NOT MY HIRE?!

Happy Mid Week!

Full disclaimer, I'm going to keep the identities of all parties (well except myself) completely private in this story.  This goes back nearly 10 years in my career, recruiting for technical talent during a really difficult employment market.

Using third party headhunters is/was CRITICAL to keeping up with the demand for talent.  I was fortunate enough to have a handful of great partners to work on engineering roles.  In general, I had a good mix of agency candidates and those I searched up on my own to present to management.

In this case, we interviewed and hired an agency candidate for a role in our Pacific Northwest office.  This person was living on the other side of the country, and would require a full relocation package, and likely a long lead time to get started in the office.  As the offer was verbally accepted and signed, and aside from putting several bi-weekly touch bases in my Outlook, I checked this one off my list.

[Never count your chickens and/or hires]

One week before this new hire's first day, I decided to call and make sure we're on track, and confirm his relocation was running smoothly.  No answer.  I left a message and thought to myself, "I've done my part", and onto the next task for the day.

My phone rings 1-minute later and the voice says, "Is this Richard Krakora?".  I respond with a yes. The voice then says, "Did you just call [enter candidates name]?"  Knowing this was falling into the realm of confidential information being shared, I said, "I can't really confirm nor deny if I was calling [enter the candidate's name]  The voice on the other end of the phone said, "Richard, I just listened to the message you left [enter the candidate's name], I am at his home."  The voice went onto introduce himself as a member of the FBI, giving me his contact info to return his call.  I quickly stepped down the hall and laid all the info on our HR Director's desk!

So long story short(ened), this candidate somehow cleared a background check with our agency partner, all while being wanted for the FBI for felony embezzlement.  The story didn't end there, the FBI asked our company not to rescind our offer, in fact, act as nothing was amiss.  The plan was to have the person start on the prescribed hire date and set up a sting.  They caught the person on his first day, along with a spouse/girlfriend in the car outside who was also wanted.

Was there a teachable moment here?  Probably several:  Did we make sure our staffing partners are doing their job?  Did we follow up with candidate post-offer frequently enough to ensure a smooth start?  Did we screen the candidate thoroughly enough during our interview process?

Perhaps its a more simple issue, we're dealing with people.  And people are unpredictable.  You can do everything right, and still hire the wrong person.

HOLD ON!

Before I forget, let me share my Bio in case you're interested:


 Richard Krakora's Work History:

Sr Talent Acquisition Sourcer at PayPal 
February 2014 - Present (2 years 6 months)
Responsible for identifying amazing talent to join our team at PayPal. Currently, I am recruiting for Product Management, Risk, and Corporate roles across the organization.

Senior Recruiter at JDA Software 
May 2011 - January 2014 (2 years 9 months)
Responsible for full lifecycle recruitment process within multiple business units.

Senior Recruiter/HR Generalist at Jawa 
April 2009 - May 2011 (2 years 2 months)
Responsible for Talent Acquisition and HR Generalist functions

Director of Recruiting at Aerospace Solutions LLC
December 2007 - January 2009 (1 year 2 months)
Responsible for staffing/recruitment start up function .

Senior Technical Recruiter at Calence LLC
March 2007 - November 2007 (9 months)
Responsible for global Talent Acquisition activities for Cisco Gold partners.

Recruitment Manager at US Airways 
March 2006 - March 2007 (1 year 1 month)
Responsible for Talent Acquisition function at US Airways corporate office. Includes strategic planning and execution for all technical, business and corporate roles.

Corporate Recruiter at Ticketmaster 
December 1997 - March 2006 (8 years 4 months)
Responsible for technical recruiting function at Phoenix R&D center.

HR Representative at New York New York Hotel and Casino 
June 1995 - November 1997 (2 years 6 months)
Responsible for mass interview process at pre/post property opening.


Richard Krakora's Certifications:

• LinkedIn Certified Professional–Recruiter 
• Professional in Human Resources - HRCI (expired)

LET'S DO THIS!

Every great adventure (or blog) starts with a first step.  Here is mine.  I've been in the Human Resources and Talent Acquisition space for over 20 years.  Its been a great ride, and probably worth documenting on the internet for others to learn from and/or laugh out loud.  Don't worry friends, I'll keep all names anonymous to protect the innocent.

During my career I've met a LOT of people.  Some of them have been great mentors, some interviewees with inspiring stories, some just make you want to run away.  Overall I'm happy I chose HR as a career, you may also if you like helping others to make big decisions in life (finding a job).  

Check in with me in coming months for some stories that are sure to shock and awe!  I may mix in some career advice for those hunting for a new opportunity.  

Best, 

Rich