Are You Fishing From a Dry Pond?

I recently worked with a manager who told me, “I've never had to hire anyone before. This is the first opportunity that I've had to do it and I really thought it would be easy.” (If only!) I had to smile because I knew that with the economy in a recovery mode and unemployment being low, he had surely not had an easy experience. He mentioned to me that in trying to fill the position, they posted an ad on a job board and they received 30 applicants. Of the 30, 25 were not even close to the mark. But the other five were shortlisted. They brought the five in for face-to-face interviews; three of the five, once they met them face-to-face and had a conversation with them, were ruled out. Of the two that they kept under consideration, one received a job offer elsewhere and took himself out of the running. The other they just felt so-so about-- like perhaps they might be settling for whoever was there and convenient at the time. I asked the manager why he felt so-so about the person and he said, “My gut instinct told me there was something ‘off’ about this person.” He couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but he just couldn't get over a hunch that maybe the candidate’s motives weren't sincere. They continued putting him through the interview process because even though they didn't have much time invested yet, they felt like “better the devil you know than the devil you don't know.” They invited him back for a final interview and they made him an offer, which he verbally accepted. And then . . . for six days after verbally accepting, he went radio silent. They emailed him a formal offer letter and a summary of their benefits, but heard nothing. The HR manager called but could not reach the candidate by phone. She also sent a couple of emails, but couldn't reach him that way either. They started to worry that perhaps he had been in an accident or there had been a death in the family. But finally, he sheepishly returned the phone call to say that his current employer had given him a lucrative counter-offer and it just didn't make sense for him to make a change to their company anymore. Now the hiring manager has to start all the way back at square one and I asked him what his game plan was. He shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Well, I guess we'll just put the ad back out on Indeed and see what happens this time.” I could see the consternation in his face. Before I could interject, he asked me, in total sincerity, “Do we have another choice?”

Yes, resoundingly yes.

If he posted an ad during the last recession, when unemployment was high and a lot of people from the oil and gas industry had been victims of companies closing down or mass layoffs, he might have gotten 300 applicants in the time it took him to get 30-- or maybe more than 300. But when unemployment is low-- in some parts of the country it's all the way down to 2%-- you're fishing in a pond that's almost dry.

If you are a hiring manager in food & beverage or agriculture and you are struggling to fill an open position, please email me directly at sara@sectechnical.com and I will personally respond with recommendations.