Setting Expectations

May 31, 2010

As I sat down to peck this out, and I mean that just about as literally as one can mean something in an analogous form, I realized that this was the first real writing that I had done since college. I’m not talking about the standard emails and business proposals that occur naturally through work, but rather a blank sheet with endless possibilities. That seemed somewhat daunting.

Before I get into this, I definitely want to send a huge thank you to Brandon Corbin who built this site with a simple sketch on a bar napkin and a couple conversations. Brandon is one of the best, if not the best UI/Developer/Web Guru/Creator of Things I Do Not Understand in town. Couple that with that fact that he is a great guy, and that is a powerful combination. Check out some of his works at the link I provided; it will be well worth your time.

So back to this blog post and the possibilities; I was debating on what to write. Do I pontificate about the abilities and “relentlessness” of our firm? Do I talk about the great people that I have met and do business with in our city? Maybe I use this as a marketing platform to help grow the company? All of these thought kept running through my mind as I overanalyzed the “what if’s”.

I decided to stick with what brought me to the dance (as an aside, I am not sure what that colloquialism is truly intended for. What if you find a better opportunity while at the dance? Should you not at the least explore it? That may be the profyler in me coming out). Setting expectations; those two words mean everything in what I do. From communication of process and needs with a client; to understanding of status and true wants of a candidate-it is one of the most important things that we do in my profession.

We will talk about great clients, great candidates, and opportunities that we are working on. We will also focus on talking about what we see in the market; what companies around Indianapolis seem to be the ones to keep your eyes on. We will talk about some of the amazing things, both good and bad, that we witness as a function of the human condition through our interactions with literally thousands of people a week. We will link to great people (their pages, posts and whatnot), in order to help others understand what the job market is really doing. Finally, we will talk unedited and unbridled by the social etiquette that sometimes requires people to say everything but what they truly mean. No framing. No making it better than it is. It will simply be how we see it from our seat at the table.

As we tell every client and candidate, the one thing we will promise you is that we will not lie or try to make better that which is not. What I can guarantee is that these posts will talk about the proverbial elephant in the room (though I hope to cut down on my analogies as this goes on). When something seems silly or even downright ridiculous, we will discuss it. When a company does the correct thing, from both a business and human capital decision, I will promote them whether they are a client or not. What I ask in return for the candor, is your opinions. Tell us who we should be watching. Tell us what you like and what you don’t about interviewing. You may be surprised that suggestions offered in this type of forum have an impact on what happens in the market as a whole.

As always….

Be Relentless,

Doug

About the author

Doug Rowe wrote 23 articles on this blog.

My experience is in matching top talent with the opportunities that meet their career goals while simultaneously exceeding the requirements of my clients. I believe that the cultural and environmental fit is as important if not more so than the technical. This personality and culture matching is where I excel.

Close