#bachelornation - hiring in the age of low unemployment rates

Whether you love it or hate it, watch it or secretly watch it, most are familiar with the popular reality shows The Bachelor & The Bachelorette. The show starts with thirty contestants and week after week, contestants compete for the love and a rose, from the Bachelor or the Bachelorette, with one final lucky winner at the end. This often hilarious and sometimes tear-jerking show has quite a few parallels to a job interview process for the candidate and the company.  

The emotions can be the same for a company at the start of an interview process. Companies are eager to find a perfect candidate. They go through the process and are excited because they feel they have found the one. They put their heart on their sleeve and expect a rose (commonly known as an offer acceptance) from their candidate, only to find out their chosen one has accepted another offer (i.e gave their rose to someone else). Rejection is a bitter pill to swallow, especially when you’ve heard nothing but encouraging feedback along the way. 

Most contingent firms provide their clients with only positive feedback throughout the interview process. Their goal is to get as many job opportunities and offers per candidate as they can, and who knows, they might even create a bidding war along the way. Why? Because it’s in their best interest. It is a candidate-focused business. 

Just like in the Bachelor or Bachelorette, contingent firms provide the same type of rhetoric: let’s tell everyone you love them but chose someone else in the end. This type of practice leaves things open-ended, no one gets hurt (for now), and it provides another option if for some reason things don’t work out. When the candidate secures an offer elsewhere, they can always resort to the old “the candidate really liked you, but they chose someone else.” 

Many of us have particular fondness for reality drama, but no one wants to go through that roller coaster of emotions when trying to build a successful team. If a rose (a.k.a that candidate you want) is what you’re after, there is a better solution - retained search. Retained firms place emphasis on exclusivity, transparency, and accountability. We form a partnership with our clients, where both parties have the same goals and interests, and clients receive honest and direct feedback that helps them identify the right person better.