BusinessWeek.com’s Think Before You Speak or Write provides a couple excellent stories regarding candidates who did a great job of putting their foot in their mouth. How would you like to receive this email?

“I’m disappointed that the job you’re advertising pays much less than I’m used to making. It would be almost impossible for me to survive on the salary listed in the ad. Can you please tell me how much travel is required?”

Not the way to initiate a dialogue. I’ve encountered this short approach when sourcing also. I actually received an email from one candidate that pointedly asked:

Do I not qualify for the position that you are advertising,,,, considering that I have previously held the role in my 15 years of experience.Let me know!

I was a bit taken aback. This candidate was not a fit for the position based on many criteria, but there was no stopping him. I did not contact him.

The author does end with some sound advice for candidates to consider:

That’s not to say that you should tell interviewers what you think they want to hear. Why pretend to be excited about a career path that doesn’t interest you? If salary is a problem, say so. What’s the point of working for a company that doesn’t give you what you want? No, your honesty isn’t hurting you. In the long run, it will help you get the job you really want.

Absolutely. I have the utmost respect for candidates who clearly state that the position is not a fit for them and why. When sourcing, that information is quite valuable to adjusting techniques and gathering market data.

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We had a chance to contribute to an article that appears in Ragan’s Management Resource’s newsletter Employee Recruitment & Retention this month. The article is titled Experts explode the HR industry’s biggest myths and reads like a collection of short essays on many surprising HR/hiring topics.

My contribution (I get the byline though Lee assisted me) involves debunking the conventional wisdom that all good salespeople are extroverts. Nope, that isn’t true. The tease:

My advice would be to look at a salesperson’s qualifying skills in the hiring process as opposed to their linguistic mannerisms. Watch for their ability to ask pertinent questions regarding the opportunity. Some candidates will be outgoing, jovial, and entertaining. And they will prefer to hear their own voice over that of anyone else in the room. At the end of the interview, they will have talked much and asked few, if any, questions. What did they qualify about the opportunity?

The author, Frank Sennett, has provided us with a complimentary copy of the article to share so you can get a taste of the articles offered in the Employee Recruiting & Retention newsletter. Please read the entire piece – it is an entertaining read with sound advice from many experts.

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