The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired: (Performance-based Hiring Series)

by Lou Adler

Most hiring problems can be eliminated by making one fundamental and simple change – replacing job descriptions with a list of performance objectives the new hire is expected to achieve.

The best candidates, whether employed or not, always considered the long-term career opportunity more important than the short-term package.

You can’t use a talent surplus approach for hiring top people in a talent scarcity situation.

Before you ever accept another job, ask yourself this question: “Forget the money. Is this a job I want?” If not, you’ll be disappointed no matter how much you get paid.

A talent scarcity strategy starts with the premise that the demand for top talent is greater than the supply.

if the job represents a significant career move, compensation will be third or fourth on their acceptance criteria list, so don’t make it, or the location, the first thing discussed when first contacted by someone from the company.

I have a personal rule to never meet a candidate in person until I’ve conducted an in-depth phone screen as a means to increase objectivity.

Rather than starting the interview right away, take the person on a tour, or to the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee.

on-the-job success means consistently and successfully getting the job done regardless of the circumstances, with the least direction possible.

Team skills and cultural fit is not determined by warmth or affability during the interview. It’s determined by the person’s impact and effectiveness in collaborating with others on the teams the person has been asked to join.

If a person doesn’t find the work challenging or important (or both), performance will suffer.

While there are many talented and motivated people around, they can prove to be failures if the circumstances prevent them from being successful. Equally important, there are many apparently average performers who can excel under the right conditions.