Shawnee Love   •  
April 30, 2014

Deal Breakers

Every manager has at least one. You will know yours when you hit it, because you will find yourself refusing to give a raise, refusing to hire an otherwise talented candidate, or even refusing to retain an employee when encountered.

Deal breakers are diverse and depend on the industry, company, team, job and most importantly, the individual manager.  They can be playful (but aligned with style or interests) like:

• Millenium Falcon vs. Starship Enterprise.
• Boxers vs. Briefs.
• Cats vs. Dogs.
• Lord of the Rings Movies vs. LOR Books?

Perhaps more practically, common types of deal breakers I see include:

Performance Based:  For example, you may deny a raise based on a single Needs Improvement rating (e.g., on attendance, or efficiency) on a performance review even if the rest of the ratings are positive.

Expertise Based:  Some managers refuse to promote those who don’t have post secondary education.  I have also seen Sales Managers who refuse to hire candidates with experience in sales because they want to be able to train and mold the new talent themselves. Others who only hire candidates with experience from Xerox or its like because they want them broken in and buttoned down in their sales methods.

Background Based:  I had one manager who refused to hire anyone who wasn’t raised on a farm.  He said farm kids got the job done. To my knowledge he never admitted to a bad hire.

The list of actual deal breakers is likely endless, but one thing is for sure, every manager with a deal breaker has got there from experience.

My deal breaker is excuses. Make excuses for why you are late, why you “couldn’t find…”, “couldn’t finish…”, “couldn’t do…” and I am done.

What’s your deal breaker?