case assignment

The Ideal Candidate

Ted sat back in his chair and smiled. He had found the right candidate to manage the research department. The whole interview and selection process had been tedious, but Ted knew he had found a winner in Mark. Not only did he have the technical and management skill Ted was looking for, but his references were sterling. With the offer call, he prayed that Mark would accept as he called to make the offer.

“Research, this is Mark”, said a hoarse voice on the receiving end of the phone.

“Mark, this is Ted Fenton calling. You sound terrible. Are you OK?”

“Oh, I’m much better than I sound. It’s just a cold. So what’s up, Ted?”

“I’m calling to offer you the position here at $150,000 per year. How does that sound?”

“Terrific, Ted. I accept! Just send over the formal offer and I’ll give notice here.”

Finishing the call, Mark thought “Boy am I glad that’s over with. It will be so great to have Mark heading up our research department, and to finally be done with this,” he said as he dumped a giant file of resumes in the trash can.

Two weeks later, Joan Cutter, the Human Resources Manager, arrived at Ted’s office with their newest employee in tow. “Ted, I’ve brought Mark Simmons up for his orientation. How would you like to get started?” Ted coughed nervously and extended his hand.

“Mark…welcome aboard. We’re uh… so glad to uh…have you,” he stuttered. “Mark…uh…uhm…could you excuse us a moment please? I’ll be with you shortly. We’ve got a crisis on our hands with …uh…um…one of our government contractors. I’m sure I won’t be long,” Ted said as he ushered Mark out of his office to a waiting area across the hall.

Ted sped back to his office and closed the door. Still gripping the handle, he slumped against the door and began to grow pale.

“What is it, Ted?” Joan asked with sincere concern. “Are you ill?”

“Christ, Joan, this isn’t the guy I hired. I hired a different person. I know this guy’s name is Mark, but he’s not the guy I wanted. How the heck did this happen?” Ted was starting to develop visible drops of perspiration above his lip as Joan responded. “Our paperwork indicated you hired Mark Simmons. This is Mark Simmons. Here’s a copy of the offer letter and his file.” Ted looked at the file, flipping through the application and resume. The papers rattled in his quaking hands. He started to pace and then let out a howl as his knee knocked against an arm chair. He raced to his desk and started rifling through papers until he remembered he had already thrown out all the resumes. Then he looked at Mark Simmons’s file again and began to put the pieces together. The sudden realization caused him to slide slowly and limply into his desk chair. “How could I have been so stupid?” First he looked befuddled and distraught, then his demeanor assumed a catatonic quality.

Joan was really growing concerned. She stared at him awkwardly and finally broke the silence.

“Look, Ted, could you be a little more specific? I’ll see what I can do to help you.”

“There’s nothing you can do. I screwed up. I don’t know how I’m going to deal with this.”

“Deal with what?”

“The guy I intended to hire was Mark Simon, not Simmons. When I called this Mark, I must’ve picked up the wrong file. He had a cold when I called, so I didn’t notice the difference in voice. I was so excited when he accepted that I just handed the papers to Sue to send out an offer letter. She handled the rest and I just forgot about it. Joan, I don’t know how to say this but the guy sitting out there is the last person I would hire. He’s a total jerk- and a weird-o on top of it. He’s ok technically, but during the interview he started preaching all this religious stuff to me and asked me about my church affiliation. He pulled out some holy water and wanted to anoint me at one point. I had a hard time keeping him focused on the interview. We are in deep crap here.”

Joan was stunned. She could usually solve problems, but this one was a doozy.

“It’s not like I can say, ‘Whoops, sorry we offered you the job by mistake. You can go back to your cult or wherever you came from.’ I mean Joan, this guy resigned from a perfectly good job. You have got to help me, Joan! I’ve just hired the employee from hell!” he gasped, fearing her answer.