By Todd Rogers
In late March or early April, I received an email from a high-caliber equipment service technician. I had cold-called this guy about a year ago and at that time he just wasn’t interested in talking about other jobs. But, he agreed to hang on to my contact information and get back in touch with me if things changed. That’s pretty much how it goes in cold-recruiting: timing is everything and for this guy, it just wasn’t time for him to talk about a job change.
It was frustrating back then because according to LinkedIn this guy has “mad-skills,” the kind that we were really looking for. So, you can imagine that I was pleasantly surprised to hear back from him and that he was now ready to talk about a possible job change. Spoiler-alert: This story does not have a happy ending and the unfortunate outcome is the purpose of this piece.
For this story, I’ll refer to this individual as “Jerry” (which is not the person’s real name). Jerry and I schedule a 30-minute call for the day after he emailed me. During the call, I collected the basic information about him and answered the questions that he had. As I typically do, I suggested to Jerry that he wait a few days and think over whether or not he was ready for a job change. If he was ready, I would schedule interviews. If he wasn’t, no problem … best wishes.
So, we set up an in-person interview with a hiring manager, which according to both parties went well. The hiring manager asked me to set up a second interview for Jerry, which I also did. That too, went well. The hiring manager got the good feedback and instructed me to set up a third interview, which I did. This too, went well. Jerry took time to participate in three interviews over an extended period of time and the prospect of a new job looked more promising after each one.
The following day, I received an email from the hiring manager stating that he was not going to fill the job he had open and asked me to thank Jerry for his time. It was now up to me to call Jerry and tell him that there was no longer a job but that we were very appreciative for him taking the time to interview with us. I knew that this call was not going to be pleasant. If you’ve jumped through several hoops only to have the process summarily end for no apparent reason, you know what I’m talking about. Making calls like this one are among a recruiter’s least favorite.
Jerry and I spoke for about five minutes. He took it as well as one would expect from a professional. He certainly wasn’t pleased for staying with us for three interviews only to have the prize taken off the table. And, speaking from experience, I doubt that Jerry will ever come to work for us. Additionally, there is another easily overlooked risk when things like this happen: the very real possibility that Jerry would probably have unflattering things to say about us if someone were to ask him. It is very true that word-of-mouth “advertising” can work against you just as easily as it can work for you.
There is absolutely nothing that I could have done to affect the business circumstances that brought about the job being cancelled. It was just simply out of my hands. The part for which I am responsible is the process to get someone to that job-seeker finish line. It’s a balancing act between the employer’s interests in properly vetting a future colleague and the candidate’s willingness to participate in the vetting process. The candidate is in it because he either doesn’t like his current circumstances or he perceives working at your company as sufficiently better. Note that for a candidate, the process of interviewing is a lot of extra work as well as dealing with the risk of your current employer finding out that you’re interviewing.
It’s stressful. But, if the interviewing candidate is told what to expect and if the experience matches what he was told, he is likely to endure the rigors of the process with the appearance of professional enthusiasm. Unfortunately, in the example I’ve provided, the process was compounded by the fact that interview stakeholders insisted on extending the vetting process beyond what was told to the interviewing candidate. The result was frustration and fatigue, which ultimately lead to disappointment. So, in the future, when I attempt to reconnect with this person, I’m probably not going to be very warmly received, if he even takes my call.
The lesson herein is directed mostly to hiring managers and interview stakeholders: agree to an interview and selection process that has clearly defined steps. Articulate and explicitly agree to those steps with other interviewers. Attend to the important discipline of keeping to that process and be certain that the process has been explained to the interviewing candidate. Finally, follow the outline that has been set up and explained. This will help prevent interview fatigue.