Adventures In Recruiting; The Candidate Who Wouldn't Meet Me

I am aware that I have reached the top of my profession.  I am well known.  My blog is read by thousands of advertising, marketing and recruiting professionals each week. I am passionate about the business and get wonderful assignments at all levels of the business and from all over the country.  And yet every once in a while, I come across a candidate who makes me question myself because he or she makes me feel small and, to some extent, inadequate. 

A few weeks ago a gentleman heard about an EVP job I was handling.  I did not previously know him.  He emailed me and then sent me a résumé.  I contacted him and asked him to come in, as I do with all local candidates.  I couldn’t tell from his résumé if he was appropriate for this particular job and wanted to meet him for it or other jobs.  Surprisingly, he refused to come in unless I gave him complete information about the job, despite the fact that he had heard about it and called me.

He emailed me with the detail that he wanted.  He wanted everything – company name and organization, job specs, expected salary, reporting structure with names, issues, etc.  I told him that much of this information was proprietary but that after we had met, if appropriate, I would share much of it with him.  I had have a meeting to insure that it was a mutual fit.  His background and experience had to meet my client's specifications and his interests and needs had to be aligned with the job.  If there was a match, I would be happy to share as much with him as would be appropriate and professional.  I asked him to look at my website, read my blog posts and see who I am.  I told him that before any candidate of mine goes on an interview, they are fully briefed.  He ignored me and refused to come in unless I did full disclosure before meeting him.

I refused.  It was the first time in years that a possibly appropriate candidate refused to meet me, especially at a senior level (it is much harder to get juniors to come in). According to this person's résumé he lived and worked nearby.  His excuse was that he had had bad experiences both with recruiters and with inappropriate jobs.  After an exchange of a number of emails, I never heard from him again.

Of course this exchange forced me to check him out. I discovered he was probably not the right candidate for this very good job.  Among other things I determined that he is a loner, not a great team player and too headstrong to be an effective department head.  All this made sense and was reflected in his emails. So there was nothing lost.

Yet when things happen like this (fortunately, not very often), I sometimes feel as if I have somehow failed.  I have to remind myself that I am only a recruiter, nothing more.  Despite my good reputation, I am not right for everyone.  There are all kinds of people.  In retrospect, despite this person’s stellar résumé credentials, on a bell-shaped curve, he falls well on the left side.  My guess is that someone will hire him based on his résumé and, like most of his other jobs, he will be gone within a year or two.

I still wanted to meet him.  But his arrogance precluded it.    My experience has taught me that I cannot connect with everyone I meet. I cannot be the right recruiter for every candidate.