A Class with Drucker - Headway | Work on yourself

168 ■ A CLASS WITH DRUCKER
explained to me by a more experienced executive recruiter, was that this
was to ensure that “the chemistry is right.” “Sometimes a candidate won’t
like his potential boss,” I was told. “Sometimes, a potential boss won’t like
the candidate. And yes, there are times when neither one will like each
other. However, <strong>with</strong> three to five candidates, chances are that in at least
one case the candidate will like the potential boss, and vice versa. But in all
cases, the candidate must meet all the main requirements for the job.”
This proved to be good advice. In one case, I spent considerable time
<strong>with</strong> a hiring executive in developing the “job specifications” for the position.
One very important qualification in this instance was geographical
experience in the area where the executive would be operating. This was
necessary because of local customs and other technical requirements peculiar
to the locality. I then went about my business finding the three to five
candidates to present to the hiring executive.
Some clients preferred to have candidates submitted and interviewed
“piecemeal,” that is, as soon as each was recruited. However, some clients
didn’t want to start interviewing until all the candidates had been recruited
and were ready to go. I preferred the latter approach, as I thought it would
give the client a better feel for the range of what was available before making
a decision as to which candidate to extend an offer. However, just
before I was ready to submit the candidates that I had recruited for this
assignment, the client called off the search. “Just luck,” he said, “but
some guy happened to hear that we were looking and I interviewed and
hired him.”
I asked to go over the job specifications against the individual’s qualifications
<strong>with</strong> the client, to which he agreed. Everything looked good until
we got to the requirement having to do <strong>with</strong> geographical experience. My
client became evasive. Finally, he admitted that the candidate had no experience
in the geographical area whatsoever. “But it’s okay,” he said. “We’ll
help him. He is so strong in other areas that he’ll do a great job.”
This was a perfect example of what <strong>Drucker</strong> was talking about. Here
the client himself had stated that prior geographical experience was an
essential requirement for any candidate. Yet he had disregarded this
requirement because the candidate was strong in some other, less essential
areas. Did the new hire succeed in this instance? I really don’t know.
However, there is no question that his chances of succeeding were significantly
reduced, because the candidate lacked what the hiring executive
himself had thought through and determined as a major qualification.