Marilyn came to see me 12 months ago. She had been calling me for six months before that telling me she really needed to change jobs and that the company she was working for was taking advantage of her. She wasn’t making enough money, etc. But every time we made an appointment for her to come see me, she canceled. She was just too busy to get together. She finally broke away one year ago.
Over the last year, I have called Marilyn three times about an opportunity that I had for her. They were darn good ones and much better opportunities than she had. Twice she told me they sounded good and she’d get back to me about interviewing and just didn’t. Now, most recruiters with any experience would just stop trying to get Marilyn an interview. They were taught to just quit wasting their time with someone who simply isn’t that serious about changing jobs and there is a large part of me that would totally agree with that. But then again, I figured that somewhere along the line, Marilyn will simply get fed up with her present job and get serious about finding a better one. I figured that when she did, she would certainly change her ways and make time for interviewing. But just because I’ve been doing this for 44 years really doesn’t mean I know much (I’m reminded of that daily).
Then last month I found an absolutely perfect job for Marilyn. It took two days to get her on the phone, but after hearing about the job, she even agreed. Along with being absolutely perfect for her experience she was going to be able to increase her base salary by $50,000 and earn 1 1/2 times her present income. Even Marilyn seemed motivated. Well…..kinda.
As we arranged for her first interview, I spoke to Marilyn differently than I had before. I explained to her that she really didn’t act like she was looking for a job in that she was never going to find a better opportunity if she was so “busy” all the time. I explained to that her being so busy all the time was simply an excuse she used to keep the job she had so she could keep complaining about it. Some people purposely sabotage themselves in interviewing as well as seeking a job just so they can complain about the lousy job they have saying things like, “Well I’m trying to change jobs, but I’m so busy I haven’t been able to interview for a better one.” She assured me that really wasn’t the case.
We had to postpone the initial interview twice because of Marilyn’s schedule (not surprising). I forewarned my client that this would probably happen and the hiring authority was comfortable with it. After all, Marilyn’s background was pretty darn perfect for them. When Marilyn finally made it to the client after postponing it twice, she absolutely fell in love with the opportunity and the people at the client’s office. They spent three hours together on a Friday afternoon and agreed to talk over the phone on Monday to clarify any questions that Marilyn might have as well as arranging a time for a telephone interview with the CEO in New Jersey.
Marilyn was instructed to call the vice president she’d interviewed with on Monday to clarify any questions she might have about the company, the job, the pay, etc. as well as pinning down the time to speak with the CEO. By 2 PM Monday Marilyn had not called the vice president. The VP called me and asked about what was going on with Marilyn. Knowing that Marilyn hardly ever returned a phone call… because she’s so busy… I emailed her and asked her why she hadn’t called the VP. She wrote back, “busy, busy, busy. Conference calls all day and into the night. I’ll have to do it Wednesday because I’m just too busy.” What happened to all of the love that happened on Friday afternoon? The VP was appalled. So, she picks up the phone and calls the candidate, leaves a message and then emails her. The candidate writes back (and she forwards it to me), “I’m just so busy today and tomorrow that I just really can’t talk. Can we talk Wednesday afternoon? Also with the CEO?”
Well, you can probably see where this was going. Fortunately we convinced the VP to interview two other, somewhat lesser qualified, candidates when she agreed to interview Marilyn. And it’s a good thing. Wednesday at 7:30 AM in the morning Marilyn wrote an email to the VP and myself explaining that she was just too busy Wednesday to complete the calls to both the CEO and the VP, saying that she’d have to do it Thursday. I told the VP that we were wasting our time with Marilyn. Thankfully the VP at least listened enough to bring the other two candidates back to complete the interviewing process and arranged telephone conversations with the CEO for the both of them. In spite of all of this, the VP still wanted Marilyn to speak with the CEO. She flat out said that she really wanted to hire Marilyn.
Marilyn completed the follow up calls with the VP as well as the CEO late that Thursday. That Friday morning, unbelievably, the VP emailed a job offer to… Marilyn! She copied me. In the subsequent phone conversation she explained to me that the CEO was blown away with Marilyn’s background and experience and that she, along with the CEO, felt Marilyn would fit the company perfectly and in spite of the fact that Marilyn was almost too busy to speak with them, she was a perfect fit.
We have a saying around here that all of the people we work with are “spiritual beings acting human.” What we see people do defies common sense, let alone business sense. So what does Marilyn do? She tells them that she will let them know what she wants to do in a week. I try to reach Marilyn and, of course, she is too busy to talk. She emails me that she is just covered up and too busy to talk for the next couple of days. The VP, to reinforce the company’s interest, gives her a call and, alas, Marilyn is just too busy to respond to the email or give the VP a call.
After the second day of “waiting,” the VP and CEO of our client company catch on that Marilyn is just too busy to really be serious about the job. They can’t believe that they offered Marilyn a $55,000 increase in salary and a chance to almost double her present earnings of $105,000. They have the two other candidates back and hire one of them. They do it all in one day.
That Thursday evening of the week that Marilyn told us she would respond to the offer, Marilyn emails the VP and the CEO informing them that she’d like to accept their offer. When the VP writes and tells her that they hired someone else, Marilyn, instead of being gracious (and intelligent) writes them back the most rude, disparaging email explaining to them how stupid they were. Instead of keeping the door open for the future, she nails it shut with an absolutely idiotic diatribe about what they were missing by not hiring her.
Marilyn did call me. She was mad as hell. I tried to explain to her that her busyness got in the way of spectacular business and career opportunity. She mumbled something about just being so busy as she hung up the phone.
Lesson: don’t let your busyness get in the way of a good business decision.
