1) First do it yourself
It is better to dirty your own hands in the job, before you go on to look for a candidate. This would give you a clearer picture of the nature of the job. You would know even miniscule skills required for the job. Based on this research you could gauge, if the position could use a full-time or a part-time employee.
2) Don’t hire unless required
Hire someone only if you are sure you cannot fill in the position you are looking for, perhaps even check if the tasks could be delegated. Also, check whether AI or a change in system could do the job. Hire if none of these options pan out and deliver the desired results.
3) Don’t get lured by talent and hire unnecessarily
Just hiring talented people because they are available isn’t really how things should be. You would end up parking a valuable asset, one whose skills would be a waste if not rightly utilised. It goes without saying that they wouldn’t be a value addition to the organisation. Unnecessary hiring might lead to creation of artificial tasks to keep the resource busy, thereby increasing complexity. Don’t be anxious to capture talent, be calm you will get the right one when required.
4) Resumes can be misguiding
Resumes are exaggerations. It is difficult to verify the things mentioned by candidates in the resume. The same resume might be sent to hundreds of other organizations by the applicant. It might not necessarily reflect something related to your organization. You need a candidate who is well acquainted with your product, the service you provide, your customers and clients etc. You’d rather check the cover letter. Cover letter convey a more real voice, you could then decide if the candidate resembles a tone that goes along the organisations.
5) Years of experience can just be a number
If only domain knowledge were to be considered, then there is barely a difference between a candidate with a six-month experience or one with that of years of experience. In order to internalise domain knowledge and learn the required processes, six months to a year is enough (or depending on the skill). Thereafter, the domain curve flattens and personality factors like dedication, intelligence, etc come into picture. It is not for how long someone is doing it but more like how well she/he is doing it.
6) Don’t over emphasis on formal education
Don’t fall into the trap of hiring graduates from the best schools or colleges. More often than not, it’s not the academic skills that matter in the real world, but the practical-street smartness that is required to get jobs done. You will find plenty examples of people with lower academic scores, making it big int the world. Let the score card not be the only way you assess a candidate.
7) Don’t hire delegators
You want people who can get down on the ground level and get things done. Being able to delegate is a key skill, but when to do so is another aspect of the same coin. Finding someone who takes the right call at the right time is a character judgement you will have to make when you hire her/him.
8) Hire self-managers
Hire people who doesn’t require handholding or supervision to get every task done. You are looking for people who crave thier own paths and surprise you with results. Look for people who have proactively run something of their own and launched projects in the past. These are the people who have developed something from a scratch. They are the keepers!
9) Look for great writers
Writing skills pay off. It wouldn’t matter if she/he were from marketing, HR, sales, programming, etc. A clear writing is a sign of clear thinking. Today, most communication happens through writing. Good writers know how to communicate efficiently.
10) Geography doesn’t matter
Don’t let go of your right fit only because geography or kms scale are on the higher side. Take technology on your side and mend the bridge. The world is a lot closer place because of internet; make the most of it.
11) Time v/s productivity
If a task is designated to a group of people, some might complete it in an hour, some in 3 and some might take more. Let smaller duration for task completion cloud your judgement while hiring a candidate, rather consider his productivity and quality of work. Fast progressors should be preferred over slower ones.
12) IQ v/s EQ
High intelligence quotient (IQ) and a Low emotional quotient (EQ) is a bad combination. In the long-term, it is the EQ that matters over IQ in group settings. Moreover, a higher IQ people with low regard for collegues isnt too well either. Own can have an average IQ and moderate to high EQ and the team would still work wonders!
This blog is inspired from the book Rework – Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
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