Black Friday: Is the Hype worth it?

Roads at a standstill, fighting in public, police everywhere..no this is not Armageddon, it’s just Black Friday.

American past times and Holiday hype have been creeping their way across the pond for years. As a child, Halloween costumes were whatever my mum could make from a bin bag, paper and good old PVA glue, these days costumes and decorations are more elaborate than Strictly Come Dancing and trick or treating is big business! Just like the increased hype and excitement that comes for children getting free sweets and chocolate, the adult version is establishing itself on English soil also. Discount TVs and bargain clothes are the trick or treat of the adult calendar and the name is Black Friday. It is the Thanksgiving version of the Boxing Day Sales but are you getting a bargain or are you being conned into buying more than you actually need?

We have all seen the pictures of various shops throughout the country with queues a mile long and staff struggling to keep hordes of people at bay. I completely understand that the idea of making a saving is appetising, but a five hour queue, a broken nose and a broken TV with no refunds to boot, hardly seems worth it. It is the panic to have a bargain now that fuels our desire on days like today. Recruitment too can be like that. Often needs are urgent, locum by its nature is fast moving, however being forced to take a candidate who is not perfect because they are available now, is not the way we work. At Temporis we will talk to you about your role, be led by you, and won’t try push you to make a rash decision. After all, you can’t get back the wasted hours from taking the wrong candidate.

I was always taught as a child that there is no such thing as a free ride, or in this case a free tablet! I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for. I haven’t seen Louis Vuitton advertising their Black Friday sales, or Apple clearing out their stock, and there is a reason. People will always pay for quality. The same is true of an excellent locum. An excellent locum is worth its weight in Gold! They can sort out a mess, cover and make-up numbers or just be an extra pair of hands at a busy time. So it is not more prudent to pay for quality, and not scrimp by trying to get a bargain. The last thing you would want is someone who creates more work and hassle. Sometimes a bargain just highlights what things are actually worth. The old saying “buy cheap, buy twice” has never been more apt. Pay for quality and don’t waste time doing the same job twice.

So a little message to all you bargain hunters out there “It is quality not quantity that matters” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca