just make us jump through all the hoops
[30:37] Al Elliott: Yeah. And they got back to him within 19 minutes. I mean, that's, that's not normal. And I don't understand why it shouldn't be normal because that's, if you've got a sales lead for someone that we're talking about hiring someone who's £60,000, £70,000 a year, it's a big investment. It's imagine if a customer came to you and said, I want to give you 60 grand. And then you, you, you took 4 weeks to go back to them and say, are you still interested in that? Just wouldn't happen
[31:01] Leanne Elliott: Yeah, and I think finally, it's look at potential, not just past experience. And this is a big theme in Adam Grant's book, Hidden Potential, which is brilliant. So, rather than kind of the generic, tell me about yourself questions, you want to be looking at either competency-based questions or situational-based questions, which is basically when you say, tell me about a time when you did X. So, it does open the door to somebody who's not just kind of repeating the same experience you're looking for, but has got the potential to really Um, excel in that job
[31:33] Al Elliott: So remember, if you are job hunting right now, Stuart says how a company treats you during the process is exactly how they'll treat you once you're inside
[31:41] Leanne Elliott: Yep, and if they ghost you, mess you around, or give you the ick, for lack of a better word, um, it's probably not a one-off. It's probably the culture. Believe it, move on
[31:49] Al Elliott: So if you're hiring, take a good hard look at your processes from the candidate's point of view. Like Stuart said, it's a window into your soul, which was quite beautiful. Uh, depending— I think it was Nietzsche originally said that about the eyes, but Uh, well, we'll give Stuart a break on this one. Um, you can find Stuart on LinkedIn, just search for Stuart Mace. He's the one with the green heart emoji. And if you're building a health and wellbeing team, maybe think about having a chat with him. He seems to know what he's doing. Decent guy