Often during initial discussions regarding the scope and qualifications for an executive-level position, a client will throw out a laundry list of specific experience and personal attributes they believe the desired candidate MUST possess. Given the likelihood that “walking on water” is one of them, I generally follow their wish list with a question intended to introduce an element of reality. “So what you’re saying is that if a person lacks any of these MUSTS, he/she will be ruled out as a potential candidate for this position?” After all, MUST is a binary word…..either you have or do something or you don’t. Put in this context, the hiring executive usually comes to the realization that many of his MUSTS are in fact varying levels of WANTS, ranging on a scale of importance from “strong want” to “nice to have.”
Now this differentiation between a MUST and a WANT is not to imply that some MUSTs aren’t legitimate. For example, the qualifications for a Controller position would certainly have integrity and honesty as MUSTS. In fact, it’s hard to think of any position in which these personal attributes would be anything other than MUSTs. However, qualifications initially considered MUSTS frequently evolve into WANTS because during the actual interview process candidates demonstrate skills or strengths not previously considered when defining the initial position description. A sales candidate may, for example, lack experience selling into a particular channel (initially considered a MUST), but more than makes up for this deficiency by demonstrating success selling to certain customers. These types of experience-based tradeoffs, rather than being viewed as compromises, are the way real world interview and selection process usually works.
Care should be taken, however, that tradeoffs aren’t made on the character and value side…..no amount of experience or career success should overcome legitimate concerns about a candidate’s basic value system. To consider honesty a “nice to have” rather than a MUST will likely lead to undesirable consequences.
