Learning from Searching

It was a most unpleasant experience: Having to deal with another person's disappointment and being forced to be too honest.

While helping out in the search firm I'm currently in, I'm made to run interviews with job candidates often. I ran one today where the candidate was obviously not a fit for the position that was advertised: the misfit was not in the skillsets - the CV was good. The misfit was in the attitude and required behaviour of the candidate, who just did not have the right frame of mind I was looking for.

The candidate looked shifty and nervous. The candidate could not maintain eye contact. The candidate's body language conveyed her discomfort with the situation, and while I did my best to put her at ease, she distrusted me. The candidate hated search firms and what they do. The candidate had seen too much, been through too much nonsense and it showed.

Anyhow, I am learning new things while on my current job, and I've learnt a few things today:

1. It is possible to tell from a person's tone of voice certain characteristics and traits about him / her. I have to trust my guts / instincts more when being on a conversation over the phone. If it doesn't feel right, I should not have proceeded. The vibes that one feels do matter.

2. Over the phone, I could have also asked more questions: people are usually more willing to share information over the phone if they know it will save them time (case in point: a particular job seeker could have establised that it is unnecessary for her to come, because she lacks certain credentials, thus avoiding meeting up personally and finding out at the end that she isn't a fit at all).

3. I should not waste another person's time. He / she is willing to see me for a purpose, and that purpose cannot be compromised by me not having done my job well. If I had done my job well, the meeting (and perceived waste of time) could have been avoided.

4. I should never have mentioned the ugly word 'fit'. Fitting people may be the job I do, but if I mentioned that 'fit' was what I am looking for, it forces people that I see into uncomfortable ideas regarding their perceived performance.