I had lunch yesterday with an old friend of mine whom I used to work with at a previous job in the technology market. He now owns his own handyman business and we were discussing past employment mistakes on our parts. I mentioned how we observe candidate behaviors during the hiring process with the understanding that this is the best they have to offer. What I mean is that they are displaying their best behavior, compliance, formality, etc. If a candidate appears to be somewhat inappropriate at this stage, they will not magically become better once they are on your payroll.
My friend’s point was that candidates are observing employers in the same manner. He passed on what appeared to be a strong product manager opportunity simply because the President was condescending and short on their initial phone call. My friend had left a voicemail for the President after being referred to him by a previous employer. My friend was driving in his pickup truck when the President called him back later in the day.
The short conversation ended after the President complained that it sounded like my friend was driving a semi since it was noisy on the call. The President told him to call him back later when he wasn’t in his vehicle. Now, there was an edge and an attitude in the tone of the President during the call.
My friend thought about that call on his way to his job that afternoon. He came to the conclusion that he could not work for that President. He never called him back.
Maybe the President was in a foul mood after dealing with a difficult task or maybe he was simply frustrated with his lack of success at finding the right Product Manager (my friend fit the unique criteria almost perfectly). Maybe my friend would not have been the best fit or maybe he would have been. The point is that the behavior and attitude of the President removed the opportunity to discover the abilities of a strong candidate.