•
the key features of your organization’s culture (for example,
team-orientation, degree of conformity, reward systems); and
•
your managerial style (for example, authoritative, coercive,
democratic) and its implications for an effective working
relationship.
Primary Responsibilities and Tasks
If you’re looking to rehire for an existing job, take a look what the
current incumbent is now doing and evaluate their job description,
if one exists. But don’t simply accept either of these perspectives as
definitive. Use the hiring opportunity to reevaluate the primary
responsibilities and tasks of the job. Make sure you can answer the
question,“What does the employee have to do in this job?”
Education and Experience
Education and experience are the two most critical background
characteristics to consider when evaluating candidates. In the case of
education, you may wish to specify a certain type of degree or a cer-
tain level. Be sure to ask yourself whether a specific educational
background is truly necessary. Can you be flexible in this area, or
can relevant experience be substituted for a certain educational
background?
Experience requirements should be based on a thorough analy-
sis of the specific tasks and responsibilities of the position. Which
would be most desirable:
•
Industry experience?
•
Functional experience?
•
Large- versus small-company experience?

Interpersonal skills. Since interpersonal skills and behavior are
intimately connected, understanding a candidate’s interpersonal
skills is an important part of the hiring decision process. To
determine which interpersonal skills are most appropriate for a
given position, think about the set of tasks that will be per-
formed in the position.Which traits will translate into good per-
formance, especially in view of the superiors, peers, and direct
reports with whom the person will interact? For example, a
controller should ideally be patient and formal, demonstrating
careful, cautious, detail-oriented behavior. For a sales manager,
high extroversion and low formality may be desirable.
4 Hiring and Keeping the Best People
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The Hiring Process 5
• Motivation. The candidate’s personal goals, interests, energy
level, and job progression often demonstrate their level of moti-
vation. So ask yourself,“Does this job match the candidate’s per-
sonal aspirations? Would he or she do the job with enthusiasm
and energy?
Develop a Job Description
Once you understand the position’s requirements, you are ready to
create a job description.A job description is a profile of the job, its
essential functions, reporting relationships, hours, and required cre-
dentials.This description will make it possible for you to explain the
job both to potential candidates and to any recruiters you may be
using to help identify candidates. In some cases, your organization
may have a required format or a standard job description to use as a
model.
A clearly written, results-oriented job description can shape the
beginning of the employee relationship, and can help everyone

Meanwhile, the new hire’s immediate supervisor is looking for
someone with “people skills.”
Pity the poor job applicant who walks into this situation! To
avoid this type of confusion, try this procedure:
• Ask everyone who’ll interact with the new hire to privately
write down exactly what they would consider the attributes
of the ideal candidate.
• Meet and openly discuss differences in the various wish lists.
• Decide together which requirements have priority.
• Create a new list of requirements that everyone agrees on.
• Stick to that list when evaluating candidates.
Create Consensus on Personal Characteristics
example, the last person who held the position may have had a
strong strategic focus, but if you decide that a more hands-on man-
ager is now needed, then recreate the job description accordingly.
As you go through the exercise of describing the job, observe the
following:
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• Distinguish between knowledge, skills, and abilities. Some jobs
require advanced degrees. Some require special skills, such as
knowing how to program in Java. Others require physical
abilities, such as hand-eye coordination, or mental abilities, such
as the ability to work with numbers. Figure out what you need
in each area.
• Take the time needed to do it right.Yes, you need that new
employee to start next week, but the cost of getting rid of the
wrong employee more than outweighs the cost of time spent
finding the right one.
• Be sure to comply with all legal restrictions.Your stated job
requirements must be clearly related to getting the job done and


the hiring process; it also means that you’ll have more sifting to do in
finding the best choice.And that sifting begins with résumé screen-
ing (see “Tips for Screening Résumés”).
8 Hiring and Keeping the Best People
• Consider current employees.
• Look outside your organization to bring in new outlooks,
skills, and experiences.
• Know what kind of person you’re looking for in order to
locate a good fit.
• Remember that a person’s past job performance is the surest
guide to future performance.
• Remember that the right education + the right experience +
a compatible personality = a good fit.
• Beware of the “just like me” trap.This trap encourages man-
agers to favor candidates who share similar education back-
grounds, are of the same age, gender, or race, and who enjoy
the same pastimes.To avoid the trap, focus on the objective
requirements of the job and the candidate’s qualifications.
Tips for Finding the Right Person
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The Hiring Process 9
The cover letter and résumé are the candidate’s first introduction
to you. In order to merit your further attention, they should convey
the qualities you are looking for.When you have a large number of
résumés to review, use a two-pass process to make your task more
manageable.In the first pass, eliminate the résumés of candidates who
do not meet the basic requirements of the job. In the second pass,
look for résumés that include:
• signs of achievement and results—for example, a profit orienta-
tion, stability, or progressive career momentum;

and better information.
When you are selecting someone for an important position, you
will probably go through at least two of the following stages for
every job opening. In some cases, you may even go through all three.
1.
Telephone-screening interview. This may be done by you, a
recruiting agency, your HR department, or someone else in
10 Hiring and Keeping the Best People
• Spend the least amount of your time eliminating the least-
likely candidates and the greatest amount of your time care-
fully considering the most-likely candidates.
• Separate fluff from substance. Get right to the core of the
candidate’s accomplishments.
• Avoid comparing candidates to each other. Instead, compare
each candidate to the high-performer candidate profile and
look for a match.
• If you have great numbers of incoming résumés, or tap Inter-
net résumé postings, consider using résumé screening soft-
ware to automatically identify suitable applicants (more on
this in Chapter 2).
Tips for Screening Résumés
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