How to Hire the Right People
Building an excellent team does not necessarily mean finding needles in a haystack or being well-budgeted.
Reconsidering the key factors to be measured in job interviews and how we compose requirements for a position will increase your chances of finding the right people and shorten the hiring period.
Do not look for the best candidates, look for the right ones.
Acknowledge That No One Is Perfect
There are habits delaying us from finding the right candidate.
The first is our motivation to find the ideal match — the godlike candidate who has it all. We know that such a person does not exist, but we never give up starting a hiring process while holding to this illusion. Then, after spending some precious time, we will end up "compromising."
Embrace imperfection.
Besides the fact that imperfection makes people unique and down to earth, we should learn to invest no time in factors that are not crucial for a specific position or company culture.
Have at most 3 musts for the position (professional and personal included). The rest are no more than bonuses, which may serve you when few candidates feature the 3 musts.
They Need to Maintain a Balance
You are hiring an individual to fit a team. Since your team is made up of imperfect humans — you should also strive to balance their strengths and weaknesses. It will also be enjoyable for everyone to work in a place where each colleague is a different book to read from and improve by.
Another benefit of having different personalities in your team is the different perspectives from which challenges are tackled.
Having said that, you need your team to share the same vision as yours — their fundamentals should be similar to those you believe in.
Do not hire one more senior for a team that already consists of a majority of seniors. Refrain from adding another highly confident person to an already ego-saturated group. Look for someone who can balance a technological or characteristic weakness within the team.
Do Not Hire Overqualified People
I used to think that overqualification was a bad joke. Why wouldn't they hire me if I am even better than they expected?
Then, I became a manager myself. I have hired some overqualified people and understood that this is prone to unmet expectations from their side, which has led to short relationships.
Note that overqualification comes in 2 shapes: over-experienced and over-ambitious.
Do not hire a person with management aspirations for a position that may not lead to that. Do not look for a person whose technological perforations are somewhat different than what the job offers. These would backfire sooner than you think.
Require No More Than Enough Experience
Think about the minimum years of experience required for the position.
Extra years of experience do not necessarily mean a more valuable professional. Don't let them additional years fence out some excellent candidates.
If you are willing to teach, do not hesitate to go the juniors' way.
Don't be tempted to add another year or two to the position requirements. You should instead measure their abilities by examining their knowledge and the relevance of experience.
They Must Be Passionate
I consider this one the most important. Passion is the fuel of our abilities. It determines whether we will excel in something and how long we will enjoy doing it.
I suggest that Passion populate a slot in the 3 musts for every position. Hire people who LOVE what they do. You can measure that by seeing how (positively) emotional they are about presented challenges and how much of their free time is invested in professional improvement.
The Beer in the Bar Rule
You (a direct manager) and the candidate should have good personal chemistry. Good personal relationships will help overcome crises and tricky managerial incidents healthily and productively.
A reliable hack to figure this out is to imagine whether you would enjoy sitting in a bar with this candidate and having a beer.
Cheers.
P.S.
They do not have to be:
- Highly social
Well, at least some of them. After all, we are looking for a group of different people. Or, in other words — a balance. - In love with your product
Your company may not be endowed with a super sexy and impactful product. The challenges are not necessarily related to whether your product is a chatbot or a pizza-ordering application. The challenges of their profession are the ones they have to be in love with.
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Interested in delving deeper into this topic or need personalized guidance? Reach out to me at orenykb@gmail.com for dedicated consultancy tailored to your specific needs. I’m here to support you on your journey.
