One thing I hear regularly from new clients is frustration at having candidates say “no!” to their offers. It’s deflating to invest time and effort to an interview process only to have your top candidate not accept. When that happens, it can leave a significant impact crater inside of the organization and sometimes can damage the company’s reputation as well.

Anyone that reads my stuff or knows me, knows I’m a headhunter. I’m pretty good and one of the reasons that I’m good is because I understand the importance of making it personal.

I’m old. Many of my clients are too. Our shared experiences, over time, allow me to relate to those clients. Effectively, my age has value.

If I were to ask you, “What is a qualified candidate?” what would your answer be? If you are like most people I coach, you’d say something along the lines of, “someone who has the right experience,” or “someone with the right background.”

When you’re hiring, it’s important to understand the four dimensions of a qualified candidate, but eliciting the information you need can sometimes be a challenge.

When you’ve determined that you have a qualified candidate: you know why he wants to leave his current company, that he has valid reasons for exploring your opportunity, and that you can provide what’s important to him, you have two important but too-often neglected tasks:

VALOR PARTNERS, a boutique executive search firm specializing in enterprise and healthcare software, has taken the ParityPledge™, building on its commitment to improving the pathway for women in leadership positions.

A conversation with Greg Stock, CEO of Zenoss, who talks about how he has built his career from getting started at Chrysler to now being a 4-time software CEO. Greg has seen a variety of situations- from the company that was in desperation mode to firing on all cylinders!

I watch companies waste time and money in their interview processes. The waste comes in the form of real dollars, opportunity cost, frustration from hiring managers about talking to unqualified candidates and having their time needlessly lost just to name a few.