I love coffee.  There are times when instant does the trick, but the slow-roasted, slow-matured brew is the best.  How often do we choose our favorite places for a chat with our close friends, or to meet a client or candidate?  It has to be the quality of the coffee!  The way I see it, I am paying a few dollars to a business who has taken the time to source the best and they normally have way more to offer once I sit down and scan the menu.  Do I order more?  Hell yes.  I have an admittedly sweet tooth, so why would I not have a large slice of chocolate cake or a slice of healthy carrot cake topped with oodles of lemon icing. Well just because they taste so good together.  And that is how I view the recruitment process.

 When I invite a client to have a meeting with me to discuss the future of their business I expect to be able to offer more.  Yes, what I am really hoping for is the magical scenario of multiple vacancies that need filling, but that is becoming less and less likely.  I have to take the time to scan their business (as I would the menu), spend time asking questions that help them to look for ways to increase their productivity and their bottom line.  I want their precious few dollars but I also want the client to have savored the experience and the end result is the right candidate to fit in with the working environment.  I want them to go away from our meeting feeling they had the best aroma and taste and an added sweet treat.

In the world of instant gratification or the quick fix solution we sometimes reach for the first available choice, and that would be the cuppa of instant.   And what do I get for that?  The aroma of delicately roasted coffee that seems to fill the room soon fades and which also, to my taste, has a slightly bitter end note.  Is that not the way with recruiting?  If we invite a client and offer them a quick fix, which is just to fill the vacancy, and take some of their precious few dollars, have we not then left them with a slightly bitter experience as we soon realise that the candidate who appeared to fit the bill does not have all the skills they intimated on their CV?  Would they be less likely to take a cuppa with you the next time?  Whereas, if we gave them the full-bodied, slow matured recipe and the sweet treat, which to me is our time, our expertise, our commitment to them as an organisation, as well as to finding the perfect job for our candidate, who is of more value to us as our product, allowing the flavor to develop in their mouth, tempting them to take more, would they not enjoy the experience of meeting you more often?  I think they will delight in coming back to see what else you have to offer, and we all get to enjoy the full-bodied coffee and yes, that slice of heavenly chocolate cake to boot!