Executive Search and Hiring Processes Maintaining Moderation in the Relationship

                   The interview process is a tricky business. This is typically the most crucial stage of the executive search and hiring procedures, wherein not only is the employer coming to learn about and assess potential employees, but at which time those same candidates are forming an early assessment of the employer as well. While everyone tends to think about the importance of the candidate as they are working to make a strong first impression on the employer and impress the interviewer with their skills and background, what most fail to consider is the need for the interviewer to do likewise, putting their best foot forward and presenting themselves to their candidates in a respectful and professional manner. Unfortunately, far too many employers misinterpret this as meaning that they need to begin selling their candidates on the company and the available position almost as soon as they set foot through the door. However, taking such an offensive strategy in their interview processes has shown to be more damaging than effective as it tends to create false hopes and ideas in the candidates' minds when the employer becomes too enthusiastic too early, not to mention that this means the interviewer is probably doing far too much talking and not letting the candidate speak, a circumstance which means that the employer cannot possibly be assessing the individual as well as they should.

                     The problem here is that there is a careful balance that needs to be struck early on in the interview process wherein each participant acknowledges and defines their roles even before the interview proper begins. While those in these roles tend to view the circumstances as the interviewer having the authority and being in charge, given the precarious and trying nature of these procedures, the interviewer at least, needs to be able to recognize that, in essence, they are in a far more balanced relationship with the candidate than they might have been in the past. Nowadays, following the decline of the economy and its effects on the job market, when employers think they have found an individual who shows sufficient promise they have a tendency to throw themselves at these candidates, turning over the power in the relationship to the applicant as they abandon their traditional role and begin working to keep the individual in question interested in the company and position.

                          Unfortunately, more often than not, this failure to keep the relationship defined and balanced will only result in bad hires which will then have to be let go shortly thereafter and the whole process begun anew, a cycle which can be extremely costly to any organization. To avoid such a situation, the employer must acknowledge that, while they have the power to decide on a candidate, when those talented individuals come along, some degree of that power will shift, as they are sure to want to hang on to such a promising candidate. But as tempting as this might be, to maintain and integrity and effectiveness of the executive search and hiring processes, and to escape having to repeat these processes unnecessarily, employer must maintain control of the situation and find that crucial balance to let them effectively assess the individual while keeping them interested and drawn in without swaying to far one way of the other.