Painful. Simply painful…
It is the only way to describe the worst possible conclusion of an accepted offer – the “no-show“. 
Webster’s has a different way to describe this phenomenon and it goes something like this…
No–show (Pronunciation: nō-shō)
Function: noun 1: a person who reserves space (as on an airplane) but neither uses nor cancels the reservation 2: a person who buys a ticket but does not attend ; broadly: a person who is expected but who does not show up 3: failure to show up…
You work hard to profile, source, screen, interview and present the best possible talent you can find to fill a critical position opening… You then go on to negotiate all of the details of the offer to make sure both parties wind up with a true “win-win” scenario. Then, all of a sudden, the candidate decides to opt out. WHAT???
Some candidates really do have legitimate reasons, while others (most) just get cold feet, and instead of pushing ahead and making positive changes to improve their income, grow their career, adopt a new and exciting culture and improve their position/title – they revert back to their comfort zone. I don’t get it. No guts – no glory. The client, while they may understand the situation, ultimately is greatly impacted by a no-show – not to mention the search firm.
Yes, yes – back-up candidates are generally waiting in the wings. However, the challenge is that once the high bar is set with the candidate that receives the offer (and then checks out in the end), the client has an expectation that the perfect candidate needs to look like the guy that just bailed.
OUCH!!!!
More often than not, there is a solution to the challenges we face with a no show – we can quickly move to candidates we have waiting in the wings, etc. It’s not something we deal with that often – but it does happen. Many times its for reasons well beyond our control.
Can you tell that I just experienced a no show? Didn’t think so… :-(
Painful? Yes. Clearly. One of the worst parts of our world. But is a no show THE worst possible conclusion of an accepted offer? Not even close!
THE worst is the next evolution of what SHOULD HAVE BEEN a no show. It’s call the FALL OFF.
For those of you unfamiliar with the term – it goes something like this: Candidate accepts. Candidate starts. Client pays. Candidate quits. Client wants money back. You’ve already spent it.
Now THAT is the worst case.
Note to Tim – I should have added in my first post – I agree! No shows suck. I feel for you brother! They can ruin a perfectly good day (or week depending on the fee!)
First snaps to you for the Runaway image, what an excellent song
. Second I agree this is the worst. I’ve found this happens a lot for us in India where hiring is so competitive. Surprised that people don’t realize just how short-sighted it is to act so irresponsibly.
Truer words were never spoken! It is SO short-sighted and irresponsible to walk away after you shake hands and sign the offer letter. People have long memories if and when the candidate that walks away re-surfaces later on. Not a good plan!
Jerry:
The FALL OFF sounds quite painful!!! If your search agreement includes refund language – that is really bad and may top the “no-show” I wrote about. On the other hand if you can convince the client to accept replacement language instead – it does lessen the pain somewhat. In either case the recruiter has executed the search assignment and has to provide a replacement candidate (quickly) or write a check! NO winners and NO ticker tape parade for either scenario:-(