The job posting went something like this: “Wanted – Computer Guy. $5k per month, must be willing to travel”
The results poured in. People of all talents and walks of life flooded the HR department with resumes and inquiries. Almost none of them were up to the task of the job. The HR Department had to waste time sifting through candidates, and even the ones they forwarded, turned out to not be the right thing.
I want to suggest a better way.
Vern Harnish (www.linkedin.com/in/verneharnish) of Gazelles helped put forth an adaptation of Top Grading which changed my perspective on hiring. He basically said, figure out what you want first, then ask for it.
Figure it out first.
Make a list of what this person should do and should not do.
Make a description of the typical day this person would have.
Describe typical inter-employee and intra company relationships which would be required and would result from this position.
What personality types would flourish in this job?
Take tests against the job and prepare the results for comparison with what the candidates will test out at. No reason to put a square peg in a round hole.
List the hours required, the possible pay benefits, the promotion tracks available.
Use tools like the Top Grading Job Profile tool on the Gazelles website.
Next, draw up a job description that describes what you want to get from the job. Take a look at one I wrote up at https://bluejeannetworks.com/component/content/article/170-landing-page/168-new-engineer.html . This description follows these details and produces candidates who reflect our company culture, the needs of the job, realistic expectations and more.
The candidates which are produced from an ad like this are heads and shoulders above the people other solutions are finding.
Try it out for yourself, and get some “A” candidates. After all, you are paying “A” money, aren’t you?
