What banana would you hire?

As a recruiter, having to choose the best candidate for a job is not easy. The companies that hire you, expect you to find the one perfect match over and over again. If you fail, your competitors are ready to take over your client.

Is that the reason why many recruiters go for a ‘safe’ candidate, more than to really look for the ‘best’ candidate?

Imagine having to pick the best banana for a company, which one would you choose?

1. The green banana.

This is the ‘unripe’ banana, straight from the tree. You know that when you go for this banana, you will have to give her the time to ripe. The good point is that you can give this banana the best possible circumstances to ripe, to become the best possible banana it can be. Positive fact is also that it is very unlikely that another company tries to take away your banana.

When you do a great job in helping the banana to ripe, you may find a very thankful banana.

2. The yellow banana.

This is the ‘perfect banana’, also called the ‘safe banana’. As a recruiter, you take no risks in hiring this banana. Beautifully yellow, sexy, … everything a banana should be. Even if it turns out that the banana finally does not taste so well, you can always say that that was impossible to know.

For your customer, there is another risk… other recruiters are also trying to hire this banana. So finally, it may turn out to be that this is not the perfect banana at all.

3.The ripe banana.

This banana is also called the ‘yellow with some brown dots banana’. The banana doesn’t look so sexy anymore, but don’t be mistaken: this is the best banana.

Once a banana is spotty, it is sugary and delicious, perfect for eating and easily digested. Scientists say that bananas with brown patches not only increase our system immunity but also helps to prevent carcinogenic diseases.

Another positive fact of hiring a ripe banana is that it is unlikely that your competition will try to steal the banana from you.

So, dear recruiter, the point I’m trying to make here is that always going for the safe way by choosing the perfect, yellow banana may not always be the best choice for your customer. Start spending more than 10” on a resume and try to look further than the 32 to 39 years of age a candidate has.

By writing this article, I am not trying to say that all recruiters act this way. It is my believe that most recruiters are trying to do a great job, within a very competitive environment.