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Years ago, I was interviewing VP Sales candidates. One of the first candidates I interviewed was someone that I quickly realized was completely wrong for the job.
I finished the interview, and I thanked him for his time. Then, as I usually did when there was no hope of the person progressing to the next stage of my process, I told him that I wouldn’t be going forward with his candidacy.
The candidate, let’s call him “Fred”, seemed taken aback. He said, “Wow. I thought I would have gotten at least to the next stage of the process.”
I said, “No, I just didn’t want you to waste your time hoping for something that wasn’t going to happen.”
We ended the call, and I moved on with my day.
You can’t afford to bring people into your company that aren’t going to add value.
Fred emailed me the next day. He said, “I have an offer for you. What if I work for you, free of charge, for the next six months.
“If you see value, then you’ll consider me for your VP Sales position. If you don’t see value, then you’re out nothing.”
I read his email a couple of times. “That’s interesting,” I thought to myself. “I’ve never seen that…
