Another parliamentary term has ended and the men and women we elected in 2011 are no longer MSPs.

Some are stepping down, some are pretty much guaranteed to return and others have an almighty fight on their hands.

Holyrood shut down on Wednesday and after a bit too much end of term back slapping and self-congratulating the politicians now get down to the serious business of getting re-elected.

Quite why we needed an MSP, Stuart McMillan, to ceremonially pipe the entire Parliament out of the chamber I do not know.

It was a little taste of the Westminster pomp Holyrood was supposed to avoid.

For the next forty one days the candidates and their campaign teams will be out in force, there will be no escaping them.

They will be in our town and city centres, in our streets, on our doorsteps, on our televisions and radio and in our newspapers.

They will be through our letterboxes, on our phones and in our computers through e-mail, twitter and facebook.

They will be relentless in pursuit of your vote, telling you why their party is the best and why with the others the sky will fall in.

While they want to tell us what they want you to hear this period is also the perfect opportunity for us to tell them a thing or two.

These next forty one days is their job interview and you are The Boss. This is our chance to tell them what we want from them, what is expected of them, what is acceptable and what is not.

Whatever bugs you about society and what action you want, whether it concerns poverty, education, health, crime or job opportunities this is the time to let them know.

Given half a chance the politicians will dominate the debate, set the agenda, tell you what you should be thinking and why.

It is an enormous privilege and great responsibility to represent your fellow citizens in parliament.

It should the toughest of all interviews and individual candidates should be put under intense scrutiny by the voters before they are elected and should not be allowed to ride anonymously into parliament on the coattails of their party leaders or on the back of a party label.

Let’s get to know who our individual candidates are and ensure they are deserving of our vote.

Because to be honest, while many were had working, honest people looking to improve the lives of their constituents, too many over the last five years were quite simply in the wrong job.