Confronting a potential hire about bad body odor

So my situation is such that I have a candidate that is a perfect my match to the job that I presented her to. However the client feels as if there is an issue of body odor and wants me to address it with the candidate. She looks very professional and when I saw her I didn't notice anything.
This is a deal breaker. If I do not address it with the candidate they will not make the offer. Though I do believe that if I do address it there is a good chance that she will be too embarrased to take the job.

Any sugesstions on how to approach this???

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Permalink Reply by Arlene Hernandez on October 29, 2008 at 1:35pm

OMG

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Permalink Reply by Arlene Hernandez on October 29, 2008 at 1:37pm

What did she smell like? If it was arm pit oder that would not be so bad to approach but if it was something else, OMG don't do it....

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Permalink Reply by NYhdhntr on October 29, 2008 at 3:00pm

I guess it was arm pit body odor, as I said I didn't notice it when she came in, but apparently it was offensive the client.
My boss wants me to do it becuase that is what the client has asked us to do. Plus I am not kidding when I say that she is perfect for the job. She is from a competitor doing EXACTLY what the job requires. It would be such a shame to lose her because of this.

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on October 29, 2008 at 3:09pm

I've thought about this for a few minutes and have come up with an idea.

It would be best if you could research this issue a bit before embarrassing the candidate. I think you might want to consider contacting a reference or two and discreetly asking "around" the topic.

That way you might figure out whether it was a one-time thing or an ongoing concern.

NYhdhntr said:

I guess it was arm pit body odor, as I said I didn't notice it when she came in, but apparently it was offensive the client.
My boss wants me to do it becuase that is what the client has asked us to do. Plus I am not kidding when I say that she is perfect for the job. She is from a competitor doing EXACTLY what the job requires. It would be such a shame to lose her because of this.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Babyak on October 29, 2008 at 4:48pm

Boy this is a tough one but if they will not hire her without addressing it you probably need to as long as feel you are not crossing any personal lines with the candidate. Is it possible she was nervous during the interview which caused her to sweat more than normal which in turn caused the odor? If that is the case then the issue should go away (no pun intended) during a normal work environment.

Please let me/us know what you decide.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Nuroo on October 29, 2008 at 7:02pm

Here is something I have had experience with. I have had to have this conversation about 3 times in my career with people. My first attempt was as a young 24 year old to a 30 something contractor of mine, whom the client had complained about after he started. I'm not sure who was more embarrassed him or me. for this conversation I was pretty weak to be honest. But it was effective. I treated it as a normal "you're just in a job, I'll come out and see how you are going" type visit. And mid coffee I regailed him of a story of a young guy, who tried to get too much wear out of his shirts and was sitting in the sun... essentially a story remarkably close to his. At the end I mentioned, that he had the potential to fall into that trap and I would hate to have such an embarrassing conversation with him, and then suggested if I was him I would re-apply my deodorant at lunch time. (SUCCESS! didn't get another complaint)

the other times, I have been a bit older and a little more confident. I have been tactful yet honest, with a hint of bluntness. I promise people I will be upfront, especially when working for me. I have just said that I have had discussions with people about your body odour, and it hasn't been good. Both thanked me for my honesty and candour, and rectified the issue... one guy was just smoking really strong indian cigarettes! It is a learning opportunity, you are not doing the person any favours by not telling them, you are just making yourself feel better.

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Permalink Reply by Prasad Iyengar on October 29, 2008 at 7:38pm

present her with a good deodorant, educate her using some articles on the effects of bad odour, etc.
You can be open about it and take her permission to talk something very personal and tell her in advance that she shd not get offended, but should take it in the right spirit, if she is ok, then, you can discuss this openly.

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Permalink Reply by Alex on October 29, 2008 at 8:51pm

I would also definitely do this over the phone, to save her embarassment. It's going to be hard it enough for her, give her the option of turning red in private. Good luck !

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Permalink Reply by NYhdhntr on November 3, 2008 at 3:51pm

Thanks all for the advice.....

I finally worked up the courage to speak to the candidate. I did do it over the phone and basically told her directly what the problem was. I told her what a great fit she was and that the company really liked her, however there was one concern that I felt that she needed to be aware of.

I believe she took it fairly well, though there was some initial awkwardness, we moved on to speaking about the benefits and salary of the role.