The next three week span is one of my favorite times of the year: [tag]March Madness[/tag] baby! I’m a decent fan of [tag]NCAA[/tag] basketball and have been since I was a little kid. Even though I’m a [tag]Clemson Tigers[/tag] fan, when basketball starts I’m a [tag]GA Tech[/tag] fan as well. My family knows Mark Price! He was like the best GA Tech player ever and he used to sing in a [tag]gospel[/tag] quartet with my older brother. Hand to God…seriously. Just thought I’d throw that little name drop in there (Todd, Chad, Mike…that one was for you guys). Anyway, come the end of [tag]March[/tag], I’m a raving lunatic, gnashing teeth and clutching my erratically beating heart as I watch that last second three seal the upset for some 14′th seeded team. I love it! And, it’s like an “ethical” time to actually [tag]gamble[/tag]…meaning that, even my [tag]Southern Baptist[/tag] family will participate in a casual office pool.

Any of you that have spent even 2 minutes filling out a tourney bracket know one thing: it’s all luck! Everyone’s been in that office pool where the bosses 8 year-old daughter ends up winning $500 (for your boss of course) because she “really liked UCLA because of their pretty blue uniforms”. There’s no sure-fire way to research the teams and be able to pick the winner. Someone’s going to get upset, someone’s going to make it farther than they ever should have (remember George Mason a couple of years ago?) and someone’s going to make a last second Christian Laettner shot that’ll be shown on highlight reels for the rest of eternity. And, that’s why we love it so much.

[tag]Recruiting[/tag]? It’s pretty much the same thing. We fill our brackets with candidates that we are trying to place at your agency. We start off with all their information laid right in front of us and we begin to try to predict every move that they are about to make. Are we perfect? Hell no! We can’t predict [tag]human behavior[/tag] and we’re never going to be able to. Trust me, if I had that power I would never have an argument with a woman ever again. But, I don’t so don’t count on it.

Let’s face it; candidates sometimes can be a handful. Sometimes days and days worth of screening, prepping and going over and over interview etiquette can all blow up in our faces when the candidate’s human nature takes over their brain power. It happens to all of us. But, you don’t have to get bent out of shape about it.  As I’ve said a million times, my job is to bring you the best [tag]candidates[/tag] that I possibly can for you to choose from.  Sometimes, however, I miss the mark and bring you a candidate that might not be the best fit.  But, you have to understand that I never submit anyone to you that I don’t think is a fit or at least a potential fit or even someone that I think you should at least have a conversation with.  I wouldn’t waste your time doing that…more importantly I wouldn’t waste MY time doing it.

The best thing you can in an incident where the candidate ends up being a flop is to tell me exactly what was wrong with them in the first place.  I need to know what was missing.  Was it personality?  Was it the fact that their background didn’t match up in the interview like it did on their [tag]resume[/tag]?  Do they have a third eye?  I need to know these things.  And, it helps me in the future to know who NOT to send you.  It’s a time saver trust me.  And, I also need you to not get angry with me.  I make mistakes just as much as anyone else does.  But if I do, it’s just that…a mistake.  Just call me and calmly tell me what went wrong.  I’ll apologize and we’ll get someone else to you.  I mean what good does it do either of us if you call me names for thirty minutes?  None!  Plus it hurts my feelings when you yell…OK it really doesn’t but still.

Let’s work together you and me, huh?  Let’s go down these roads together and find the best damn people we can for you!  Does that sound good?  Does it warm your heart?  I know it does mine.  Let’s hug…

“When I grow up I want to be a principal…or a caterpillar.”

Ralph Wiggum