SOUNDS LIKE A BROKEN RECORD, BUT DON’T WAIT TO HIRE THE RIGHT CANDIDATE

by Gregg Podolski, Direct Hire Manager

4.1%!  That is the unemployment rate in New Jersey as of March 2019 and it’s only 3.8% in the United States altogether.

Sounds like a broken record, but don’t wait to hire the right candidate!

As a recruiter, I always inform my clients and hiring managers that companies need to move quickly on the candidate they like.  Especially when dealing with a professional recruitment firm like ours, we’ve already taken the time to search, qualify and test our talent, so when they meet with you, we’ve presented the best candidate out of the many we’ve vetted.

I cannot stress this enough: If you find a candidate that you really like, but want to “be more diligent and keep interviewing just in case someone else checks off an additional box” you will lose your first candidate. It’s that simple.

Here is a very common scenario:

Our client engages us in a search. We present three candidates and schedule interviews for all three. The first one they interview knocks it out of the park, nothing but positive feedback all around.   The second two are good, but don’t clear the bar set by the first. “We really liked Candidate A,” our client tells us, “and would like to see a few more on that level before making a decision.” The problem is, in this market, finding “a few more” that are on par with someone who’s really strong takes time. Meanwhile, that first candidate is fielding calls from other companies and other recruiters and potentially even offers from interviews they’ve conducted for other roles. And all it takes is one company to beat you to the punch to send the entire process back to square one, and keep that position unfilled even longer.

In this tight market, you can’t afford to gamble.

Passing on “really good” in the hopes of finding “perfect” is a risky proposition. Trust your recruiters, whether they be internal or external, to find you the right people for your role.  And when they do, trust your gut to not let them get away!

Gregg Podolski, is Emerson Group’s Direct Hire Manager. Gregg works on positions in all industries including C-Level Suite, Sales, Account Management, IT and Manufacturing/Operations/Project Managers.

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