Things Recruiters Hear That Scare Them

Recruiters hear a lot of things that sound completely harmless to normal people.

After enough years in recruiting, some of those sentences start to sound different. There is usually nothing technically wrong with what the candidate said. The recruiter may even smile and continue the conversation normally. Internally, though, they have heard the sentence before, they remember what happened last time, and they have questions.

In honor of Salestober, here are a few seemingly innocent things candidates say that can scare the hell out of an experienced recruiter.

“I’m sure my company will counter, but I’m not worried about it.”

We’re happy you aren’t worried. But the recruiter is most definitely worried about it.

Counteroffers are one of those subjects where confidence before the resignation meeting doesn't necessarily mean much. Leaving a job is easy to discuss when the current employer doesn't know about it yet. It can feel considerably different when a longtime manager is sitting across the table asking someone to stay.

Maybe there is more money. Maybe there is a promotion that was supposedly already being discussed. Maybe the candidate hears how valuable they are and how difficult things will be without them. Maybe the manager just says exactly the right thing at an emotional moment.

SalesFirst recruiters discuss counteroffers with employed candidates before an offer ever arrives for exactly this reason. The conversation is much easier to have before someone is sitting in their boss's office with a surprise raise in front of them.

So when a candidate says there is definitely going to be a counteroffer but there is absolutely nothing to worry about, an experienced recruiter hears faint organ music in the distance.

“My spouse doesn’t know yet.”

This sentence gets scarier the further along the candidate is in the process.

There are plenty of good reasons somebody may not discuss every first interview at home. But when the position involves a meaningful compensation change, travel, relocation, a different schedule, or some other change to family life, the recruiter eventually wants to know that the other important people in the candidate's world are aware of what is happening.

Finding out at the offer stage is a little late.

This is also how recruiters occasionally discover that “I’m completely comfortable with the travel” actually meant “I’m completely comfortable with the travel, and I have not yet mentioned the travel to the person who will be home while I am traveling.”

That is new information.

“I’m waiting to see what my bonus looks like.”

Fair enough.

It is also the kind of sentence that can quietly change an entire hiring timeline.

A candidate may be genuinely excited about a new job while also being three weeks away from a $20,000 bonus. Those two facts can coexist. The problem comes when everybody spends a month interviewing, gets close to an offer, and only then discovers that the candidate isn't resigning until the bonus clears.

Good recruiters want to know these things early. Compensation is more than base salary and commissions. There can be bonuses, equity, vesting dates, commissions that haven't been paid yet, and other financial reasons that make a particular departure date much more complicated than it appeared during the first conversation.

“I can start in two weeks” occasionally has some footnotes.

“I don’t really need to prepare for the interview.”

This one is usually said by somebody who interviews really well.

At least according to them.

They are personable. They know how to talk to people. They have been in sales for years. They have interviewed plenty of times before. They don't want to sound rehearsed.

None of that is a substitute for knowing what the company does, understanding the position, researching the people in the meeting, and having good questions prepared.

Interview preparation isn't supposed to turn a candidate into a robot. It prevents avoidable mistakes. A strong salesperson can still walk into an interview without understanding the product, give a vague answer about why the company interests them, and then discover that “I usually just wing these things” was not the competitive advantage they thought it was.

When a recruiter offers interview preparation, take the interview preparation.

It helps them sleep.

“I’m definitely interested. I just need to push the start date back a month.”

There are completely legitimate reasons to delay a start date. Notice periods, vacations, family commitments, existing projects and compensation timing can all matter.

Recruiters still get nervous when a start date begins moving after the process is already well underway.

A week becomes two weeks. Two becomes four. There is a vacation that hadn't come up before. The current employer needs help finishing something important. Suddenly the candidate who was ready to make a career change has created a surprisingly comfortable amount of distance between accepting the new job and actually leaving the old one.

None of those things individually means the placement is in trouble.

The recruiter is still checking their phone more often.

“The interview went great.”

Excellent.

What did they talk about?

What questions did they ask?

What did the candidate like?

Was there anything they didn't like?

How did they leave things?

What is the next step?

“Well, I’m not really sure.”

Now the definition of “great” needs some work.

This is why recruiters debrief interviews instead of simply asking candidates whether they went well. Candidates can have a wonderful conversation with somebody and still leave without understanding whether the company intends to move them forward. They can also enjoy the people while quietly developing concerns about the position itself.

“The interview went great” is good news. It just isn't very much news.

“I don’t have any concerns.”

This sounds like the sentence every recruiter should want to hear.

Sometimes it is.

Other times, the recruiter hasn't asked enough questions yet.

Changing jobs is a significant decision. There is usually something worth thinking about. Compensation. Commute. Territory. Leadership. Travel. Expectations. Risk. Benefits. Timing. Another opportunity. A spouse's opinion. Giving up something comfortable for something unknown.

None of these concerns necessarily kills a placement. Recruiters would simply rather hear about them while there is time to understand them.

A concern that comes up during the process is a conversation. The same concern appearing for the first time after an offer can become a much bigger problem.

That is why experienced recruiters sometimes seem strangely interested in finding bad news.

Recruiters Have Heard the Sentence Before

Recruiters aren't naturally suspicious people, although a few years in the business probably doesn't help.

Most of the questions that can feel overly specific or slightly annoying are being asked for a reason. When is the bonus paid? What does the spouse think? What happens if the current employer counters? Are there any other interviews? What would prevent an acceptance? Is that really the earliest possible start date?

An experienced recruiter has usually watched one of those small details become a large detail at exactly the wrong time.

So during Salestober, be kind to your recruiter.

And if they ask whether your spouse knows you're interviewing, please don't say:

“Not yet, but I'm sure it'll be fine.”