BWBacon Stories of Recruiting continues this month with a story that really threw us for a loop at the time. Optimistic by nature, BWBacon puts the utmost faith in people and advocates for their skills. Connecting people and creating new relationships is what we thrive on, it is the core of our work.
However, sometimes not everything goes as planned. Occasionally, people are not as predictable as expected, and the outcome of a story can change in a matter of minutes.
A New Opportunity
Some time ago, there was a top-notch candidate that a recruiter on our team discovered and couldn’t wait to submit. Everyone was excited about this candidate’s background, skillset, and how great of a fit he was for one of our client’s roles. He was smart, professional, and flew through the whole interview process. He went to their location for an onsite interview, wowed the client’s technology team, and was quickly offered a position.
Here we were, humming along, congratulating him, helping with his onboarding documents, and ensuring he gave the standard two weeks’ notice to his then current company. Mr. Right was all set to start on a Monday, and BWB happily closed the deal.
The Follow Up
A few weeks later, four days before the candidate was supposed to start, our recruiter reached out. As per usual, we reach out to say hey, do you need anything? You ready? Do you know where you’re going and what time to be there? A friendly check in to provide that final connection between our candidate and their new role…and a final heads up to be there on Monday morning.
As this was the middle of the summer, a slow reply wasn’t entirely unexpected. He had just left his previous job, he could be out camping in beautiful Colorado, and would probably get back the next day.
The recruiter did not hear back on Friday, but quelled the concern with thoughts of ‘oh, he’s just busy!’ Another email was sent on Saturday… the recruiter received no reply. Our team also tried to call, maybe he was out of town or not checking his email? Did he drop his phone off a cliff?!
Vanishing Act
As you may have guessed already, he was not there on Monday. Several desperate calls and emails later, we still had not heard from him. At this point, we’re not happy, the client isn’t happy, and the whereabouts of Mr. Right were entirely unknown. Was he lost in the woods? Was he at a wild music festival?
Without any further communication with BWB, he showed up at 9AM on Tuesday, and the client promptly walked him out the door. Tragically, there was no repairing this mistake, and part of the nature of working with people is that not everyone is reliable as you want them to be.
Lessons Learned
Although frustrating and ultimately disappointing, what we took away from this experience is that accountability is essential in our line of work. Our lessons from this once upon a time horror story of recruiting are two-fold.
One, after the entire interview process and the immense effort from all parties that goes into making a new hire, showing respect by following through is crucial from all parties involved. Also, that forgiveness and flexibility must be at the forefront of our approach because people do make mistakes, and often times, deserve another chance.
We were able to rebuild our client’s trust and went onto help the hiring manager grow his new company. Years later, we heard that this manager who had moved over to a new company, decided to give this very candidate another shot and ended up hiring him on his new team.
Here at BWBacon Group, we know and live what you are experiencing as an employer or job seeker in Denver, Boulder, Dallas, San Francisco, New York City or any of the other cities we work in. We believe great recruiting starts and ends with understanding people.
If you have any questions about living, working or playing any of the areas we serve, please contact us. We are happy to help. Seize the day, every day, that’s what we say!
