"Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide."
- Napoleon Bonaparte

Was your last career decision completely rational? I’d say no. In fact, I believe that all of us process our career decisions through our emotions – it’s unavoidable.

If you’re skeptical – here’s some thought-provoking research to consider. At the Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in November of 2001, Dr. Dean K. Shibata presented his research findings based on a two-year study of the patterns of human brain activity during decision-making. Dr. Shibata’s study demonstrated that human decision-making processes are directly dependent upon emotions when the implications of a decision are perceived to have even the slightest personal impact. According to Shibata, the findings of his imaging research support the idea that “every time you have to make choices in your personal life, you need to ‘feel’ the projected emotional outcome of each choice.”(More information...)

My point? Few things impact us as much on a personal level as career decisions, so unless your marketing recruitment process is set up to work with the way people ‘feel’ their way through personal decisions, you will probably fail more than you succeed.

So how can you and your team influence the emotional factors that affect people – and increase the odds that you will be able to win over the right candidates? There are many possibilities. But for the purposes of this brief e-newsletter, we will need to focus – and here are three important and straightforward actions that I recommend you take:

1) Thoroughly educate your team (including everyone who will have any contact with candidates) on the precise nature of the position to be filled. They will need a crystal-clear understanding of the most significant challenges and opportunities inherent in the job, exactly how the role fits within the larger organization, etc.

When this is not handled in a thorough way, candidates often receive mixed messages during the interview process and feel uncertain. Make no mistake – those feelings of uncertainty can work powerfully against you.

2) Ask interview questions that are highly relevant and challenging. To do this, you and your team will need to invest the time to prepare. I suggest discussing the candidate’s professional background in detail – and confirming what questions will be asked of the candidate and by whom.

If the right candidates are consistently asked highly relevant, challenging questions, this not only benefits you and your team as you gather information that you need to make good hiring decisions, but you will also be demonstrating to candidates that you have set the bar high and will not settle for less than a great fit. Since candidates want a great fit too – and because world-class marketers are challenge-oriented people – this approach will increase their enthusiasm and desire to win the job.

3) Make sure that you and your team are prepared to provide candidates with relevant real-world examples of the unique benefits that your company can deliver to them. For example, one of the clients I work with emphasizes the fact that they have a uniquely family friendly culture. They do this by giving candidates concrete examples of how they flex to meet employees’ needs for work/life balance while still maintaining very high standards for results. Through compelling examples, they powerfully communicate the unique benefits that their company can deliver.

I encourage you to take decisive action – and implement the three simple steps I’ve discussed this month. If you do, I promise that you’ll be much better positioned to win the hearts and minds of the candidates you interview.

Lahey Consulting is a specialized search firm. We recruit and place brand management and marketing professionals (from associate brand manager to executive level) within consumer products companies throughout the United States. Lahey Consulting, LLC P.O. Box 395 Delmar, NY 12054-0395 www.laheyconsulting.com info@laheyconsulting.com Voice: 518-439-4285 Fax: 518-439-5795 Copyright © 2005 Lahey Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved. (However, you may reproduce this article if you include this copyright information and our web site address: www.laheyconsulting.com)