by Danny Cahill

www.accordingtodanny.com

Hi Danny,

I have a candidate with whom my client has conducted a phone interview and they are really excited by him. Given the rarity of the skill sets they seek, this is great news.

The problem is that the candidate, a technology industry type, is under contract for another four months. He does not want to break this commitment, since A) it is interesting work, and B) he does not want to get a reputation as someone who walks out on their obligations.

I submitted him anyway, with the thought that we can make him an offer and see if he buckles on his stance, or we can add some “glue” to the offer, such as a sign on bonus that dissipates within two weeks of the requested start date four months from now. The touchy area in pursuing this candidate is that if my client (through me) suggests that the candidate break his contractual commitment to come work for them sooner, it makes them look smarmy; but if the candidate buckles, the client may also question his integrity.

The CTO suggested we wait a few months to do so. His reasons 1) he hopes to find someone sooner than four months (let’s hope so), and 2) he once let a candidate accept an offer with a start date three months out and she never showed up.

I think everyone is being rational, yet I am questioning if we shouldn’t give it a go anyway. I want to suggest bringing him in for an interview now, and if he passes muster, make him an offer to start ASAP. We deliver it to him in such as fashion that communicates “we understand that you are working at XYZ right now, and if you can’t find a way to end that relationship amicably, we completely understand. We are very excited about the prospect of having you work with us, and sincerely hope something can be worked out.”

Danny, what would you do?

Danny’s response:

Everyone IS being rational. How boring! This situation needs a little chaos. Chaos exists, at least in my life, when what my head tells me is safe and smart is at odds with what my heart tells me I want. Of course it’s rational to wait. There are a TON of things that can go wrong in four months. There are, in fact, more things that can go wrong than the one thing that might go right, namely:

They fall in love with each other….

If you have ever been in love, and I’ve fallen in love several times today and I haven’t even had lunch yet, one of the most wonderful things about it for you and the most maddening for your friends who have your best interests at heart, is logic suddenly goes away. You simply must find a way to be with this person. So you rationalize, you modify positions, you are blind to anything bad that can happen. Our business works on exactly the same principle. No it’s not an intimate relationship, but it is a relationship, and a form of love. A four month delay, contracts and your CTO’s experience the last time they tried this will suddenly disappear.

If you get them together. This can’t happen via a phone interview.

So push hard. Get crazy. Tell the company they are doing this out of sequence. They don’t have enough information. Let’s bring him/her in now and decide whether it’s worth more scrutiny and strategizing. Tell the candidate they understand their situation but want to explore to see if we should all wait for each other. But plant a seed. “You should ask yourself if it goes well, what would it take for you to consider committing sooner?”

Creative people find solutions. He might be able to do both jobs for a two month period. Or do your job on a part time basis while he ramps up. (but he commits) Or your company might make it financially worthwhile to break the contract and risk the burned bridge. Maybe his boss would let him start earlier and get out of the contract honorably if he knew he had a full time opportunity.

The point is, if they hit it off, they’ll find a way. This can’t happen intellectually. Placements are made below the neck. In my home, there is a photo of Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe that I paid a fortune for. It was taken on the night they met. She said later that she knew that night that they would marry. Even though she was considered a lightweight comedic actress and he was the symbol of American Intellectualism, even though he was introverted and shy and she was a party girl, even though they were both married. She knew. And I believe if you look at the picture, you can see all of this in both of their eyes.

Get them together. And then hope. Dr Johnson wrote, “The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but hope to hope.”