Recruiting Lessons From Dad

This Father’s Day, I want to pay tribute to my dad, Steve Winings, on Happy Hiring. My dad has spent the past 12 years of his career recruiting for venture-backed technology companies, and he is currently a Senior Partner at Korn/Ferry in the DC area.  I have learned a lot about recruiting from him, both through osmosis and by asking how he would deal with particularly challenging situations.

Here are a few of the top recruiting lessons I have learned from my dad:

You can’t over communicate. There is never too much information that you can give to a client or hiring manager. It’s important to give them the good and the bad, and to keep them abreast of whatever is going on in your recruiting process. Always seek clarity with your stakeholders.

Secondary reference checks are essential. You will often learn more from a reference who was not given to you by a candidate (sometimes called “back door references”) than by one who was. Feedback on a candidate’s performance and character is usually more helpful when it comes from someone who has not given the candidate the go-ahead to pass their contact information along.

Maintain your high ethical standards. Protect your candidates’ privacy in their job search, and be honest and open throughout the hiring process with your stakeholders.

Don’t quit. My dad once framed this Don’t Quit poem for my brother and me when we were in high school. Although he meant it as inspiration for life in general, I find that much of its contents are helpful in recruitment. When a search is particularly frustrating, or you are not satisfied with the candidates you are finding, do not give up.

The search is not over when a candidate accepts an offer. Anyone who has been in the recruiting business (or in any business, for that matter) for a while has likely seen it all when it comes to candidates who have accepted job offers. You may have a candidate accept an offer, but end up taking a counter-offer, and you may even have candidates accept an offer, and simply not show up on their first day. You can’t prevent every bad situation from happening, but to lessen the probability, it is important to follow up with candidates after they have accepted an offer and even after they have begun their new job.

Happy Father’s Day weekend to the dads out there… and as always, Happy Hiring!