At 3am, when I come across your twitter feed, or resume on LinkedIn, or your name on a list of potential candidates which came from a hard day of networking, I really, really want to like you.
You see, I already know that - on paper - you have many of the skills that our clients need. Our clients have often put part of their business plans on hold, waiting to hire someone just like you. And our clients are eager for us to talk to you. Boy, are they. They call us weekly, or daily, or even hourly sometimes, asking if we have found their perfect candidate. Even though we have explained that the recruiting process takes time, they give us gentle encouragement to find you.
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So, please know that when we finally track you down and talk to you, we are predisposed to want to like you. And we are looking for your best qualities. That being said, sometimes, even though a candidate looks perfect on paper and even though our client is really eager to see resumes, we cannot put them forward to our client. Here are the top five reasons I will not put your name forward for a particular job.
1) You don't have the skills. Yes, it's great that your dog obeys your command to sit. Trust me, that's nothing to sneeze at. But if that's the only management experience you have, and our client needs you to step in and manage a group of 300 employees right away, I cannot put your name forward. We love that you have a great attitude and are willing to learn but we are hired to find someone who can walk in and do the job on day 1. If you feel that you are not moving forward in your career because you lack a certain skill set, acquire it. If you lack management breadth at work, perhaps you can join a Board of Directors for a charity you support. If you do not know a certain piece of software, take a course.
2) You don't have the right experience. You might wonder why job specs ask for 3-5 years experience or 5-10 years experience. If you've been giving a job the old college try for six months, surely you know everything there is to know about that position, right? Wrong. While there is nothing magic about the number of years (only a fool would reject someone for a 5 year manager position on the basis that they'd only worked 4 years and 364 days) when you have worked in a role for a number of years, you tend to have encountered a wider range of situations. A five year sales manager has probably lost an account and has learned from that. She has probably had to fire an employee and has learned from that. She has probably helped her team land a few major accounts - and knows how it's done. A ten year manager has probably experienced an economic upswing and downturn and knows whether or not he can stomach that ride. He may have had to handle morale after a downsizing. He's probably had to staff up a new team. This is why we ask for a certain number of years of experience. It may seem arbitrary but it's not.
3) You cannot translate your experience to our clients' needs. Right now we am looking to hire 2 environmental designers, a digital account director, an SVP of sales, a product developer, some recruiters, a sales operations director, a director of communication and marketing, a brand strategist, a BD manager, and a creative director. Believe it or not, we have not personally held all of those jobs. This means that with most positions we are looking to fill, we have to learn about each job and what makes for a successful hire. By the end of the search, we sound like veterans of that industry and could probably step into the role in a pinch, but if you are the first call we make, we're still in a learning curve. If you speak in industry buzzwords and jargon, we have a hard time figuring out if you actually have the skills and experience required to do the job. The best thing you can do is to ask to see the job spec and then show us how your talents match. This is great practice for interviewing with HR who appreciate your ability to translate your skills to their job specs too.
4) You run down your company. Yes, we're sure your boss is a hybrid between Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun. But trust us, we don't need to hear it. All we want to know is that you are interested in hearing about the opportunity. Perhaps you feel under-appreciated, or want a shorter commute or you are simply charmed by the sound of my voice (it happens.) I don't really need to know that. After all, I called you. Our clients want to hire happy, functional employees who will bring their skills and a great attitude to work. If you trash talk your current employer, I'm not sure you won't be trash talking our client one day. Keep it positive.
5) You are rude. If you are rude to me, I can only assume that you are a rude person. And in all of my years in search, I have yet to find a client asking to hire someone rude. Snapping at me, calling me from the bathroom, and dropping the f-bomb are not appropriate (even if you are taking my call via bluetooth while driving.) If you cannot talk when I call, but want to talk later, tell me. I'm happy to call you at home or at another number or to email you the job spec before we talk. You can never show too much kindness or consideration.
Happy hunting!
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