Ever noticed that if you give those you are close with the opportunity to open up about how they are doing in life, in their career, with their spouse, with their family, or financially, that they can immediately rattle off numerous things they wished were different or that they are dissatisfied with?  However, when making recruiting calls into your market, all of a sudden – everyone is happy!

In recruiting, the one objection you will most likely hear first (and more than any other form of resistance) is “I’m happy where I am currently!”  You are most likely to hear this objection either before you even get through your initial presentation (possibly not too far past the word “recruiter”), or after you’ve delivered your presentation and ask for thoughts and feedback from the candidate.  Either way, the response is usually something like “I’m happy where I’m at” or “thanks but I’m not interested”.  Chances are, this objection may be nothing more than an incredibly fine-tuned and conditioned response.

When you walk into any retail establishment and the friendly salesperson approaches and inquires if they “can help you find something today”, what’s your typical first response?  Does “no thanks, I’m just looking” sound familiar?  There are many reasons that a candidate could be giving you this response; it could be because they aren’t able to speak openly with you and are attempting to politely end your conversation, as an example.  No matter the underlying issue, think about it; nobody, no matter the situation, is ever 100% completely happy, nor is anyone not open to considering the possibility of a better situation.  There is always something that can be improved, there are always circumstances that can be better, and even if a situation is good, that doesn’t mean that it can’t be great.