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Wednesday Wisdom: Matchmaker Matchmaker
Claudia Help!
I have noticed more and more candidates blurring the lines of business and social networking online. Here’s a recent example that almost caused me to lose a client: one of my candidates sent a LinkedIn request to a hiring manager before her interview. Both the HM and I thought that was odd, but we thought it was just over-enthusiasm. She didn’t stop there though; she invited the CEO to connect as well, this time using very familiar language in the email as if they were long-lost BFFs. She even complimented his picture (that’s right, “I like your pic”), like she was hitting on a complete stranger who just happened to run the company she wants a job at.
Could it get worse? Oh, but of course. When I confronted her about the behavior she not only defended it but sent flaming emails to the HM and CEO, and copied me with pride. I sat there reading with my mouth wide open in horror. Needless to say, I am struggling to regain the confidence of my client (rightfully so) and wondering how I went so wrong with this candidate.
How do you handle people who don’t get the difference between personal and professional social networking?
Weary Matchmaker
Dear Weary,
Ok, I’m going to sound like my first recruiting boss for a moment. When exactly did you lose control of this situation? It was long before you fired the candidate (which you were perfectly justified in doing), and much earlier than the first inappropriate email. Remember the cardinal rule in recruiting? That which I anticipate I can control. This one caught you off guard; the next time (and there will be a next time my friend, because we’re always tested on the important stuff in life) you’ll recognize the warning signs and shut ‘er down before damage control is required.
The underlying issue here is quality control for your clients. Functional skills are often much easier to assess than intangible skills, and this is often tied to the specificity of requirements and the amount of time we have to “learn” a candidate. Inappropriate behavior can be a sign of inexperience, which can be cured for most people with time and growing up; but it can also be a sign of low emotional intelligence (EI). This can be cured too, by the way – but for recruiters who are paid by the placement, candidate coaching is a short term fee-drainer. It’s a definite tradeoff, but it can’t be denied that EI is a key element in matching both parties; the better you know your clients, the easier it becomes to isolate candidate behaviors that blend well there – or don’t.
This is a great opportunity to evaluate your own process of candidate assessment. Assessment is more than just the initial screen; it’s every contact, and the goal is to gain insight into the consistency and motivation behind a candidate’s overall behavior. If you’re not already screening for the building blocks of EI, take a look at the framework in the picture above (taken from the excellent research of Daniel Goleman); think of your client’s environment and the behaviors that will blend well there. The candidate we’ve been discussing is obviously high in elements of personal competence, but low in many related to social competence; successful candidates have a mix of competencies on both sides of the list. Look at the skills listed below “Self Regulation” for a moment; are there other “tells” in that column that showed up in your interactions with the candidate? If not, what behaviors will you watch and listen for in the future to avoid a similar outcome?
Hang in there, oh Weary One. You’ve gained some valuable experience; use it to your advantage next time.
**
In my day job, I’m the Head of Products for Improved Experience, where we help employers use feedback to measure and manage competitive advantage in hiring and retention. Learn more about us here.
Do you have a question you'd like answered in this weekly forum? Drop me a line!
I have noticed more and more candidates blurring the lines of business and social networking online. Here’s a recent example that almost caused me to lose a client: one of my candidates sent a LinkedIn request to a hiring manager before her interview. Both the HM and I thought that was odd, but we thought it was just over-enthusiasm. She didn’t stop there though; she invited the CEO to connect as well, this time using very familiar language in the email as if they were long-lost BFFs. She even complimented his picture (that’s right, “I like your pic”), like she was hitting on a complete stranger who just happened to run the company she wants a job at.
Could it get worse? Oh, but of course. When I confronted her about the behavior she not only defended it but sent flaming emails to the HM and CEO, and copied me with pride. I sat there reading with my mouth wide open in horror. Needless to say, I am struggling to regain the confidence of my client (rightfully so) and wondering how I went so wrong with this candidate.
How do you handle people who don’t get the difference between personal and professional social networking?
Weary Matchmaker
Dear Weary,
Ok, I’m going to sound like my first recruiting boss for a moment. When exactly did you lose control of this situation? It was long before you fired the candidate (which you were perfectly justified in doing), and much earlier than the first inappropriate email. Remember the cardinal rule in recruiting? That which I anticipate I can control. This one caught you off guard; the next time (and there will be a next time my friend, because we’re always tested on the important stuff in life) you’ll recognize the warning signs and shut ‘er down before damage control is required.
The underlying issue here is quality control for your clients. Functional skills are often much easier to assess than intangible skills, and this is often tied to the specificity of requirements and the amount of time we have to “learn” a candidate. Inappropriate behavior can be a sign of inexperience, which can be cured for most people with time and growing up; but it can also be a sign of low emotional intelligence (EI). This can be cured too, by the way – but for recruiters who are paid by the placement, candidate coaching is a short term fee-drainer. It’s a definite tradeoff, but it can’t be denied that EI is a key element in matching both parties; the better you know your clients, the easier it becomes to isolate candidate behaviors that blend well there – or don’t.
This is a great opportunity to evaluate your own process of candidate assessment. Assessment is more than just the initial screen; it’s every contact, and the goal is to gain insight into the consistency and motivation behind a candidate’s overall behavior. If you’re not already screening for the building blocks of EI, take a look at the framework in the picture above (taken from the excellent research of Daniel Goleman); think of your client’s environment and the behaviors that will blend well there. The candidate we’ve been discussing is obviously high in elements of personal competence, but low in many related to social competence; successful candidates have a mix of competencies on both sides of the list. Look at the skills listed below “Self Regulation” for a moment; are there other “tells” in that column that showed up in your interactions with the candidate? If not, what behaviors will you watch and listen for in the future to avoid a similar outcome?
Hang in there, oh Weary One. You’ve gained some valuable experience; use it to your advantage next time.
**
In my day job, I’m the Head of Products for Improved Experience, where we help employers use feedback to measure and manage competitive advantage in hiring and retention. Learn more about us here.
Do you have a question you'd like answered in this weekly forum? Drop me a line!
Views: 134
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Steve Levy on
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In the days before The One Minute Manager and the tidal wave of psychological frameworks, there was a "code" that was reasonably followed for those in business. These days with so many generational differences - the letter writer didn't give us info about this - it doesn't surprise me that people who don't appreciate the reasons for NOT posting lurid pictures of themselves on their Facebook page or having an email that is stupid at best, offensive at worst, might not appreciate behavioral guidance from recruiters.
I suspect that this person exhibited other signs that weren't heeded by this recruiter...
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Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on
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I'd like to see the entire transcript here. We need the preamble I think. Like where this candidate came from. My guess is she wasn't the result of referral. More like a readily available network socialite. Easy pickins' as they say in the country. No wonder.
Let's have a look at this gem's Myspace page, shall we? The Frat Party pics would be of special interest I suspect. She does appear awfully friendly!
This may be a generational thing but regardles of D.O.B. it certainly is a maturity issue. This person has not matured the way we would hope everyone does. Maybe this is a sign of how people today don't really have to learn about real life relationships. Twitter your every move to an audience you have never met. Some will disconnect. Some will send the same innane crap right back.
Where am I going with this?......
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Permalink Reply by Joshua Letourneau on
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Steve, outstanding insight - the more 'purple' the squirrel, the less indepth and probing the recruiting conversation can be (due to irrational exuberance that the squirrel exists).
"I suspect that this person exhibited other signs that weren't heeded by this recruiter..."
Jerry, great call on the below. Your statement has given me pause to how I consider the purple squirrel candidate with a robust social profile on the web.
"More like a readily available network socialite."
You know, I can empathize with some recruiters that may not mention to not directly 'LinkIn' with a CEO or Hiring Manager before an interview. Some of these things take 'getting burned' before you can "anticipate" them per se'. I would be pretty surprised if a candidate of mine was LinkingIn with a CEO with an intro that sounds as is they're already drinkin' buddies. For some comical relief, I have been told by a particular female candidate in the past that "if it's a typical guy interviewing me, I'll have the job in 5 minutes flat."
Then again, maybe I shouldn't be surprised?!? You know, one thing I've noticed in our space over the last few months is that the pendulum of social media has swung hard in the other direction. What was one lauded as the biggest breakthrough in recruiting is now beginning to show cracks in the foundation . . . and to be honest, this is one area that I am NOT surprised.
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Permalink Reply by Claudia Faust on
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Josh, my thoughts exactly - the match isn't made until all the pieces fit (technical AND interpersonal). That said, there are plenty of disfunctional clients out there with a high tolerance for odd candidate behavior if the technical skills are top notch (just reminiscing of my recruiting days in telecom and software for a moment). Ah, those were the days!
Joshua Letourneau said:the more 'purple' the squirrel, the less indepth and probing the recruiting conversation can be (due to irrational exuberance that the squirrel exists).
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The interesting thing about this candidate (after a bit more info from Weary Matchmaker) is that she is apparently NOT a gen X, gen Y, or gen-anything else. She's a well established and regarded professional in her field with a dozen years of experience.
This leads me to two conclusions: first, that words and behaviors are definitely not matching here as her reputation does not match the demonstration of poor judgment. And second, that emotional intelligence and the practice of the most basic professional courtesies are not automatically manisfested in those over 30.
Go figure.
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Permalink Reply by Maureen Sharib on
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"...she not only defended it but sent flaming emails...and copied me with pride. I sat there reading with my mouth wide open in horror."
Hey, guys, we have some of this very same behavior amongst ourselves so let's think again before we start pointing fingers...
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Rayanne, you bring up an interesting point about the transfer and evolution of manners from one generation to the next. I was thinking about that too as I wrote today's post, as well as the impact that evolving technology has on communication. To think that we're sitting at the intersection where so many generations are simultaneously in the workplace, and that technology is evolving so quickly... I agree with you that it is bound to cause some traffic accidents - and eventually everyone will have to do some adapting.
Rayanne said:This is an issue we are going to see more and more as online communication increases and evolves. The "old-school" way of doing business may die out along with the rest of us dinosaurs until online etiquette classes become the norm along with C# programming...
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Steve, I'm curious to know what "the code" was in the old days, and how everybody knew what it was. Any thoughts?
Steve Levy said:In the days before The One Minute Manager and the tidal wave of psychological frameworks, there was a "code" that was reasonably followed for those in business.
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Ever hear of the phrase, "a legend in one's mind"?
Claudia Faust said:The interesting thing about this candidate (after a bit more info from Weary Matchmaker) is that she is apparently NOT a gen X, gen Y, or gen-anything else. She's a well established and regarded professional in her field with a dozen years of experience.
This leads me to two conclusions: first, that words and behaviors are definitely not matching here as her reputation does not match the demonstration of poor judgment. And second, that emotional intelligence, or even the practice of simple professional courtesies, do not automatically manisfest in those over 30.
Go figure.
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You mean, "A legend in one's OWN mind?"
;)
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Ah, the human condition. Our strength is our weakness... or is it the reverse?
Maureen Sharib said:Hey, guys, we have some of this very same behavior amongst ourselves so let's think again before we start pointing fingers...
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I posted this in another string as a remark this morning/I think it fits here too:
From the movie, "The Patriot":
MARTIN (Mel Gibson): Lord Cornwallis is brilliant. His weakness is that he knows it.
GABRIEL (Keith Ledger): Father?
MARTIN: Pride is his weakness.
The men consider that.
DELANCEY: Personally, I'd would prefer stupidity.
MARTIN: Pride will do.
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