Talent Trade Tidbit - YOU Pick The Restaurant

This is Stephanie Maas, partner with Thinking Ahead Search Firm.

I wanted today to talk to you about picking the restaurant.

Recently I was talking with a client about setting up a lunch interview with a candidate and honestly the client was being very respectable to the candidate by saying, Hey, you know what?

Let them pick the restaurant anywhere they want to go.

Um, we'll, we'll meet there, but just go ahead and have them pick the restaurant.

And again, while it was very thoughtful, I had to pause and say, Hey, you know what?

I really appreciate that and the candidate would too, but a relationship in an interview situation between a client and a candidate is kind of like going on a date and someone needs to take the lead.

In an interview situation, it needs to be the client.

So I gently said to the client, Hey, thank you for your flexibility, but you got to be the dude and you got to pick the restaurant.

He chuckled, laughed and said, okay, got it.

I'll make the reservation.

So, it was just a great reminder for me to say to those of you that are in a hiring situation, to make sure that when you are in an interview situation, you are the courter.

Now, absolutely, the candidate's got to do their part, but just remember, you need to take the lead and set the pace for the interview, not the date.