Info about Meetings
Subsequent Meetings With The Company
What can you generally anticipate in subsequent visits with the company? You will meet more senior people. There will be repeat visits with certain key executives¡ªin particular your manager-to-be. They will continue to assess and ask you questions, and you will be doing the same. The more thorough the company, the bigger the job¡ªthe more visits you will have and the more senior the management you will meet, including possibly the chairman and some members of the board of directors. The greater your exposure¡ªthe easier it is for you to determine how well you might fit in with the company, the job, and the staff. Throughout, the consultant is a go-between coordinating visits, asking the delicate questions of the company for you, sharing their thoughts about you, helping to bring you both closer, and the deal together. One may visit a company three, six or even a dozen times. . . .
The executive had visited with management on a few occasions, then returned for another meeting. The secretary apologetically told him, "Mr. Jones was unexpectedly called away at the last minute. But," she added, "since you are here, I was planning to have lunch with Sara Collins, our office manager. Please join us and be our guest." Fortunately, he accepted and was very congenial. Unbeknownst to him or the headhunter, the company had deliberately set up this ploy. Management wanted a man who got along well with women.
He met all of the company's senior management during the course of many visits. They described him as feisty, hard drinking, pugnacious, brilliant, creative, one-of-a-kind. The evening prior to his morning meeting with the president of the company, the headhunter took him to dinner in order to review the situation. It was a snowy, cold Chicago night. When they left the restaurant, there was 6 inches of snow on the ground. As they walked to the consultant's car, the candidate slipped, fell, and banged his face on the fender. He showed up for his appointment with his face cut and bruised as though he'd been in a fight. Despite the consultant's explanations, that the accident was one that could have happened to anyone, and that the executive had been completely sober, he was rejected by the chief operating officer.
Try to avoid meeting a prospective employer in a place frequented by your management. This can be difficult as restaurants and clubs could unexpectedly have one of them as a patron. Thankfully, only one such experience sadly comes to mind.
A vice president in the private placement field had a third meeting with a major insurance company at the club of one of its top officers. The candidate was one of two finalists. While dining, the vice president's boss emerged from nowhere and came over to his table. Placing his arm around the younger man's shoulder, he said: "See me when you get back to the office."
The poor fellow was given a month's notice by his boss, who reacted as if he had found his wife in bed with another man. And the vice president didn't even get the other job.
Fortunately, most situations move along predictably. There is a continued meeting of the minds and a give and take on behalf of the candidate and company. The candidate may want more responsibility, an additional support person or two whom he believes is lacking on his new team, more money or added perks, another territory, and so forth. Often using the consultant as a liaison, these requests are negotiated in ongoing visits. An offer is eventually made or the recruiter tells you that the other finalist won.
There are, however, certain corporate or individual executive practices and requests that may develop during a candidate's future meetings. Some are not uncommon; some are quite rare. Most are generally considered acceptable corporate behavior although some candidates may justifiably balk¡ªeven if it costs them a top job. In no particular order, here are some possible requirements.
• Meeting the finalist's wife, usually over dinner with her husband, or at a social gathering. Why? You work long and hard-is she behind you? Behind every good man. . . . It's also another way to judge you. Furthermore, homogeneity is sought in some companies; they don't want a possible nudist who's into body tatoos. A warm, team bond can sometimes be established between the men and women. The practice is quite common, particularly in senior level recruiting. It could mean that the candidate and spouse are flown to another city or country to meet with senior management.
• The presentation of a plan regarding how you would handle the assignment. It was asked of three semifinalists for the presidency of a to-be-formed trust division, in a worldwide financial institution. All complied. One was late; another too theoretical. The winner was brief, practical and to the point.
• Taking psychological and aptitude tests given by an outside clinical or industrial psychologist. This is infrequently requested by a client. The finalist for executive vice president and chief financial officer for a medium-sized company in the southeast was being recruited from a large mid-west firm where he was the number two man in finance. Would he fit in from a personality and cultural perspective? Was he bright enough and strong enough for the number one spot? The new owners were replacing several key, senior managers and wanted to be absolutely sure, even if hiring ostensibly successful people who performed basically the same job in a similar company. Their attitude was, why not use all the tools at our disposal? A successful semifinalist who hated tests and felt he was beyond this, declined to go on.
• A lie detector test was requested by a jewelry and leather goods manufacturer as a preemployment requirement. It's rare, but the executive in question complied. He got the job.
• A written test was designed by the personnel director of a European company for all U.S. candidates whom he felt might have potential for a chief accountant post in New York. It was composed of 15 essay questions. He administered it by leaving candidates in an empty room, with pad and pen for an hour. Of three candidates presented, surprisingly, all were willing to take the test (it was a good position). The headhunter advised his client that this was possibly an illegal procedure in the United States because the test had not been statistically validated and could also be discriminatory. It might also turn off a quality candidate. Such testing is a very rare phenomenon. The personnel director continued to insist on the written test.
• Handwriting analysis (graphology) is very rarely requested. It is not scientifically valid and also poses legal considerations. But clients have requested it and candidates have complied. Two instances come to mind. Both were with old European firms, one privately held and the other government owned, though both were large and worldwide in scope.
A presidential candidate for a company's U.S. operations was asked to submit a handwritten paragraph on any subject. The man was the president of a sizable U.S. company, earned over $200,000 yearly, and initially said no. But he was born overseas and as he put it, "I understand the old world mentality of the founder and chairman. I've gone this far. I'll go one more step, even though I don't believe in this." So he wrote a five sentence paragraph summarizing his business achievements. Results came back that he'd written with a felt tip pen and would he do it over. The recruiter spent an hour assuaging the executive who eventually wrote a ball point pen sample. Results came back that he passed, and he was hired.
The other client made this request of a vice president level sales candidate. He complied without a blink. The recruiter wondered why. He even thought it was suspicious. Yet he was a quality executive whose references were sterling. Apparently he was more understanding and flexible or else he was hungry for a change.
• Traveling to the office headquarters, which is often in another city or country, for a final interview and approval by senior management. European banks regularly send senior vice presidents and above level candidates to their home office for a rubber stamp, top management review. Finalists generally travel business class to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Zurich, and so forth and stay in top hotels, suffer jet lag, and several hours' difference in time schedules, but have had their adrenaline help them through a few interviews. You may be lucky enough to have a recruiter set up a visit that enables a full night's sleep between your flight and appointments. You'll dine at a fine restaurant or two, but there is rarely any time for sight-seeing.
• Traveling to the city or country where your potential new job is located¡ªwith your spouse¡ªto see if you both would like living there.
A client in Rochester, New York, a cold and drab town known for its heavy snowfalls, flew finalists and spouses up to spend a chaperoned weekend. They met the community's elite, visited the country club, dined at the best restaurants, checked out private schools for their kids, and house hunted. Similar activities occur regarding a Middle East posting. It may take more than one visit to sell an executive and spouse if a less than desirable location is involved.
Sometimes spouses aren't interested in relocating to a given city. It may cause an executive to pass up an offer or if the opportunity is too good to refuse marital separation or worse can result.
An executive earning $125,000 in Atlanta, the number two man in a medium-sized company, was offered the presidency of a bigger firm in a small mid-western city at a salary of $225,000. His wife refused to relocate because she loved the community they lived in, had personal and family ties nearby and liked her job a great deal. Interestingly, their two children were in boarding school and posed no problem in her decision. The executive took the job, relocated, and visited his wife and children most weekends.
A teacher in suburban Philadelphia refused to relocate to New York or its environs despite an exceptional offer that her husband received. She was a third generation Philadelphian and rooted. So he drove a half hour to the train, spent at least an hour riding into New York, and another half hour getting to his Wall Street office by subway and a walk of a few blocks. The commute was a strain on their marriage. He left the position after two years. Yet there are people who have done this for years and survived.
• Corporate foot dragging¡ªwhether to finally hire the executive¡ªis not uncommon. It may occur in select situations or be standard and institutionalized in large corporate environments where one has to be approved up the line¡ªfrom executive to senior executive. This does not mean that all big companies act slowly. Many move swiftly. Don't necessarily equate slowness with a lack of interest in you. Candidates should therefore have patience. Some get annoyed at the client and the headhunter because of delays. The client's first obligation isn't recruiting. It is keeping the company profitable. This practice also keeps the consultant, as well as the candidates, waiting.
A vice president was introduced by the headhunter, along with three other candidates, for a director of public relations position. The company met the four individuals and decided that the vice president was the best man. So they had him come back to meet the heads of several line functions with whom he'd interface. Their thoroughness, coupled with scheduling difficulties because their management was often away on business trips or vacations, caused the search to drag on for four months. In the interim, the finalist was promoted to first vice president and received a substantial pay hike. The happy ending is that he nevertheless went to work for the new company, but it cost them more than they planned and they had to sell hard in order to finally attract him.
If as a result of subsequent interviews you are eliminated, the headhunter will usually give you an explanation. Otherwise, ask him why you were eliminated. Executive recruiting is very competitive. It's also biased by the subjective style of senior management or the senior executive doing the hiring.
An executive vice president and number two man in a $600 million company, who had a marvelous track record plus a Harvard MBA, was not acceptable to another firm of equal size for their number one spot. The reason: poor grooming¡ªhis shoes were scruffy and his hair was too long. He was later placed by the headhunter as president of a larger company for more money.