Definition:
A Job candidate that drops out of seemingly no where with the perfect set of skills just when needed.
Explanation:
This is a form of job candidate that can exist under 3 circumstances
- In the minds of managers who are feeling slightly deluded, that don’t have a solid grip on the job market or the process of getting the right person.
- (more cynically) When a candidate has already been picked and a job spec has been written to match them perfectly so they get the role.
- They are genuine… 1.
For those of you that haven’t seen the film Mary Poppins, there is a scene where two completely impossible lists of requirements for a nanny are created by children and their father. The Children’s ones are ripped up and thrown into the chimney. Next day a number of candidates turn up to match the fathers requirements, but they are blown away and a perfect candidate floats down from the sky with the children’s requirements in hand, she is ‘practically perfect in every way’.
If you are watching this process from the outside in a corporation, its fun to watch to see if you can guess which circumstance as happening and if its the one with the pre picked candidate, are they up to the job 2
Disclaimer: As always these posts are not aimed at anyone client or employer and are just my personal observations over a lifetime of dealing with both management and frontline associates.
- I have only heard of this happening in close communities of companies where people know each other and word can spread of a suitable candidate being available via the grape vine, so the normal search channels are bypassed[↩]
- I have been the pre picked candidate a couple of times and you really have to bring your A-Game to prove its not favouritism[↩]