A Life Wasted

Another Trip

While home my brother Lance called asking for advice. His A.L. Williams customers had dried up and he needed a job. He was a talented programmer with a well-rounded experience base in all things computer. It was a skill set in high demand. The problem was that Lance had been self-employed since dropping out of college in his first year. He'd never had a real job so he had no job references.

Lance had noticed a job advertised in the Atlanta paper that he believed was a perfect fit for his skill set. He read the article to me and I agreed. They would never find a person better suited to that ad's description than my brother. The problem, he explained, is that they wouldn't even consider him because of his self-employed history. The company was a law firm, the largest law firm in Atlanta. I asked if he would mind if I gave them a call and try something. I gave him a rough outline of what I had in mind to which he said, "Why not, I don't have anything to lose with them."

I called the law firm and reached the contact Lance had given me for the job. I identified myself as an executive recruiter from a firm in Chicago, but I said I wouldn't give my name or firm. This was before caller ID so I was able get away with this from my home in Alaska. I said, "I've got a gift for you." I briefly described her job opening, and then said, "I've got a kid who fits that bill like a glove. I've tried to place him with a Big Eight (denotes the largest eight accounting firms in the country) here in Chicago but he's not willing to leave Atlanta. All well and good except a guy I hate at Robert Half (a national recruiting firm with an office in Atlanta) is about to place him with a company there. The kid's going to take that job, but what he really wants is your job. I'd rather see him get what he wants, especially if I can screw Mike... the guy at Robert Half, in the process, so I'll give him to you for free."

"Has he applied with us," the woman asked, now clearly interested.

"Yea. Kid's name is Lance Waagner. He applied but says you won't interview him. My guess is because he'd been self-employed. Some programming business with his older brother."

I could hear paper shuffling then, "I got it," she said. "You're right. We don't hire people who've been self-employed. They don't fit our system well."

"Big mistake," I said. "This kid interviewed with my Big Eight client and they went nuts over him. They made an offer, but in the end he wasn't willing to leave Atlanta. The food must be pretty special down there."

"He does seem to have a perfect skill set," she said while reading Lance's resume.

"Like I said, he's a gift. Talk to him and you'll hire him, but you'd better move fast. Got to run." I hung up without waiting for her response. I'd spent so much time around high-end executive recruiters that I knew exactly how they talked. I was so convincing she never questioned who I was even though I wouldn't give my name or firm's name.

I tried to call Lance but his phone was busy. A few minutes later he called me. The law firm called him the second I hung up the phone. He had an interview set for the next day. They hired Lance immediately. Within a year Lance replaced the woman I'd talked to as head of the firm's computer department. A few years after that the law firm realized they couldn't keep him for all the offers he fielded from other law firms around the country so they presented him with an offer. They wanted him to start a service company, doing what he does for them now, and they would be his first customer. But they would also be his partner. To be his partner they would invest in his company (several million dollars, but I don't recall the number). Lance took the generous offer and built his company well. I visited his company once which was the entire floor of a big Atlanta building. In a few years his computer service company was listed on NASDQ. At that point Lance told a senior partner of the law firm how he got his job. Lance said they loved that story.