Comment by Maureen Sharib on February 26, 2009 at 7:31am

I dunno that we have to swing for the fences each and every time Becky. Sometimes a fast, hard line between bases is what's called for. Or a pop-up sacrifice fly that moves the runner to third, a soft ground ball that pulls everyone off their postiions or a blooper that softly plops giving everyone time to think.

The push back part of your post caught my attention - I think many of us (especially these days) are becoming more and more wary of it but it in itself is becoming more and more important. I'm interested in the "push-back" scenarios of others -and - I'd like to hear more about the curve ball you were thrown Becky!

Comment by Becky Metcalf on February 26, 2009 at 10:02am

Thanks Maureen! Way to continue my baseball theme! You make a good point, and really illustrate what I am “driving home” here - that we have to be flexible. And sometimes that means a line drive or even - gasp - taking one for the team.

Push back - yes, let's hear some more about that. I think we could all learn from each other there as it can be a touchy subject. Because we work in such a people oriented business we always have to be wary of how we behave affects our relationships with our candidates and our hiring managers - pushing back can be a good way to damage a relationship if not handled correctly.

I'm getting ready to post a discussion about push back with an embarassing story about a lesson I learned the hard way.

Comment by Maureen Sharib on February 26, 2009 at 10:09am

I look forward to your pushback discussion! So I guess what you're saying is we should all learn to be better "utility" players?
;)
utility player - A player who fills in at many positions.

Comment by Rayanne on February 26, 2009 at 11:13am

Diversity, baby! Our employers and/or clients actually get more for their money instead of paying an exorbitant amount for a guy that can merely swing a bat (who's probably taking performance-enhancing drugs, but he doesn't really know what they do - read A-Rod, here, if only we all had an "I didn't know" escape plea)

Comment by Julia Stone on February 27, 2009 at 11:08am

I had a very strange interview this month. It was with someone I found through social media, so I didn't have their complete history. Bottom line was that I thought I was interviewing him for my VP position and he thought he was networking with me to help me find candidates.

He was a bit condescending at first and I found myself being immediately being put off, especially when he started talking down to me about technology which is something I understand pretty well. He wanted me to give him more details first, and I try to interview candidates before I give them lots of details. Somehow when I give candidates the run down on the job first, they are always a perfect match, go figure?! I decided to put my reactions aside and delve deeper into the situation.

Finally, I said, look, if you are making 500,000 a year in a job that is challenging and you enjoy, I am not so sure that I can offer anything that would be of interest to you.

Suddenly, we both understood each other and were able to move forward, he not only referred me an excellent candidate, but told me he would like to work with me in the future.

So if I were to add some baseball lingo...I was very close to a called strike out and it may end up being a triple.

I will reluctantly admit that my first instinct was to get off that call as quickly as possible. It was late in the evening and I was convinced it was going to be a complete waste of time. I was wrong, and came very close to just being "another recruiter" in his eyes.

Comment by Maureen Sharib on February 27, 2009 at 11:14am

Julia, I think you mean a "Grand Slam."
;)

Comment by Becky Metcalf on February 27, 2009 at 11:22am

Julia, great story! That is a wonderful example of just the flexibility I am talking about. When expectations are askew we can be sometimes be taken by surprise, but with a dynamic approach and an open mind we can turn an iffy situation into a great success! It would have been easy to end the call scratching your head and getting huffy because you were put off by the nature of his approach, but instead you worked through it and realized he didn't have an attitude after all - rather he was there to help you make that big play!

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