Do ‘Perfect’ Candidates Exist, and Should You Hire Them?
When posed with the question recently of whether ‘perfect’ candidates exist, and if you should hire them, I immediately thought to myself how much more nuanced the answer is than it would first appear.
First and foremost, the question is a two-pronged issue, so let’s approach it as such—tackling one at a time. Regarding whether or not perfect candidates exist, the simple answer is no; they don’t really.
Finding the (Almost) Perfect Candidate
The reality is there will always be compromise that needs to be made, or a balance found between the right technical and behavioral skills. Even if you find someone who seems exceptional in every way, other companies are likely to come to the same conclusion, often turning the offer process into a bidding war. Not ideal. Despite this, my experience is that far too much time is spent by hiring managers or HR obsessing over hiring this elusive perfect candidate—whose resume looks like it was grown in a lab for the job at hand. This leads to a highly overlooked (and quite considerable) pool of other potential hires who could do the job to an equal, if not higher, standard, based upon all of the constituent experience that they have gained—even if they may not have spent the last five or ten years doing the exact same job you are currently hiring for, which itself begs the question of why they’d want to continue doing the same thing again for you.
After the “Perfect” Hire
With respect to the second issue at hand, let’s use a hypothetical scenario to illustrate this “what if.” If you find that almost perfect candidate, then you may be in for a shock if you do hire them. Why? Because you need to consider the fact that high performance, high potential employees expect to be able to move up the chain quickly, and those who don’t see a clear opportunity for upward mobility from their current role and salary ultimately leave to pursue opportunities elsewhere, as shown in this SHRM study.
These candidates expect to work on the most cutting-edge, most visible projects in the business. Wondering what happens if you’re not able to meet these expectations, and you’re not paying them at the 95th percentile or above, and you’re not giving them a promotion every 12 months? In short: You’re not going to keep them.
The ‘Perfect’ Remedy: It’s All About Incentives
The good news is that there is a way to remedy this. Simply offer something that allows the person you hire to develop themselves professionally in the role. In other words, hire someone who has a great body of relevant, foundational, experience, but who hasn’t done it all before, and give them the motivation to grow and evolve into the job.
A great article published by the Harvard Business Review explains how imperfection in a candidate doesn’t have to mean their disqualification for the role, and offers insights on how to determine whether or not your potential hire is worth your leap of faith.
When you’re hiring, you have to consider your own employer’s reputation and focus on what exactly it is that you need and can offer, then break things down—not merely in terms of what this person will be doing and whether they’ve done that job before, but in terms of what their constituent skills are, whether those skills are a likely indicator of success, and what it is that the candidate expects from you, career-wise, in the longer term.
We have already acknowledged that there really is no perfect candidate, but you also have to realize and accept that you as a company are not perfect either. The real answer and solution to this equation is achieved by looking at this relationship as a mutually beneficial partnership. A crucial element for this equation to “add up” is that you need to be confident knowing that your expectations and their expectations—in terms of the work they will be doing and how they will get recognized and rewarded for their success—are wholly aligned.