Candidate Not as Described

Every time the person who shows up isn’t the one you sent, you lose credibility with the client.

The hiring manager starts discounting your send-outs and reads every resume as if you’d never spoken to the candidate.

And a good candidate can lose the job for falling short of your build-up, not of the role.

Your analysis of a candidate is built from memory and notes, shaped by how the interview felt.

Without a structured debrief, strengths you liked get rounded up and doubts you had get rounded off. None of it is dishonest. It’s what happens when a conversation becomes a summary.

The hiring manager then meets the actual person, with all the rough edges your summary smoothed over.

You described how the interview felt, not how the candidate aligns to the needs of the job.

• Hiring managers say the candidate “wasn’t what you said.”
• The surprise is usually about something you noticed but didn’t write down.
• Your descriptions rarely mention tradeoffs.
• Candidates you rated highly interview worse than ones you were lukewarm about.
• It happens more with candidates you interviewed quickly or late in the day.

• The candidate had an off day. Strong candidates sometimes interview badly with the hiring manager.
• The candidate presented differently. Some candidates tell a recruiter what they think the recruiter wants to hear.