The Left Handed Blue Eyed Plumber Syndrome

One of the most frustrating searches I encounter as a Sales Recruiter is when a client provides me with so specific and so detailed search criteria that the search becomes more difficult than it should be.

I don’t know if this is because of Online Recruiting or the fact that we now have recruiting software that can crawl through a resume looking for key words and phrases, but some hiring managers now feel obligated to provide so detailed a candidate profile that many qualified candidates are simply eliminated before they get a chance to interview. I call this the “Left Handed Blue Eyed Plumber Syndrome”; so your client wants a Plumber, meeting all the job requirements, certificates, trade certification etc, and who has experience. AND the candidate must be Left Handed and Blue Eyed (I am making a point here folks)

Every job needs a job description and it is critical that every candidate needs to meet a set of requirements. But when a client begins asking for candidates from a specific company or with a skill set very unique they make the search nearly impossible. We get the tail wagging the dog. In my facetious example being left handed and blue eyed becomes as important as being a plumber.

I believe that finding top performing sales people is one of the most challenging tasks a manager or recruiter can take on. Sales has such a focus on interpersonal and communications  skills that it is well near impossible to write a job description which will capture all the qualities needed to make a successful sales person. And when we try to quantify all the characteristics we are looking for in a job description we sometimes do more harm than good.

I always advise my clients when beginning a search for a sales professional to think about what is the most important element of the role. Once you really understand what you want this sales person to do then you can identify the essential criteria for your search. Finally the list of criteria can’t be more than three key elements.

Let the HR team or recruiter have scope when they are searching for the candidates. In this case less is really more.