From our 9+ years as Recruiting Consultants, we at Safari Solutions have learned that there are two undeniable truths in hiring:

 

People are unpredictable.

and

Candidates lie.

 

Not the most reassuring news when you are looking to hire a new employee, but establishing those as truths will ensure you do everything you need to in order to make the best decision possible. 

 

I just read an article describing “3-D Interviewing,” which basically is an interview technique in which you ask the candidate to actually demonstrate the skills that they have.  This is not too unlike having candidates complete an assessment in your office.  I was surprised by the first comment that said in part:

 

“Getting honesty is not always about putting people under pressure and honestly if I was interviewed in this way (giving the perception that you do not trust people you interview and potentially your own staff) then I doubt I would be interested in working in that sort of environment if offered a position.”

 

I have found that the true superstars are happy to demonstrate their skills.  While writing code on a whiteboard may not make a person feel comfortable, giving some kind of opportunity to show your skills will help you get the job if you really are a good fit.  And if you aren’t able to perform the test, then it is probably best for everyone that you do not get the job.

What do you think?  Would you get the impression that you were interviewing at a company with an environment of distrust if you were asked to “prove it” in an interview?

I’ve been reading Nadira Hira’s blog, The Gig, for a while because as a “Cusper” straddling the line between Gen X and Gen Y, I am fascinated in all the attention that generational differences get.  Also because Safari Solutions has been helping launch a new company, Slingshot, that specializes in helping Gen Y prepare for and land their dream jobs. 

Today she brings up a volatile topic among Gen Y and Cuspers like me, changing jobs frequently.  My husband and I are the only ones in our circle of friends who are still with the same company that we started with when we graduated college.  We are also more satisfied with our careers than most of our friends.  Not sure if we can say that one caused the other, but still an interesting coincidence.

 

As a recruiting specialist, I’m concerned about a candidate who has made so many poor major decisions in their life.  None of the positions that you found were a fit?  Are you not putting the time into your job search to truly discover what the opportunity is like? Or are you misrepresenting yourself and getting into situations that are not a fit? 

 

When you make a hiring decision how much do you consider job tenure?  What do you think about candidates who change jobs frequently?  Is it a sign that they are adventurous as Nadira points out?  Or do you prefer more traditional loyalty from your potential employees? 

Business owners often believe that passive candidates are the best candidates.  Everyone wants to recruit them.  I hear over and over again from business owners, "Find me someone who is working for one of our competitors, who I don't have to train so they can hit the road running on day one!"

Sounds great, yes?  But, great passive candidates are just an illusion.  There is a reason why they are called "passive."  It's because they are "passive."  They generally do not move into action until someone pushes them to do so which is not a characteristic of an "A" player.

"A" players will do one of 2 things.  1.) They will never leave their current position because they are superstars and compensated handsomely.   They are loyal and passionate about the company they work for.  Or, 2.)  They are proactively looking for a better job so they can reach their potential.

There is nothing passive about "A" players.  "A" players are proactive.  Passive candidates are simply content to be average players  . . . waiting for recruiters to call to push them into action.

Is this the type of employee you want on your team?  My guess not.  Passive candidates are plentiful.  They just are not "A" players.

Yourself

After you take an evaluation of your company, it is now time for you, the entrepreneur to think about whether you are really ready to bring someone else into your world.  And as I mentioned, this person is not you!  They will not think like you do, they will not work like you do, and there will be days when you do not like each other.  We’ll talk about some specifics later of things you need to keep in mind as you start to bring people into your world, because it is different than any kind of management you may have done in other jobs.  This is your company, so you will act differently.

Where do you start?  Typically when people look to make their first hire they start by telling their network that they are looking to hire.  This is an important step, but not the place to start!  Take an honest evaluation of your company.  This is especially important if you are hiring your first employee.  What do you really need?  I know, you want another you.  We all do, but that is pretty much the one thing that I guarantee you aren’t going to find.  Luckily, it probably isn’t really what you need either.  Go into the evaluation stage with an open mind.  Maybe you don’t need to hire anyone.  Maybe the solution is to hire a few experts as consultants.  Maybe you need an intern, or a part time employee.  The time to figure that out is before you start looking for help.  This is not something that can be done by trial and error.  Ok, it can, but it is not pretty.  Not only are you bringing a huge amount of unnecessary stress into your life, but you are changing someone else’s.  And you are potentially hurting the reputation that you have worked so hard to build. 

Not enough money?  Not enough work?  Not enough stability?  Not enough resources for them to be productive?  These are things that you need to think about before you bring someone else on board.  So that is the first step.  Get your house in order.  You won’t keep anyone, good or bad, if the company isn’t ready for them.

When job boards first emerged as a key hiring tool for employers there were only a few industry giants. Now, the market has exploded with new players! With over 4,000 job boards, it is easy for small businesses to be confused on where to spend advertising dollars. Select the right recruiting tool for maximum results!

General Job Boards: Monster and CareerBuilder remain the largest and most cost effective options for mainstream positions like administration, accounting, sales, and general management.

Niche Sites: A great tool for identifying hard to find talent. Requires some trial and error as the volume of applicants may be low, yet the quality of candidate is generally high.

Aggregators: Job boards like Indeed & Simply Hired pull job postings from other sites. Your company’s career site postings can be listed on them for free!