One LinkedIn message changed this candidate’s career

A few years ago, I was hiring for a vacancy in my own team, so I was both the recruiter and the hiring manager.

I got a load of CVs in. Some looked really good on paper, some just looked terrible. The terrible ones I rejected, the really good ones I spoke to and interviewed.

But then there’s always that middle pile.

They’re not quite bad enough to reject, but they’re not as good as the people you really want to interview, so they just kind of sit there while you focus on everyone else.

There was one guy in particular who ended up in that pile.

What’s funny is he actually worked for one of our competitors. So on paper, he should have been a really good fit. But apart from the company name on his CV, nothing really stood out. His CV just didn’t sell him very well, which is why he ended up in the maybe pile.

A couple of weeks went by and I still hadn’t filled the job. The people I’d interviewed weren’t quite right.

Then he messaged me on LinkedIn.

He wasn’t chasing me or complaining that he hadn’t heard back. He just asked whether I’d had a chance to look at his CV yet.

I’d got ten spare minutes, so I thought, “Do you know what? I’ll just give him a call.”

Honestly, within about five minutes I knew I’d got it wrong.

He was awesome.

I brought him in for an interview, really liked him, then put him through to a second interview with my boss. My boss loved him as well, so we offered him the job.

He ended up being absolutely brilliant in the role.

In fact, he was that good that when I left the company a few years later and another opportunity came up, I hired him again.

I’ve thought about him quite a few times over the years because if he hadn’t sent me that LinkedIn message, I probably never would have called him.

Everything we were looking for was already there. The skills were there, the experience was there, he worked for one of our competitors. None of that changed between me putting him in the maybe pile and me picking up the phone.

The only thing that changed was that I spoke to him.

His CV just didn’t do him justice.

And I reckon that’s happening every single day.

There are probably thousands of really good candidates sitting in someone’s maybe pile right now because their CV doesn’t make it obvious enough they should be in the yes pile.

Thankfully for him, he sent that follow-up message.

Most people don’t.