While trying to fill a senior technical opening in my department I identified an applicant who was a great fit. He had three degrees and 10 years of experience in a “niche” technical industry, but was downsized from his company after 5 years.

He was living on the West coast and we were on the East, so I first interviewed him by telephone.  Despite being unemployed for almost a year, he demonstrated a strong technical acumen. I had concerns about his personality and asking price because he appeared 'distant' and asked for about  50% of his previous salary.

When asked about his unemployment and salary expectations, he stated that he really needed a job and didn’t want to “overprice” himself and just preferred working in his field. Despite these concerns, I flew him in for a staff interview and again we liked his strong technical skills but his personality was bothersome…it was somewhere between arrogant and aloof. We really couldn’t connect with him, so we took him to lunch to see if it was due to nervousness. During lunch he told us he was from the south and although he really didn’t like it, he was planning on moving back to his parent's house if he didn't get a job soon. After lunch, we were still on the fence...again; something about his personality was a little off-putting.

Since we liked his qualifications, we decided to check his references, hoping they would reassure us about our concerns. Unfortunately they didn’t….One reference said he didn’t have the personality for customer interaction, which just happened to be the heart of the position. Another gave vague responses, while the third refused to speak to us at all. After this, we decided to go with another candidate. Several months later and still not working, he reapplied for a junior position in my department which was far beneath his experience and he now had a southern address which I assume was his parent’s house.

Part of me wanted to scream at this guy for his myopic view and another part wanted to help him by telling him the ugly truth:

1. Get A Job – Any job that would pay your basic bills. For you to sit home and do nothing for over a year (speeding towards two) instead of working anywhere to survive, you would rather 1) not work, 2) go broke, 3) ask for 50% less than your last salary and 4) move back home to your parents. He was in his early 30s! He needed to...

2. Get A Clue - Why drain all of your finances until you have to move back home? Did I mention that he ordered the biggest steak on the menu and he devoured it? Apparently he was hungry; unfortunately not hungry enough to “get any job” instead of waiting for an industry job.

3. Get A Personality- If you find yourself with co-workers who would rather exhaust a Google search, ask the “ornery” college professor or the “weird” guy in the dark office BEFORE asking you, you may want to re-evaluate your congeniality skills.

4. Get Good References- If you don’t know what your references are saying…you need to find out and find out fast. Most people will only provide references that are for them, not against them. Sadly I couldn’t tell him the ugly truth so I had to stick to a pretty lie: “your overall skills are not a strong match for this position.” I just hope that he runs across this website once he ventures out from his parent’s basement. Although he appeared to have all the gear for swimming, he was in fact “swinking.”

So the question is ….Why is he swinking?