SOMETIME BACK I HAD what I thought was a sure fire superstar candidate going in for an interview with one of my best clients. This person not only had all the experience the client was looking for (and more) but on top of this all of his references gave him the highest recommendations.
During the course of my pre-interview preparations that I conduct the day prior to the interview my candidate was sharp as a new razor blade. He looked over the company website several times over to make sure he was thoroughly familiar with who they are and what they do. Judging by the length of time I spent with him coupled with his very professional demeanor along with how prepared he was made me think he was the guy that gets hired.
Fast forward to the morning of the interview when all of a sudden my client calls to inform me the candidate never showed up. Panic stricken I kept calling him but no live voice would be heard on the phone. When I finally did reach him days later he calmly explained that he had been abducted by aliens who held him hostage on their space ship for days as they intensely interrogated him to tell them all he knew about Obama Care. Spaceship, Aliens, Obama Care made for a great (but not believable) story.
I could not believe what I was hearing. My seemingly perfect candidate turned out to be a perfect nut case! Either that (I never did find out the truth) or somewhere between the end of my prep session and his interview another offer from a different recruiter was put on the table which of course he accepted. He was leading me on just for the fun of it or using me as a backup in case something went wrong with the other offer. Gee thanks a lot pal for leading me on like that. I had that commission check spent.
There was the time I had a candidate on his way to an interview with a major client of mine in Long Island City (Queens) NY. He had his highway route all planned out to keep him away from traffic so that he arrived 10 minutes early as I had instructed him to do. Next thing you know my phone rang with that ominous sounding tone. Being a recruiter you learn to recognize that ring even if nobody else can hear it. The guy’s car broke down on the FDR Drive as a result of a bad radiator and flat tire. He proceeds to call my client (normally the prudent thing to do although his first call should have been to me) to inform them his car has just broken down and that he was angry, dirty, smelly and probably would not be in a mood to talk to anybody. Despite his pleas for a second interview his request was denied.
Next story I have is a candidate who was supposed to call me (yes this one did make it to the interview) right after his interview so that I could do my standard post-interview debrief session to see how he felt things went. Depending on what I heard my next call would be to my client to get their take on my candidate. Hours go by with no call. My client wants to hire him! Where the heck is he? What had happened is that his cousin came to meet him after the interview so they had lunch in this restaurant that nary a cell phone call went through. My stern “lecture” was to no avail as he just could not figure out what was wrong with what he did. I honestly don’t remember if he took the job or not.
Over the years there always seemed to be a period where numerous babies or small children had to be taken to the hospital with a high fever, the babysitter got sick and could not babysit, or there was a rash of sick relatives or relatives that died and then got sick. I had sympathy for all until I later found out most of these stories were just excuses not to attend the interview probably due to the fact they knew they were frauds with no chance of being hired. What a “winning” streak I was on.
The ones that drove me the craziest were the ones who either took another offer after accepting the offer my client presented leaving me with egg all over my face. There was one candidate for whom I got a great package that was far and above any offer he had ever received. He loved me! Never had he worked with a recruiter who was as professional as I was. The candidate ultimately took a job with less money and no benefits. Months later after the disaster job he took did not work out he came back to me and…..I PLACED HIM!
My last interview story is about this incredibly bright woman who was the top Commercial Real Estate Mortgage Producer in an office where she was the only female. After getting tired of being treated like a second class citizen despite being an incredible closer she contacted me. Getting her to go to an interview was torture for the reason that she had to have her bedroom painted yellow but it had to be a special yellow that matched something or other. The subways was too dark while cab driver s were crazy plus they always took the longest route so they could “jack up” the fare. It took work with painters to get her that special yellow color paint for her bedroom to finally get her into a cab (I paid) to her interview. Although she came off as being “ditzy” she knew her stuff with connections and contacts nobody else could get the time of day from. Yes, I got her hired.
The trials and tribulations of being a recruiter. Along the way I met some incredible people who turned into dear personal friends. Did my share of placements with varying fee percentages not to mention having to throw in the odd sign-on bonus here and there. Up, down, up and down or in between recruiting was rarely dull.
By the way did I tell you about the lady that was ready to turn down a six figure salary job because she wanted more money and if she did not get it she would continue to live on unemployment in addition to welfare. Who turns down a six figure salary to stay on unemployment and welfare? Eventually the client came up with a few extra bucks and we all lived happily ever after.
Yankees vs Mets at Citi Field this weekend. For the first time in years they Subway Series has playoff spots on the line for both teams. This promises to be serious October baseball being played in September. LET’S GO YANKEES! I’m from the Bronx so how could I ever root for the Mets?
