Anatomy of a Lost Opportunity

It is a sad thing to see.  A promising leader who anticipates getting an offer for a job for which he is well qualified, doesn't get hired.  There are many reasons why this happens.  Here is one example:

Situation:  The candidate has completed three interviews.  It is for a key member of a start-up team in a greenfield operation.  None of the team members will be building and managing a team of people for at least a year.  There is much work to be done and almost all of it is very hands on.  The future of that organization is bright.  The hiring manager makes it perfectly clear in the interview process that this is a hands on role and that the new leader will be flying solo until the plant is up and running.

The hiring manager, who trusts his newly hired HR person, asks him to call the candidate and get his compensation requirements.  The recruiter is completely unaware that this conversation is taking place. In the candidate presentation process the individual's compensation history and expectations were clearly spelled out to the hiring manager by the recruiter.  The candidate is surprised by the call and quickly gives his current total compensation breakdown, including 401K match, car allowance, etc. He tells the HR person that he has a few questions. 1).  What will my title be? and 2) How many people will I be managing?

The HR person reports the total compensation number to the hiring manager who assumes that this number is his base salary requirements.  The base salary for the job is significantly less than this total amount.  The HR person neglected to explain the breakdown.  He also shares the candidate's questions with the hiring manager.  The hiring manager says he is no longer interested in the candidate.  The HR person calls the candidate and says, with no explanations, that they will be passing on him as a candidate.  The candidate reports all of this to the recruiter who is surprised to say the least and attempts to do damage control. Result: A total communication breakdown occurs and an offer is withheld.

What went wrong?

1.  The hiring manager neglected to keep the recruiter involved in the closing process.
2.  The HR person was not experienced in the offer process for executives.
3.  The candidate did not tell the HR person that he would get back to him soon with the info.
4.  The candidate did not immediately call the recruiter and report the situation.
5.  The candidate asked two questions to which he already knew the answers.
6.  The hiring manager is turned off based on the candidate's questions.
7.  The hiring manager was inflexible in his decision.
8.  The recruiter was unable to resolve the situation.

Lessons that should have been learned:

1.  Keep the recruiter involved to the end of the process.
2.  Use the recruiter as the intermediary in the closing process (company and candidate)..
3.  If you're a candidate, delay with information and questions until you can speak with the recruiter.