When we try to define job candidates in predetermined terms, we’re forgetting that every one of them is unique.
In the course of each executive search, we learn a lot from our clients and our candidates. Each engagement reminds us how smart we’re not. In prepping for a search, we describe the ideal candidate. We detail the desired business, professional and educational experience. Yet without exception, each candidate will bring unique assets that we hadn’t contemplated.
During one search for an information technology executive on behalf of a large manufacturer, we found an impressive candidate with invaluable experience that was not listed on her resume.
Beyond her exceptional IT track record, we discovered through our vetting process that she had shop-floor manufacturing experience early in her career, plus years as a first-line supervisor. The sum of her IT and operations experiences made her a truly unique prospect for the client – and then a highly valued new leader. (With every engagement we do get a little bit smarter.)
“Hiring people is an art, not a science, and resumes can’t tell you whether someone will fit into a company’s culture,” said famed businessman Howard Schultz.
In-depth discussions with candidates for every search take us beneath the surface and beyond their resumes. As the hunt progresses, we’re often struck by clients who view candidates solely through a rearview mirror. They may be too intent on where a candidate has been, missing where they can go and how they could impact culture and a changing business.
They’ll assess the candidate’s motivations, including what they’d do in their place (sometimes forgetting that not everyone is similarly motivated). The best candidates are driving their careers not based on what they’ve seen in their rearview mirror but on what they see through their windshield. They’re focused on future challenges, growth opportunities and how they’ll fit the chemistry of a new organization.
In profiling the ideal candidate comes the reality that no prospect will check every box.
The perfect candidate does not exist. This reality demands that the hiring executive determine those attributes that cannot be compromised and then somehow capitalize on or develop the rest. And let’s not ignore the unanticipated strengths that every good candidate brings – assets that were never contemplated when the search was launched.
In the recruitment process, some organizations employ candidate assessment tools and others use online recruitment tools. Both can be helpful aids when used properly. But alone, neither will touch on the intangibles or the candidate’s potential fit with the organization.
As an analogy, when shopping for a bolt at my local hardware store, I can always find a nicely finished and sized bolt, but how do I know it’s the right one? I need to know where and how it’s to fit. And perhaps just as important, these tools won’t help acclimate a new hire to the workplace or guarantee a good outcome.
In matching a candidate to a job, if the fit doesn’t feel right, don’t ignore it. Don’t think you can change it. Don’t do it.
Any job must offer a new hire some room to stretch and be challenged so they remain motivated and excited. That stretching room also serves to stimulate a new leader’s approach to new and unique problems, rather than just repeating what they’ve always done in the past.
Recruiting correctly is arduous work that goes well beyond a resume or an initial introduction. Yet, as consuming, challenging and expensive as it may be, a disciplined recruitment is less costly than making a bad hire.
Stanley Davis is the founder of Providence-based Standish Executive Search LLC.
