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Candidate used work email in recruiting process, deal breaker?
I have a candidate that made it through multiple rounds of interviews and every person who spoke with her absolutely loved this candidate. She has a great personality, driven, and is incredibly intelligent. However, she is a recent graduate and has room to grow / needs to learn the "unspoken rules" of the workforce. For example, she used her current employer's email to send thank you emails and work samples to myself and the team. I chalked this up to her being "green" and this is something she needed to learn. I even had our recruiter reach out to let her know moving forward to not use that email address since it could send the wrong message.
This role is an entry level role for a department that I manage. This wasn't a deal breaker for me since it's an entry level role, we can't expect polished candidates out of the gate. The VP I report in to always wants to screen candidates regardless of the level of the role. Her using her work email was a deal breaker for him. I tried to make the case to defend hiring her and that didn't go over well.
Now I'm in the situation where I have to pass up an incredible candidate for a lapse in judgement (we've also been hiring for this role for 3 months). Any suggestions on how to move forward? Is it worth making the case even further to my VP? Or is this a definite no-no in your eyes?
Terrie Stearns McWhorter
608
11/13/20 at 3:40PM UTC
Wow...I am a little worried that your boss doesn't remember what it is like to be new to a company. I would push to get that employee in and mold her and shape her and groom her to grow!!! Me, being me, would go back to my supervisor and say, Can we take a moment to revisit our discussion about Sue Smith? I am losing sleep over this and would really like to talk about it. That right there should show your boss that you are invested. If she works out and is acceptable to coaching GREAT, if not you can tell the boss he was right...Best of luck
Sara MyersMidwest Professor and Research Administrator
141
11/13/20 at 2:45PM UTC
I would just like to add that in academia most institutions have a "reasonable use" policy with faculty and employee email use. I agree if using work email is a violation of that company's policy, you might want to really think about how this person will follow your own company's policy. However if the company allows reasonable use, I really do not think it is an issue.
Anonymous
11/13/20 at 2:30PM UTC
Total deal breaker. Sorry but not sorry. It takes 10 minutes to set up a free email account from any browser, phone, cafe etc. Its those extra 10 minutes that set you apart in EVERYTHING in life. Its a lesson well learned early on in her career...we all have to learn lessons along the way.
There is really no excuse. Even if your current company allows job searching during company time, you do NOT do it from the company email, especially when creating your own email address is free and readily available. I just personally find no acceptable excuse for this.
Natalia StajudaTalent Attraction Specialist
24
11/13/20 at 11:45AM UTC
I would push the VP to reconsider. It is not a deal breaker, especially if you are looking for a person for this position for such a long time. Let's also think about it from perspective of candidate's experience. Is it enough of a justification to remove her from the process?
Personally I would not even focus on which email the candidate uses, as long as this person is a fit for my position.
Perhaps outlining the risks of not hiring this candidate would also help your case? For example money spent for continuoes recruitment for this position, time and resources wasted, and impact on the business (if there is any), if you keep this position not filled for longer time.
Heather Morrison, PCM, CDMPSenior Project Manager
206
11/12/20 at 6:46PM UTC (Edited)
I'm going to take a page from Liz Ryan's playbook and remind hiring managers that they will never find the perfect candidate if they look for flaws in every applicant. If she's a good fit for the role, but also seems unxperienced, then don't look at it as a reason not to hire her, but as a reason to bring her on and mentor her.
This is the same for everything within a posting/position and somethign that irritates me to no end. That if a person isn't using the right keywords to get past the ATS or the hiring manager gets hung up over the candidate falling just a tiny bit short of meeting ALL of the posting requirements, they pass them over instead of looking at what skills they can bring to the table and how, if hired, that person can be mentored into being a really great employee not only in that role, but elswhere in the company.
Lastly, as I read in the comments, if a person is actively job hunting on company time perhaps you, as an employer shoud be asking themselves why that person is job hunting in the first place. It might not be the employee, but something with the company they work for. Just some food for thoguht.
Rebecca Lee VOperations Analyst
2.22k
11/12/20 at 6:21PM UTC
To him it might be a lack of loyalty. If she is willing to look for work while at work at her current job what will stop her from doing with you. Also, depending on the industry this could be a major security violation.
Erika MillenAccurate, insightful indexing.
13
11/12/20 at 6:12PM UTC (Edited)
I'm guessing the VP's objection is that the candidate might have been job hunting on company time, and he doesn't want to bring her on board if she would then do the same at your company. That's a fair objection, although so much depends on the circumstances. In my last position, my employer announced mass (4,000+) layoffs and made plans to shutter the division where I worked. Our office was given one month's notice, and during that time, our employer arranged for outsourcing specialists to come in and meet with us on company time to discuss resume writing, networking, interviewing, and so on. My boss even brought in a photographer for anyone who needed a headshot. In our case, most of our work had been offshored when the company announced the closure, so we were actively encouraged to use the remaining time to find other positions.
Jennifer A
968
11/12/20 at 5:41PM UTC (Edited)
Several posters have commented that using a work email is something that folks should know not to do. I would like to add a lens to this - Not everyone does know this. Having worked with companies from 'family owned' to larger international organizations, what I think is a 'standard' and what a new entry level employee thinks is 'standard' based on their life experience are not always the same thing. Please keep in mind that not everyone is 'formally trained' and many may not have had previous experiences that 'taught' them the unmentioned rules of business. Two college grads may be from two different areas. Consider that the middle class kid from the burbs may have had parents who could educate them and another kid might be from a different socio-economic situation where these rules were 'unknown' and therefore not taught. I remember my parents cautioning me against getting a tattoo saying it would hurt my chances for that first corporate job and now my daughter has a huge tattoo that she sees as art and isn't hurting her at all. Our lenses shape what we see and what we perceive so it's important that we look at that.
With regards to the whether to push or not. I would say take a very logical approach. Consider your corporate capital. I like the idea of approaching the VP to enquire why this is a big deal and if you have the capital fighting for the employee. I can also respect that should you do so, your new employee might be starting out from a underdog position and that isn't a good place to be. May I suggest that should you not pursue this candidate, that you reach out to her and develop a mentor type relationship? If you can't get her the job and you really thinks she is a potentially great employee, help her reach her potential.
Nancy CTalent Partner | Collaborator | DEI Champion
204
11/12/20 at 5:43PM UTC
Well said!!
Kristina CabezasPM Mom Looking to Make an Impact
20
11/12/20 at 4:29PM UTC
I would totally fight some more for her - in a respectful way, of course. Especially since you've been looking for 3 months already AND the candidate has successfully made it through all of the other rounds.
I agree with the others that it's heavily dependent upon your relationship with the VP and how comfortable you feel approaching him again, but one more try shouldn't hurt.
Or, perhaps the others that have interviewed the candidate could appeal to the VP via email so that way it isn't just coming from you?
Nancy CTalent Partner | Collaborator | DEI Champion
204
11/12/20 at 4:09PM UTC
Why not teach someone who is inexperienced instead of writing them off completely? What if they haven't had access to mentors or teachers who took the time to help them realize what others think is "right" in a job search? What if this candidate doesn't have a personal computer outside of work? Sure, she could create a personal email and access it from her work computer, but how many of us are behind on personal email because we spend so much time in our work email? I know I sure am!
I really appreciate the conversation this has prompted, and I'm quite surprised at how many people are so quick to write someone off for one very small mistake. If we write off everyone for the smallest mishaps, how can we learn, innovate, and provide opportunities to grow in our careers and help others do the same?
Anonymous
11/13/20 at 2:27PM UTC
I think it comes down to a larger perspective here. From the VP's level, he has to perhaps think about this situation from a different perspective (this candidate not being his direct report). Yes, its a small mistake, but it VERY easily could have been avoided. This is something taught in many high school and college courses and is not time consuming. From the VP standpoint he may need to be concerned with
1. Not investing company dollars into someone he is not confident with.
2. If a situation occurred later, he would now be faced with the facts that there were red flags
3. There could be outside circumstances that are assisting his decision
At the end of the day, its not clear cut and dry. No, we can't write off someone for one small mistake BUT....we all do every day and this message board would not be around otherwise. There are hundreds of articles that focus on "dress to impress", "how to make the best first impression", "how to interview"....These are all things we listen to ourselves because we know that you only get one chance to make a first impression. She made a mistake, she will learn from it...as we all have
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