This latest addition is inspired by my college room-mate that recently took a position in his field after years with a company where he was a top executive. His previous company made promises for months to make him a partner, he dutifully did his job and went above and beyond - besides base pay, there was always a bonus....but the carrot was always dangling to get him to a higher status. He did the right thing, sat down with his boss and asked when could they expect to have this discussion and put it together. They set a date/time and it was unfortunately "avoided" by his boss on more than one occasion. That opened the window...There is a common question that motivates people to make a change...What's going on at your present position that would make you open to leaving your present role?

Sometimes it could be a subtle recent event that puts the "seed of thought" into the head of a potential candidate that makes them open to exploring other options in their career. This is often a window that is likely to go one of two places - 1) the window will be closed shortly as things get better in a short period of time, or 2) things continue to make the candidate open to another opportunity.

Hiring managers that recognize talent won't wait around knowing that they may only have a brief shot at getting someone on board - they will move on a strong candidate quickly, get them involved in thinking about their opportunity and move them forward - inevitably, the candidates focus becomes geared more and more away from their present role and allows for a solid chance to land someone special.

Hiring managers continually lose out on talent that may be right in front of them - in Executive Search, a quality recruiter will put these types of people in front of their clients all the time...but it's the hiring manager who needs to see there may only be a little window - Timing is Everything!       

John Assunto is the Vice President of the Education Division at the Hudson Consulting Group in Glastonbury, CT. As the VP of the division, John created the division after a 15 year career in the education industry. Under his direction, his staff has provided national search services with proprietary schools, traditional colleges and universities, online schools, academic corporations and companies serving the education arena. You can contact him directly at 860-652-8660 x 103 or johna@hudsongrp.com.

2008-11-17