I am nominating one of my clients for the “Best Hiring Practice of The Month” award. This company has a track record of stellar hiring practices: they know what they want and go after it, minus the lag time. And, just as importantly, they listen to their gut.

I recently submitted candidate Joe Shmoe* to this company for a Director-level position. The team fell in love with Mr. Shmoe and, after receiving equally glowing references, extended an attractive offer. Joe told me he was interviewing with a sister company for a very similar position and wanted to hold out for just a day to see if they would extend him an offer as well. A day went by, two days, and three days later, Mr. Shmoe has yet to make a decision (obviously against his recruiter’s requests). Opposing the team’s suggestion, the HR Director goes with her gut and rescinds the offer. The sister company does not make an offer either. Joe Shmoe is s!#^ out of luck.

Sound a little harsh? Nope. Everyone has instincts. Successful recruiters listen to them. Hiring managers do too. If you suddenly get a bad feeling about a candidate, and if the candidate starts acting a little sketchy or off-center, end the discussion. There are a good amount of qualified professionals out there who would cut off their right arm to work for you. You will find the right person. Listen to what your gut tells you; 99% of the time it will be right.

And, just in case you were worried about our fabulous client, they recently hired an even stronger Talent Zoo candidate and their team couldn’t be happier.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 14th, 2006 at 3:07 pm and is filed under Offers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.