Things I said as a manager part 2: Hiring is emotional
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Things I said as a manager part 2: Hiring is emotional
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Re: Things I said as a manager part 2: Hiring is emotional
#2This is one of the key reasons you let the recruiting/HR do this. The other red flag is the amount of time you have engaged with the person before the decision which also sounds bad. You might have inadvertently let them have false hope.
One of my starting points for companies looking to grow from small founding team to a more larger structure is to define the hiring and firing process way up front. It is not worth playing around with people's emotion and putting everyone in a difficult position.
Re: Things I said as a manager part 2: Hiring is emotional
#3> I had been talking to the candidate for months and they had completed our entire interview panel. We’d had great conversations where I’d learned about their background and developed a sense for how they would fit in this role. Unfortunately, I had to tell them we would not be moving forward with an offer.
> It was hard because I wasn’t confident in the decision. They were close and had potential, but we also saw some gaps. After lots of discussion with my management chain, ...
WAY too long a time period, and WAY too much time invested. And hopefully you'll never, never, ever need this candidate's good word or goodwill for anything - 'cause you'll have precious little chance of getting either.
Re: Things I said as a manager part 2: Hiring is emotional
#4Appalling. You were lucky the candidate was available for months of interaction. You deliberated too much and you lost out on what sounded like an excellent fit. No one is going to be perfect. No one is going to be at their best during interviews. Yet not understanding that when someone shows strength and promise that you bring them in to the role where there's a probationary period to do further evaluation shows a complete lack of competence in hiring.
Yikes.
Re: Things I said as a manager part 2: Hiring is emotional
#5Appalling. You were lucky the candidate was available for months of interaction. You deliberated too much and you lost out on what sounded like an excellent fit. No one is going to be perfect. No one is going to be at their best during interviews. Yet not understanding that when someone shows strength and promise that you bring them in to the role where there's a probationary period to do further evaluation shows a c…
This is the key takeway, not hey you know what, I'm evaluating this person or poor me my job is hard. Unless this is for astronaut training for a manned trip to Mars to build a colony that time line is insane.
Re: Things I said as a manager part 2: Hiring is emotional
#6> I had been talking to the candidate for months and they had completed our entire interview panel. We’d had great conversations where I’d learned about their background and developed a sense for how they would fit in this role. Unfortunately, I had to tell them we would not be moving forward with an offer. > It was hard because I wasn’t confident in the decision. They were close and had potential, but we also saw so…
Curious how many other people were similarly taken for a ride while management was waffling on this decision. How many dozens of hours were invested on both sides.
Re: Things I said as a manager part 2: Hiring is emotional
#7> They were close and had potential, but we also saw some gaps.
I would be really interested to hear more about the specific "gaps".
> After lots of discussion with my management chain, we decided not to extend the offer.
I wonder exactly what was said, given that this candidate was led on for months by this point and I presume the management knew about everything along the way. Also, was someone else hired, or did they just cancel the entire opening?
I understand some emotional pain about passing up a really nice candidate for an objectively unbeatable one (that's competition for you), but I only get the sense that it was a single person in the interview loop (who was then cancelled on): they were apparently hiring for just one extra manager position?
Re: Things I said as a manager part 2: Hiring is emotional
#8Yikes! If any of my previous CEOs caught me spending “months” making a hiring decision I’d be toast.
Re: Things I said as a manager part 2: Hiring is emotional
#9I remember not too long ago when you'd do a quick phone screen, then sit for maybe a technical interview and maybe come into the office for a panel to talk to other devs. Most of the time, hiring managers would say, "If you're close with your technical skills, we can teach you, but we're more interested if you fit in with our culture "
Months of interaction? Why did just a few years ago, managers could spot a phony a mile away and could see potential in people? Why is it I feel like I'm dating you just to try and get a job?
This story just confirms how broken and dysfunctional the process has become to make a simple hire.
Re: Things I said as a manager part 2: Hiring is emotional
#10I think many people would prefer bad news like this in an email. I know this was a long (!) hiring process and the willingness to tell someone to their face is noble, but I imagine it might be both unexpected in a Zoom call and hard to process with someone looking at you.
If the intent is to give a verbal explanation, I’d send an email with the news and then offer to connect on Zoom for that.
(But I’d also avoid a process anywhere close to this long.)