We lost a consulting opportunity this week. In the past I used to agonize over how it could have been averted. I've always been confident in my business eye and in just about everything to the point of being unrealistic. In my mind there isn't any way another competing business could have a better solution than what we had!
In today's market there is no shortage of highly skilled candidates who want the same position. The fact is that many consultants talk to one another and know who each is working with, where they're being submitted and interviewing, and how much each makes (this is always tricky as I've found exaggeration can be rampant). So what is the right thing to do with candidates in preparation for an interview? For our company, it's preparing them on the players, the project, and honest discussion about the environment, and then the business and financial benefits of the assignment. I've never, and my recruiters have never, told a consultant how to act or what to say. We've discussed client tendencies to ask certain types of questions in an interview and to expect more or less technical grilling from one client or another. But our philosophy is to let the recruiting process and our understanding of our clients and the candidates we've presented stand on their own merits.
Now, back to the one we lost. We lost it because the personality fit wasn't compatible. The consultant in question is very talented and fits very well in some environments. But they have a tendency to be very strongly willed and have firm beliefs in their work methods and practices. To some clients this can be seen as a positive attribute and to others a concern. This client felt concern and went to the next candidate in line. Had we coached this candidate to be someone in the interview they are not, we risk a poor client experience or reputation. Its small consolation but one that hopefully our clients have come to appreciate.
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