The Hiring Manager:

Is it possible for someone to shout over social media? Chris certainly seemed to be shouting at me. Why? Because as the hiring manager, I had just rejected him. 

Chris accused me of being too picky. 

But let me ask you this: Is it wrong to want to hire someone perfect? I see gaggles of posts from disgruntled job seekers complaining that the hiring manager should stop looking for the perfect candidate. 

Why can’t we search for the perfect candidate? Why should we settle? Don’t we advise job seekers to look for their perfect position? Isn’t that the concept of a dream job? The hiring manager has the same right to hire perfect team members in an effort to build a dream team. 

But…

Perhaps We Should Define Perfect

A sponsor approached me several months ago, asking if we could provide CRAs with Parkinson’s experience. Her current recruitment agency had told her, ‘No one has conducted Parkinson’s studies for years, and therefore, we can’t find CRAs with that experience.’

Wait, what? 

I often hear this. Clients are told they have to settle for CRAs who don’t have the desired therapeutics or who are in the right location. A perfect candidate fits all of the important soft and hard skill ‘have-to-have’ criteria, which usually includes experience with certain therapeutic experience and living within a specific location. 

This is why there is value in a well-written job description.  

Can you hire the ‘perfect candidate’ without a well-written job description? I don’t believe so. The perfect candidates are those who meet your ‘have-to-have’ requirements as listed in the job description, and if you and your team haven’t agreed to those firm requirements, how will you find a candidate the entire team believes will fit? 

Seems simple, but the ‘perfect candidate’ as defined in this context is exactly what the hiring manager should be looking for. 

Why?

Because Hiring The ‘Runner-Up’ Is Dangerous

We just had a situation where one of our clients made an offer to their top candidate, and he declined it. All of us knew he was perfect for the position. We were surprised he didn’t accept, and our client was extremely disappointed. 

The next morning, in a panic, he reached out. He told us he realized he had made a bad decision. He wanted to know if the offer was still on the table. 

The answer was no. 

Why? 

Because our client had already made an offer to their runner-up, and that candidate had accepted it. 

Our client’s thought process? The runner-up ‘would do.’ They urgently needed to fill this position, and there weren’t any major red flags (maybe some pink ones). The minor issues they had noted were things they could overcome. 

Right? 

Why Hiring the “She will Do” Candidate is Problematic

I believe hiring the ‘she will do’ (otherwise known as the mediocre) candidate is worse than engaging a bad hire. You will keep your eye on the bad hire. However, a mediocre hire will cost you time because you will give them more independence and leeway.  Leadership will have to put more effort into her training. Even though she excels in some tasks, she will not perform as expected in others; therefore, your team will also have to fix more issues. And when you decide to manage her out of the business, it will be hard to justify. 

After all, she isn’t that horrible. Right? 

Wrong. Settling for less than the best sends the wrong message. It damages the morale of your team and could impact your shareholders’ or investors’ perception of the way you select your team members and manage your operations. 

Don’t make a significant investment in someone who isn’t a keeper. If your top candidate gets snatched up by another company, don’t settle for a runner-up that falls short of what you have already defined as a ‘perfect candidate.’ 

Keep looking. 

How to Keep Searching Without Annoying Your Team

I understand how hard it is to keep a position open for a long time. But if you aren’t finding the perfect candidate, here are some things you can do.  

Review the Job Description

Have your team re-review the job description and confirm their agreement to the ‘must-have’ and ‘like-to-have’ requirements. 

Note that this isn’t an act of settling. This is a task to ensure clarity across all parties. Now that you have interviewed candidates, your requirements may have changed slightly; therefore, take the time to tweak the job description as appropriate.

Assess the Job Title and Re-Post the Position

You never know what titles candidates are searching for. Therefore, making a slight change to the job title will attract candidates with different backgrounds and experiences. For example, instead of posting the position for an Administrative Assistant, perhaps call the role Administrative Operations Specialist, Administrative Coordinator, Project Coordinator (if relevant), etc. 

Re-Interview Your Runner-Ups

Now that you have reviewed your job description, reposted the position, and are attracting new candidates to consider, perhaps bring your top runner-up candidates back for another interview. Dig deeper into the areas that may have been pink flags during the first interview. 

Maybe the answer is still no because you don’t want to settle. But you also may see something different in the candidates during their second round of interviews. 

But Before You Extend an Offer

Don’t side-step the basics. Be extra diligent when checking references and conducting a background check. Once you have gathered all the details, sit down with your team and make a team decision. 

Break out the pros and cons, and if the team is sure about a ‘perfect’ candidate, make an offer. If not, work with the entire team to obtain buy-in and start the search over again. 

What Really Happened With Chris

I want to close the loop on the story I started telling about Chris. I didn’t reject him because he “shouted” at me through LinkedIn. Chris has submitted three resumes to our firm over the past four years. The most recent two resumes were just submitted this week, and his employment didn’t match across all three resumes.  

The differences between the resumes were egregious.  

While a date error can happen here and there, the mismatching employment history wasn’t something we could attribute to a grammatical error. As an example, one resume stated he worked for PPD, while another stated he worked for IQVIA. The dates of all of his employments were so different across the three resumes that it was obvious Chris was quite creative (or had a very crooked pencil). 

I was respectful. Instead of ghosting him, I told him we couldn’t represent him because of the resume discrepancies.

His Response? 

He responded that I didn’t understand the difference between a CV and a resume and that he was going to broadcast to his network that we were outdated and too picky. 

My response? 

I do understand there are differences between CVs and resumes. However, there are also many similarities, the primary one being that you should honestly and accurately represent your employment history. 

I then told him I would appreciate him broadcasting to his network about our ‘pickyness’. Folks who falsify their employment should know that we compare current resumes (or CVs) with past ones and will pull them from our candidate pool if the employment history doesn’t match. 

After all, it isn’t complicated. You either worked for PPD, or you didn’t. Start dates are start dates, just like end dates are end dates. Providing accurate employment history on your resume (or CV) isn’t just important. It is a firm requirement. 

In Conclusion

I encourage hiring teams to be clear about what they are looking for. Writing a detailed job description and obtaining buy-in from your team is a great starting point to outlining the firm skills and competencies that qualified candidates will possess. 

Then stay focused on these ‘must have’ qualities to find the perfect candidate. Don’t settle, and never accept fraudulence (or candidates who shout at you across social media platforms). 

Need help? We are here, and yes, I will gladly write your job description for you.