Fun recruiting story: a guy called me and invited me to a celebration dinner. We had just placed him on a job at a tech company, and he was scheduled to start there in a few days.

So we went to this amazing restaurant in Silicon Valley, and let’s just say the restaurant was having a career night. The food was incredible and the service was fantastic.

Best of all, I was enjoying my conversation with the candidate. He was super smart and a great storyteller.

We laughed and talked for an hour or two, and then my booth at the restaurant turned into a confessional…

“Joe, I have to confess something to you…”

I panicked and thought about everything that could go wrong…

He got a counteroffer.
He lied on his resume.
He wasn’t going to start.
I was going to lose my big new customer…
My young recruiting life flashed before my eyes.

He said, “I have to confess that when you guys called me for the job, I was not looking. In fact, I couldn’t have been happier in my job.”

He continued, “But in the past, when I was looking, I could never get anyone at your company to call me back.”

“So Joe, I had originally decided to go through the interview process and then politely bow out. Just to get someone at your company to call me back!” 😀

Well, all’s well that ends well. He started work and went on to have a great career with the company we placed him with. And we’re still friends to this day.

The lesson I never forgot: always call people back, even a quick LinkedIn reply.

Questions? Email info@josephmichaels.com.