Leave your ego at the door!

Not too long ago, I began an executive search for one of my fiercely loyal clients. The role was technical by nature and quite unique in terms of the qualification, skill set and experience sought; essentially, a tricky one requiring somewhat of a unicorn candidate. In addition to this, I am ever so passionate about searching to find the best fit not only for the team, but for the general culture of the business to ensure longevity in the role and that both parties are content in to the long term.

As most of you know, I adore a good challenge and am well experienced at finding said unicorns; having had a lot of experience of doing so. I utilise a number of methods to source the right people; mostly leaning heavily towards Head Hunting passive candidates to tap in to Top Talent and get the best results.

I screened a few dozen people with the right background and skill set across the country and from there I shortlisted and interviewed 6 of those people. From there, I felt that 2 of the people interviewed met the brief perfectly on all fronts. Resumes and extensive candidate summaries were sent to the hiring manager for consideration.

Of the two people in the running for the opportunity; one was well experienced and very well regarded in the industry and very, very smart with high aspirations. I found the candidate to be exciting to talk to, inspiring , quite evidently very capable and certainly a high performer with an impressive track record. But, I could not help but notice that he had a huge EGO. I thought perhaps he may have just been puffing out his chest feathers during the interview process to ensure that he left an impression. On the other hand, I also thought that someone with such smarts, drive, ambition and passion, when harnessing this and managing this person in the right way, could be an absolute game changer.

The other person was less experienced and not so well known in the industry, but was also extremely smart and quite obviously going places. He was confident but unassuming; he was courteous, professional and sincerely wanted to join a team in which he would be valued, somewhere that he could make a difference and also of course, hoping that he would in turn, progress his career with time. He wasn't pushy, he wasn't rude and yes, he knew how good he was and how scarce his skill set is and yet he conducted himself in a way that was complimentary and hugely down to earth. Simply put, he was easy to get along with and refreshing to talk to, a genuinely nice person, capable of great things.

My contact was faced with a dilemma. Two superstars and two completely different characters altogether. What do you think? Did they go with Mr Ego, who was well experienced and would hit the ground running, but strategically managing him along the way or did they take on the other candidate, who would initially require a little more supervision to bring him up to speed?

Yes, you got it; they went with Mr Courteous and it is a match made in Recruiter heaven. Happy client + happy candidate = happy us!