Great Candidate? Turn the interview into a date

Recruiting is like dating. No, recruiting IS dating, and if you want to take the prom queen to Denny's afterwards, you need to know how to skillfully move from the "friend-zone" to the "end-zone".

Finding great employees is tough. So when you are interviewing a candidate, and begin to realize that their persona matches their excellent resume, you want to shift the conversation from "what can you do for us" to "here's why we're a great place to work", without sounding like you're hitting on them.

Here's how:

• Clarify your turn-ons: Before you lead into questions about your candidate, offer an overview of your company's evolution, your values, and your culture (it should reflect your job ad)

• Shared interests: After they respond to a question, and any time they indicate a personal value (eg. "work/life balance and flexibility are important to me"), respond with, and reinforce, how that aligns with your values and what you offer

• Paint a picture of a shared future: Use, direct and presumptive statements when posing questions. For example, "After you start your day with a coffee from our new espresso machine, you will connect with your supervisor for a growth session on how to manage client estimate requests; do any instances come to mind in your recent history where you assisted a customer with a challenging request?"

• The thrill of the chase: At the interview, indicate that you enjoyed getting to know them better. Don't gush and completely show your hand, but at the same time, don't play coy; a good candidate should know you're interested, but people like a challenge, and you will continue to hold their interest by not saying, "I love you" on the second date

• Don't play the field: If there is a candidate you really like, even early on in your hiring campaign, don't wait to see what else is out there. If they truly are good, they will likely get other offers. You don't want to lament about the one that got away, in the hopes that your dream guy/girl will apply

Resist the urge to play 'hard to get'; it may work in the dating world, but if candidates don't think they're wanted or potentially valued, it will turn them off.