Many years ago I was in the business of recruiting physicians. One candidate with whom I was working wanted to relocate from the one coast to the other in order to be near family. His experience and credentials made him a very attractive candidate for just about any healthcare organization. As this search firm was of the Contingency model, I had not met face-to-face with either my clients or my candidates. This was a business done entirely by phone.
I presented my candidate to a potential employer (a hospital) and worked with their internal recruiter to arrange a weekend interview. I was confident that if the candidate liked the location and hospital, he would accept an offer that he would likely receive. This hiring process usually took about two weeks.
He flew out to this hospital on Friday and interviewed on Saturday. Monday morning I called my client (the internal recruiter) to follow up on the interview. His opening remark was, "Have you met this guy?" I reminded him that I had not. He then went on to describe him to me and focused on what he wore to the interview with the hospital CEO. He had worn a blazer with a Mickey Mouse tie and watch. I groaned and then said, "Well, I guess I need to send you another candidate." He said, "Oh, no! Not at all! The CEO loved him and gave him an offer on Sunday morning. He accepted on the spot and will be joining us, soon." I was confused. He went on to say that their CEO's hobby was animation and he, too, wore a Mickey Mouse watch. They spent much of their visit comparing notes about their mutual hobby and became fast friends.
I had made the mistake of jumping to conclusions based on my own view of the world. I learned from that episode that people make hiring decisions for a wide variety of reasons. I should have known. It had happened to me, once.
When I was interviewing for a job after deciding to leave the Army after 12 years, I was in the best shape of my life. I had by then run three marathons. The first executive I interviewed, who was key to the decision, had a chronic weight problem that he was perpetually addressing. A tactic of his was the treadmill. Physical fitness was for him an unattainable goal and he put a high value on those who were fit. He spent the entire hour of our interview asking me about running marathons. His executive assistant had to interrupt our meeting to get me to my next interview. The remainder of my interviews were more predictable. I got an offer soon thereafter. One reason, though, was that the president was a WW II army veteran and put a high value on army officers. They were few and far between in this company. In my defense, I should say that I was, indeed, well qualified for the job.
I have gone on to other roles, and have spent the past decade as an executive recruiter and coach. On numerous occasions I have seen my clients zero in on a candidate for one particular attrribute that they happen to admire (i.e., the "halo effect") and make a hiring decision accordingly.
The trend in recent years to have finalist candidates go through a management assessment process is a good one in my opinion (though most recruiters do not like to see this done as it can torpedo what otherwise seems to be a quality candidate). It has been my experience that such assessments truly help organizations make better hiring decisions, and I encourage the practice. http://www.esiassoc.com/ http://www.michaelkburroughs.com/
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