Excellence

A candidate asked me a question last night that gave me pause (not unusual as one of my weaknesses is not being exceptional quick witted). "You're only interest in this is the fee. If you were my friend, you wouldn't be asking me to do this interview."

Hmm. I was caught. I couldn't say the fee didn't matter, of course it does. But it really why I was being so persistent. So -- why was I being so persistent.

Excellence -- I don't want to wax to philosophical, but one of the attractions of platonic thought to me was the idea of excellence -- to do the best that you can do. To turn it around -- why do you write code? To help people? That's what people say when they come out of school. It idealistic and it's unrealistic. Who does more good for society, the person building an efficient trading system or the person building MS Word? How many millions (billions) of people are impacted by an efficient trading system -- do you have a 401k?

The next stage is, I'm in it for the money -- my wife went to law school and that must have been the motivation of 50% of her class at her firm when she graduated -- make money to pay off my debt so I can get the job that I really want. That's soulless, and it gives you an empty feeling at the end of the day. I don't know anyone who can stay in business every day where the goal is money.

No, money is a result, not a goal. It is a way to measure one's excellence. This is not semantics. Your motivation is to be the best -- being compensated well is a reflection of how good you are.

That's what I am seeking in recruiting -- excellence. To be known as the best technical recruiter in New York City. Yes, it's arrogant and it has a fair degree of hubris. But does anyone enter Major League Baseball to be "pretty good?" No, you want to be the best. That's what I want to be, the best recruiter in the business. That's my motivation -- I want to place you at my client because I think it is the best position for you. If I don't believe that, I won't do it. Simple as that.