Tesar-Reynes

One of the very best candidates I ever met on a very tough search happened to be a Hawaiian woman, who was six foot two and about 230 pounds.

The moment I met her, I knew I’d found the very right person for the wrong job.  It had nothing to do with her gender or origin.  It had everything to do with her size.  The hiring manager was five foot two with a minor Napoleon complex.

One of the toughest things I have to do as a person that is executing a search is to find people that will really fit.  Not just the job spec, but the boss.  I am constantly in awe of what I don’t know when I start a new search.  Some people want a higher clone of themselves, while others, more enlightened, want to hire someone who will complement their ability.

One of the toughest things I do as a search manager is to try and discern what is really wanted.  It has nothing to do with the meeting of job specs in the initial interview.  It has everything to do with the feedback I get from the people that were there.

Over time, I have found that the real hiring discriminators have much more to do with quirky things like asking good questions, looking someone in the eye, lack of jewelry or the presence of facial hair. This is the feedback that allows me to find people that will either truly flourish in an environment or be tolerant of it.