“I Respectfully Declined The Search Assignment” – Part 2

There are times when you’ll need to walk away from something (or someone) to guard the integrity of what you do as a profession…

I was reminded of this recently during a client interaction (identity concealed to protect them and our relationship……….still in good standing!)…

This interaction came with a leader within their organization who I had never worked with before…

I was referred to this individual because of my relationship within the organization and everything was off to a great start…

We had a great kickoff call that laid the foundation for a positive search experience. From my side, my only request was timely feedback after each submission to keep my candidates engaged in the process.

Within a week, I was able to identify 2 candidates with different backgrounds, but equally qualified for the role in my opinion…

Things took a negative turn from there…

For 2 weeks, I had not heard from that hiring manager. Despite many attempts to get an update, I was left in the dark…

Rather than call me back, I received an email unapologetically with no explanation for the absence. Instead, I was met with a request to see more candidates…

I realized that this hiring manager viewed me as “hired help”, and not a valued partner. He thought that I was just another recruiter who was desperate to close a deal.

Frustrated from what I perceived to be a blatant disregard for my time, I decided to withdraw myself from further activities related to that search…

…I slept well that night.

There are times when you’ll need to walk away from something (or someone) to guard the integrity of what you do as a profession.