Hiring Success summary

Step one: take a big, bright marker and write the words “We’re hiring!” on a poster board. Step two: tape that sign up in the window. Step three: hand the job to the first person to come walking through the door. 

If only it were that easy! The truth is, it’s almost impossible to fill your open position with just anyone coming in off the street. Matching the right person to the right job takes a bit more thought and a lot more patience. 

Imagine you’re running a retail store. It doesn’t matter what you’re selling – it could be appliances, or it could be ice cream. Either way, your business isn’t going to thrive unless there are customers walking through the door. 

And how do you get more customers? That’s an easy answer: through a savvy marketing campaign.

What would you do in the following scenario? You’re the head of a small company, and business is booming. You need to hire 100 talented workers, and fast. 

You could start by hiring a dozen recruitment professionals to comb through LinkedIn looking for leads. Or, you could go viral and let the leads come to you.

It’s 2009. Brian Acton and Jan Koum, two bright young programmers, are applying to Facebook. They’re enthusiastic, determined, and ready to work. Unfortunately, the hiring team only considers their credentials and decides they don’t have the right experience. Both candidates are rejected.

Fast-forward five years, and things look a bit different. Acton and Koum have built Whatsapp, the wildly popular messaging platform. Now, Facebook wants to buy the company – and it won’t be cheap. In the end, the acquisition costs Facebook $19 billion. 

In 1983, Apple was looking for a new company president. To fill the role, Steve Jobs wanted to poach John Sculley, then head of PepsiCo. But there was a problem. At the time, Apple was still a small, fledgling organization. For Sculley, the position was a potential setback. 

Undeterred, Jobs made his move. He called Sculley and made his case: “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?” The appeal to greatness worked, and Sculley took the job.

The setup, the shot, the swish of the net. A pro baller sinking a perfect three-pointer is a thing of beauty. But any good basketball coach knows that one satisfying score doesn’t win the game. You need a team that can always hit the basket – again and again.

The moral here is that consistency matters – on the court and for your company. To outcompete others on the market, you don’t just need one good hire; you need many. So, ensure you acquire the best talent year after year by making good hiring a repeatable practice.

Quiz night at your local bar is fast approaching. The problem is, you haven’t filled the five slots in your team yet. Who should you call?

What about your five astrophysicist friends? They’re definitely smart, and they’re sure to nail any science question. But can you rely on them for questions about movies, sports, or history? Really, your best strategy is to have a diverse team.