Dr. Jekyll, Mr.... Tech Support??

A vast majority of my blog has been dedicated to candidate advice. I figured amongst the cold blasts of snow, a lighthearted candidate story or two would be appropriate.

#1 – The Cold Shoulder
I was working on a Technical Support role for a company in Boston. I had a lengthy phone discussion with said candidate, for sanity’s sake we shall call him “Bob.” Bob seems interested in the role, I explain the need to meet with him prior, etc. Shortly thereafter, I receive a few emails and a phone call from “Bob” asking a multitude of very pointed questions. We discuss them and hang up. Again, another phone call, and now a sound of frustration in his voice concerned about the location, etc. We discuss it, all is fine and dandy. He arrives for our in-person with a gift for me beautifully presented in a lovely piece of wrapping paper with a bow. He promptly gives me the gift explaining that he is very apologetic for being “difficult” over the last couple of days. I have him meet with the account manager for the client, we are in agreement that he feels like a strong fit, and he leaves – everyone feeling confident. Two days later, I get a very angry email from “Bob” demanding why we had not yet set up an interview. I explain to him that the client typically takes a few days and that as I had mentioned prior, they will do a phone screen first. He become more irate, demands an in-person within the week, or else – withdraw his resume. I assure him that I will check in with the manager and go from there. Angry email number three brings the demand “Remove my resume – I have lost all faith.” I inform the manager, the next day – they request an interview. J Long story short, I discuss the interview with him and after several phone calls we realize that he simply shouldn’t be interviewing with the client. His reason for being so sporadically angry you ask? He had been unemployed for two months and was simply tired of the process.

#2 – The Voicemail Bandit
Candidate who we shall call “John” was an out of state candidate for a mainframe position at a client in Pennsylvania. We discuss the position, he understands that they require an in-person interview after a phone screen and even exclaims with glee that he has family in the area so it would be a great trip to make. Sure enough, the client expresses interest in an in-person and the light-switch flips. The candidate refuses to attend an in-person and begins leaving fanatical messages on the company voicemail box for me and for the OWNER OF THE COMPANY. The kicker – the messages are so long that John repeatedly runs out of tape. On several of these messages, he discusses topics such as “how difficult it is to land an airplane” and my ever favorite message he left for my boss discussing that he must not be able to hire sales people because an in-person shouldn’t be necessary for someone of his caliber. My all time favorite “My wife told me that I am sounding a little crazy on these messages however…..” Long story short – he eventually stopped calling after approximately 8+ messages that were 10-15 minutes in length each.

I’m beginning to think that psychological profiles may be included in my interviewing protocol. Anyone else have stories to share?

Where is MY tall, dark, and handsome???

The executive team meets – an agreement is reached. The job description is written, then passed on and edited, and revised, and reviewed, and edited to include the typical “works well with others” sections – and TADA. You have your typical job description.

I often liken job descriptions to personal ads just as I have likened recruiting to matchmaking. My consultants usually chuckle when I give them the following analogy:

“Job descriptions are like personal adds. If you’re looking for a wife or husband or soul mate, you put EVERYTHING down that would make someone perfect for you. For the ladies – tall, dark, handsome, successful, a great cook, loves kids, athletic, protective, great sense of humor, loves the theater and opera. However, when push comes to shove, we’ll relinquish a few once we meet our next-to-perfect. Maybe he’s shorter than we had hoped or not a world renowned chef and maybe.. just maybe.. he’s balding. It’s the same with companies and job descriptions – they will often relinquish a few must haves to get their next-to-perfect. Because lets face it – it’s very few and far between that Goldilocks strikes our lives and gives us that – just right.”

They giggle, and think back to a personal ad they’ve read or potentially written. And the lightbulb goes off – maybe I have a shot.

Putting this down makes me wonder – how often are we discounting candidates because they’re not “just right” instead helping them understand they could be “next-to-perfect?” Are we working with our candidates to help them sell themselves or simply doing those key word searches hoping with our fingers crossed to find our elusive Goldilocks?