The Perfect Candidate

Happy Wednesday!

Think about this for a moment… you sit down, work out the type of person that you want for your new administrative assistant role, advertise it and the applications start streaming through. About a day and a half later (and over 200 applications) an application stands out from the pack that is just fantastic and a true breath of fresh air from the ordinary applications that had come through. What do you do? Of course you call them! You have now closed off advertising,  selected three applicants to meet with you for interview and you know your favourite is among them. Your favourite blitzes the interview and impresses your colleague, you make an offer on the Friday and… never hear from them… what happened? Where did they go?

If this or a similar situation has happened to you, please take comfort that it has happened to quite a few of us. I had a really wise client say to me once “I get excited but I don’t fall in love anymore”. I understand what she meant by that… it can really break your heart when you picture that person in the role, knowing that you have a great new employee on board and.. all of a sudden… that picture no longer exists. I recall having a great candidate that was two weeks out (of a four week notice period) from starting in a new role. A great salary package was on offer and it was a fantastic client – a perfect match… until… I received that call… “Look, I’m really sorry to tell you this but I must withdraw my acceptance”. You know that sinking feeling that you get? I certainly had it! It turns out that his former company offered an extra $50,000 and a new local office to stay with them – understandably very hard to pass up! 

You enjoy and even love your business, making the recruitment process very personal. In sitting down and speaking to an experienced and balanced recruiter that listens to what you need, you can alleviate a lot of the unnecessary concerns, creating a much more positive process for you to undertake. Let us deal with the heart breaking stuff! Even when it comes to the crunch and you think everything has gone pear-shaped (like our real examples), a good recruiter can turn that around and deliver what turns out to be the perfect candidate. 

Best regards,

David Ford.