A friend of mine who used to work for a prominent free-market nonprofit recently told me a disturbing story. After he was laid off, he worked diligently to find another job in the liberty movement. During his search, he was shocked by how he was treated by many of our own organizations. Two examples he cited:

• He often never heard back from hiring managers after engaging in lengthy interview processes. Even after his own follow-up, he rarely got responses.
• He received promises for further introductions and recommendations that were rarely fulfilled, despite periodic, polite follow-up.

So how did the story end? He took a great job in the private sector. Good for him. Bad for us. Let’s call this Free-Market Karma. We didn’t treat him well in his search, and now we’ve lost a talented mid-level manager.

In my job, I often see talent like him leave the movement, and it breaks my heart. We may have been able to keep him in the movement had we treated him a little better during his search. So next time someone reaches out to you for help in the free-market movement, take a few extra minutes to lend a hand. After all, that might be the person who hires you next time you’re looking for a new job.

I get dozens of applications every day, and you would be amazed to see how many seemingly intelligent candidates do not follow instructions. If I had to put a number on it, I’d guesstimate 50% of applicants fail to send me what my clients request.

I used to give all candidates the benefit of the doubt…I would follow-up with them and ask for the information they neglected to send the first time. But I learned that those same candidates often still fail to follow instructions on the second (and third!) attempts, and worse – they frequently get belligerent about being asked for more information!
These are the same candidates who – if they make it to the interview stage – are difficult to manage. Consider this scenario:

You: “Are you free for a phone interview Friday at noon? If so, what’s the best number where you can be reached?”

Candidate: “Yes, that will work!”

Sigh. Now I’ll only throw the life preserver to candidates with very strong resumes, but I still file away the fact they didn’t send the right information off the bat.

All of this begs the question: if the candidate can’t follow instructions for a job application, how will that person perform on the job? Will they take direction? Will their work be sloppy? How will they treat your customers? It’s hard to say for sure, but the initial data points don’t bode well for their future as an employee.