By Marc Poirier, General Manager of Abbey Placements LLC

“I want Andrew’s clone,” my client told me after learning Andrew would be leaving for a higher paying job. I had found in Andrew exactly the worker my client wanted, and things were perfect for several months. But as sometimes happens, Andrew had a new big career opportunity and could no longer stay with my client. So my client came back to me and asked me to do it again: find the exact person he needed for his company.

I can tell you that few things make recruiters happier than making a perfect placement. We go out of way for our clients to dazzle them with our amazing candidate found ahead of their deadline. And we want our candidates get the job of their dreams, or at least a job they really like. There are days being a recruiter feels like herding cats, but those who stay in our industry do it because they love making the perfect match.

On the other hand, few things are more frustrating to a recruiter than hiring matches not coming together. I control neither side of the placement. Best practices and communicating expectations help, but whether or not someone follows my guidance is ultimately out of my control. When people sell people to people, the odds are good that someone will be let down!

They say in politics that if you want a candidate with whom you agree all the time, you should run yourself. If I could somehow clone myself twice and simultaneously play the role of the recruiter, the employer, and the prospective employee at the same time, I imagine I would make the perfect placement. Recruiting for me, myself and I if you will.

In this thought exercise where I play all three parts of a hire, I would be responsive, decisive, and clearly communicate everything I want. Here is what I would expect from myself:

Me as the Employer

I would:

• Write a position description with requirements and personal preferences each labeled accordingly.
• Write down the managers who absolutely have to interview with the prospective employee, no one more and no one less.
• Give the recruiter at least a week notice before I needed the position filled.
• Require no more than one round of testing, less if possible.
• Reply to the recruiter within hours regarding the resume of the prospective employee.
• Schedule one interview within one day where the prospective employee and all essential managers are present.
• Interview the prospective employee within about an hour.
• Provide feedback to the recruiter about the things I liked and disliked about the prospective employee.
• Offer the job within 24 hours of interviewing.
• Start the new employee within one week.

Me as a Prospective Employee

I would:

• Make a resume with a list of recent and relevant experience backed by verifiable references, all with perfectly accurate dates.
• Apply to the job within one day of the posting.
• Reply to the recruiter within hours regarding an interview.
• Show up for the interview between 5 and 10 minutes ahead of schedule.
• Tell the recruiter exactly what I want and do not want in my next job.
• Give 100 percent effort to any testing that I am required to take.
• Dress completely appropriately for the job interview.
• Show great interest in the position when meeting with the prospective employer.
• Reply to the job offer within a few hours.
• Have all necessary paperwork available for onboarding, like my driver’s license and social security card.
• Pass the drug test and background check.
• Start the job within one week.

Me as a Recruiter

I would:

• Ask comprehensive questions and make careful notes of all the employer’s candidate expectations.
• Post ads that perfectly represent the job.
• Respond to all prospective employee inquiries within 24 hours.
• Interview prospective employees with a friendly, energetic, and professional demeanor.
• Thoroughly explain the job and the hiring process to the prospective employee.
• Review professional references within hours after the interview.
• Go with my gut regarding who to send; ask more questions if my gut has a bad feeling.
• Send out resumes with thorough personal notes within hours of completing interviews.
• Schedule meetings between employers and prospective employees within two days.
• Perform a pre-interview consultation and post-interview consultation with the prospective employee.
• Ask employers questions and address all possible concerns post-interview until I know exactly where they stand.
• Contact the prospective employee immediately with the job offer.
• Perform on-boarding within two days of the job offer and set the start date within one week.
• Continue recruiting for additional candidates until the prospective employee starts the job.

I’m not perfect and these expectations are certainly neither comprehensive nor representative of all views, but they each represent a problem that has broken up a placement I have attempted to make in the past several years. Perhaps these problems will resonate with you if you have dealt with the same issues. Please comment below if you have had other problems not listed here in your past.

May your hiring provide exactly what you want from it.