Are You Letting the Perfect Candidate Get Away?

Marcianne Kuethen

Updated August 2, 2022

At Amtec, we do a lot of listening and learning about your company to understand what you need. Then we scour our database and dig deep into every resource necessary to find qualified candidates for you. By the time we present you with a few final candidates, we have a pretty good idea of whether they’re a good fit for your organization.

Often, we’ll have a standout candidate whom we will recommend more highly than the other qualified candidates.  However, this candidate, while highly able to perform the job, may have one flaw that might be hard to deal with.   It could be an issue such as poor interpersonal skills, nonconformity, or a gap in work history. It could even be that the candidate’s skills, though transferable, were previously acquired in a different field. As an employer, if you reject this person, are you letting the perfect candidate get away?

Even with flaws, says author Jeff Haden, someone can still be perfect for the job, and you shouldn’t let him or her escape! “Smart companies decide to accept the total package and all that comes with it. If they desperately need engineering skills they could decide to live with a proven engineering superstar’s diva behavior. In the same way, letting a vampire-style programmer work nights may be fine even if everyone else works normal hours and communication will be less than optimal. Smart companies assume that if compromises need to be made, they will make them — because ultimately they want superstars… warts and all.” (Read Haden’s entire article here.)

Also, the perfect candidate might lack some of the skills your job requires but yet may possess a great attitude and work ethic. In a recent survey of 750 U.S. companies, the majority of “managers said attitude and work ethic are the most important considerations in choosing a candidate and 85 percent reported work ethic as the most important attribute for employee success.” If you find a candidate lacking in skills but who demonstrates a great attitude and work ethic, he or she is likely to be trainable and worth your making him or her an offer.

The truth is, there are few truly “perfect” candidates, just as there are few perfect managers! We all have flaws, and it’s up to you to weigh the costs of meeting a superstar employee’s needs against the drag on morale and lack of performance from a less-than-engaged employee. Chances are, the employee whose one big flaw stands out could actually be the perfect employee for your open position.

Do you need a less-than-perfect but highly qualified candidates for your open position? Contact us or call (714) 993-1900 today.

Marcianne Kuethen

Marcianne Kuethen is a Senior Writer at Amtec, where she has written over 700 blog posts in the past 18 years. Her family has led the company across three generations, from her father who founded Amtec in 1959 to her son Barrett who serves as President and CEO today. Outside of writing, she makes art, music, and gardens.