The Collapse Era of Human Resource Recruitment

Quite awhile ago, I was hired by a headhunter firm to sit in as a profiler with their client. My job is to assess the profiles of the candidates during the interview for a CEO position. This company has faced several changes of CEO and the HR together with the board of directors are at a loss on how to hire the right person. As similar to most interviews, the candidates gave the “right” answers and “assurances”. Their resumes are equally impressive. After the interviews, we have a closed door session and that’s when I am amazed by their judgement and realized why there are so many changes of CEO in the company. They failed to see how the candidates can deviate from their answers which do not coincide with their facial and body languages. 

Let’s be honest here, every candidates that go for interviews can say the right things if they done enough homework and practice. No one, literally no one, is 100% honest of their resumes and profiles, especially if it is a high paying role that they wanted. If you ask whether they can travel extensively, they will say yes. If you ask whether they can go extra miles to make a difference, they will say yes. If you ask them to share their experience in handling a certain situation, they will seize the opportunity to impress. Everything will be fine until the person comes onboard and fail to deliver. Ever wonder why corporations rotted from the top?

That’s because most interviewers are not trained to be able to assess characters and the associated personalities. When they meet someone for the first time, they tend to find something to like about that person, the chemistry. Typically, a first encounter can strike a level of 50% to 70% of good impression. When they are uncertain about the person, then there will be 2nd or even 3rd interview until that feeling hit close to 90% or more. There’s when they made the decision to hire, purely based on feeling. And they will give the reject candidates some silly excuses like an impressive resume but they were looking for someone who can be…etc, etc… and then the rejected candidates wondered what poor judgement the company could have made.

In my own opinion, there are only three factors that get an interview and be hired. An impressive resume, a genuine good personality, and/or you know someone really high up. If you are not aware by now, the 1st two points can bullshit through easily. Whether the person can really perform is another complete story. What most hirers failed to look for during interview is the person’s character. Let me narrate in another example: Typically, people get drawn into a relationship based on 3 factors as well. An impressive resume (education, background, career, salary, assets, etc.), a good personality (outlook, mannerism, pleasant, intellectual, etc.) and a good introduction from self or a friend. But a relationship starts to face challenges when the real character surfaced. The characteristics of attitude, dishonesty, trust, commitment, bad habits, etc.

A true character has the right attitude but this is not reflected in the resume. Jack Ma got rejected for 30 different jobs. He applied for KFC and only him out of 24 candidates didn’t get the job. All he has is the right character to succeed and make who he is today, the founder of Alibaba Group.

Unless HR starts to look into individual characteristics, corporate hiring is just like rushing into a relationship where breakup caused wasted time and wasted money devoid of something learned. Some corporations like google where the CEO, Larry Page personally reviewed each candidates. The hiring process is extensive and goes deep into understanding and reviewing the candidate’s character above all other criteria.

Character is a high standard of living based on a personal morality code that doesn't succumb to a moment's whim or the majority's dictates. Character is to personal integrity what health is to the body. People with integrity have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. Their lives are an open book. Character is not reputation - what others think of us; nor is it success - what we have accomplished. Character personifies the total of our being and our actions. It originates with who we are, but it expresses itself in the way we live and behave. Leaders can't compromise the need for character in the selection process. No matter how gifted, trained, or seemingly mature a person is, the true usefulness of those attributes will be determined by character.

“As in water face reflects face, so a man’s heart reveals the man.” (Proverbs 27:19)