The candidate was a Manager at a Big 4 firm in Center City Philadelphia. Recent hiring in the organization had occurred, giving this Manager concern as to whether or not his partnership aspirations were about to be pushed back. I was representing a large regional public accounting firm in need of a Director. This was a two-year partnership track opportunity.
I had the perfect candidate in this Big 4 Manager, let’s call him Jim, and the client immediately asked to speak with him. Needless to say, the phone screen went well and an office visit was scheduled. Subsequently, second and then third in person interviews were held. The client was excited to move forward with an offer. I communicated to Jim the salary and terms the client wanted to propose and he verbally agreed the terms were acceptable. The client wanted to bring Jim out to a 5-star restaurant for dinner and to make a formal offer with all of the partners there. This was supposed to be more or less a nice formality. A dinner to celebrate.
The evening of the dinner, I received a concerning phone call from the candidate:
Jim: “Hey, what’s going on? Wasn’t I supposed to receive an offer tonight?”
Recruiter: “Absolutely! Weren’t all of the partners there?”
Jim: “Yes, they were all there. We had great conversation, dinner, drinks, desert, afterwards everyone stood up, they shook my hand and said ‘we’ll call your recruiter’.”
Recruiter: “Then I do not understand what happened. What do you think could have gone wrong? I am going to give them a call, but it would be helpful if you could share with me what your impressions of the evening were before I call them.
The candidate assured me that it was a beautiful event, excellent food, wine, beer, an elegant affair.
The next morning, I received a return phone call from the Partner for whom I was directly recruiting. The call went like this, “Hello Elizabeth, sorry to tell you this, but we will not be moving forward with Jim. We were fully prepared to present the offer. In fact, the founding Partner had the offer with him and we expected to close the deal and welcome him aboard.
Unfortunately, Jim became a little too comfortable. He used quite a number of expletives while describing some of his projects and the work he has been doing. He actually dropped a few F bombs. He used a couple of other expletives that were not as bad, but the F bombs were used quite frequently. Unknown to Jim, our Partners are pretty conservative and took offense to his language. It didn’t help that he was consuming quite a bit of alcohol too. So, we have decided that he is not a fit for our organization and we would like you to continue the search.”
This was a painful lesson. Jim’s informal behavior at the dinner didn’t align with the conservative atmosphere of the firm, leading to the offer being rescinded. Maintaining a professional demeanor is crucial, especially during pivotal moments like a job offer dinner. It’s important to always stay mindful of the context and the audience. This experience can serve as a powerful reminder of the significance of maintaining professionalism throughout the entire recruitment process.
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