When I was a recruiter, one of my favorite parts of the hiring process was decision time, when I would gather the feedback of the different interviewers who had met all the finalists and they would share their choices and reasons for why they picked who they picked. The majority of the time, a favorite was clear well before the end. Sure, sometimes the favorite would peter out – we’d probe on a skill and it turned out not to be as developed as we thought, or a personality clash with someone on the team would make the hire impractical. But for the most part, it was clear after a few interviews who would be getting the job.
However, there were also those openings that were too close to call at the outset. There were two candidates that were both perfectly qualified and both a great fit with the existing team and both bringing unique value to the role. Close hiring calls are highly individualized, so there is no magic bullet that will make an employer choose you when the competition is stiff. But I wanted to share three real-life examples of recent searches where the competition was very close right to the end, so you can see how the employers made their decisions in these particular cases, and you can get some ideas for your own job search:
An Outside Criteria Breaks The Tie
On a brand director search, there were two finalists who were both strong but very different – one was the creative visionary, the other had a track record for detailed execution. The employer needed a brand refresh so really prized the creative. At the same time, the workplace culture was very hands-on, with even the senior-most management involved in minute details, so the execution candidate would fit right in. On the other hand, the fact that the creative might not fit with the culture actually excited the hiring team because it fit with the need for a brand refresh. On the other hand, being hands-on wasn’t just the present-day management culture it was part of the firm’s decades-long institutional DNA. This made the detailed execution candidate a particularly valuable find.
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In the end, it was decided that both candidates should be hired at some point. However, for the role at hand, the creative won the day – but not because leading on the creative was deemed more important than leading on the execution. The decision team was deadlocked between choosing the creative v. the detailed execution candidate. It was the creative’s track record with managing direct reports that broke the tie. Where we could all agree was that the creative candidate had a history of strong, long-lasting relationships with direct reports (some starting from when these people were quite junior), and the directs ended up with big roles of their own. The role we were hiring for was also going to have a number of direct reports, and it was very attractive (and ultimately the deciding factor) that this creative could develop and coach as well as he could. Hiring criteria include a range of factors, and sometimes a less obvious criteria becomes the tie-breaker. As you go through the interview process, make sure you share all of your super powers, not just the ones you think are the most relevant.
Desire Trumps Skill
On a B2B sales search, several candidates came in with impressive track records. The biggest-selling candidate didn’t make the final two – while his numbers were great, it wasn’t clear that he really wanted the role. I have seen how desire trumps skill in many other searches – when a candidate, however qualified, doesn’t appear to want the role, employers aren’t interested. That narrowed the field to two, and a desire-over-skill calculation decided the search again. The runner up arguably had better qualifications – longer track record in a lead sales role, more diverse (in terms of client coverage), and his background (how he got into sales, the different roles he played) was more in line with a lead sales profile.
The candidate who was ultimately hired was earlier in her career as a lead sales generator. She had come up from a completely different industry, and her earlier jobs varied widely. But the hiring team all saw a hunger in the other candidate that was missing in the more obvious finalist. Her energy was obvious to everyone she met – she had taken the redeye for the final rounds, had eight hours of high-level interviews back-to-back, and was as fresh at the end of the day as she was when she started. Hunger and energy impress. As you go through the hiring process, keep your motivation high and apparent.
Employers Change Their Minds
On a general management search, the critical mandate was to find someone who could steer the organization in a new direction. The bread-and-butter business was maturing, and there was a new, growing trend that this organization wanted to focus and build on. The two finalists represented the old and the new. One finalist was coming from inside the industry and had led new initiatives that introduced his previous employers into new areas. The other finalist never worked in this industry and was a true outsider. But she had a track record for coming into difficult environments and turning them around. The hiring team acknowledged they would have been happy with either candidate and were ecstatic at having to make a difficult choice between two excellent candidates. If this organization was serious about making big changes, the newcomer was exactly what they asked for…
Yet, the organization opted for the traditional. Even though the whole search was conducted under the premise that they wanted to hire an outsider, they chose the insider. The newcomer demonstrated every quality and skill the job description asked for, but once the hiring team saw a candidate who was both an insider (therefore less risk) and still innovative (therefore filling enough of the initial mandate) they took the safer road. Employers change their minds (and tend to be risk-averse). They will say they want one thing and hire for something else. As you conduct your job search, pursue multiple leads even when you’re in the finals – you can do everything right and still not get the offer.
As it turned out, the general management search ended up being filled by the newcomer. The insider candidate decided to stay where he was, so the organization happily turned to the other finalist, and she’s still there and doing very well. The hiring process has its twists and turns, and many searches have tight competition. But there are happy endings – the creative who gets selected even when his fit is outside the cultural norm, the highly motivated candidate who wills her way into a new job, the outsider who gets her shot. How will you manage your job search to its happy ending?
