I start with that infamous or famous quote from Terrell Owens because it reminded me of an interview I conducted years ago while working at Cintas. We were on campus recruiting for a management trainee position and we found a lot of great candidates. However, one candidate stood out to me in particular. He didn't go to one of the Ivy League schools or have the best grades. He had worked all through college and put himself through by paying along the way and he had little to no debt. He could barely make the interview time we set because of a work scheduling issue, and he wasn't wearing a fancy suit or an expensive watch. I liked him best out of all the candidates.
We sat down to discuss which trainees we'd like the most and which would possibly "bleed blue". Which is what we would call devoted Cintas employees. Trainees had to work long hours and were on salary which was tough, but if they made it through the training, they were well on their way to earning a Cintas MBA. Simply put, you learned as you earned how to run a business.
"I know why you like this guy.", one of the Sales Manager piped in. "He's you!"
"No he's not." , I responded a bit embarrassed.
"Yes he is! Well spoken but not terribly well dressed or polished. Working class back ground but seems pretty smart. This guy is just like you.", she added and then looked down at my shoes which needed a polish. She snickered.
"He's nothing like me, and that's not why I like him. He worked all the way through college and he paid for it himself. No help from any one else. He seems to know the value of a dollar."
"Yeah, just like you did." my boss added his two cents. "You like him because he's similar to you. But that doesn't mean he's going to turn out like you."
"Why not?", I asked.
"When you interview candidates don't fall in love with yourself, because you're going to manage a lot of different personalities and not everyone is the same. It's almost better if you don't hire some one just like you, because then you have some diversity of thought.", my boss added. He was a pretty smart dude.
"Fine. But we can at least put him through to the next round of interviews and see if makes it through.", I said, secretly hoping my clone would make it as a trainee.
"Can we all agree to passing him along?", my boss asked, and the rest of the managers agreed.
Two weeks later our regional recruiter let us know that my candidate had not made it through the next round of interviews. I asked why.
"Everyone agreed that he was like the 2.0 version of you, but he argued with nearly everyone who interviewed him. We all agreed he would be a handful to try and manage and he would get frustrated as a trainee."
"But I didn't argue with everyone, and I made it through the trainee program?"
"Exactly. YOU made it through. But he ISN'T you. That's why we passed."
As a manager it's best to look for the most qualified candidate and not a mini version of yourself. You may "love me some me", but it might also come back to haunt you in the future.
SFTD
