“Hiring in an organization is one of the most difficult and important things to do”.
It’s funny how in many organizations the hiring process is delayed because people are too busy working, and don’t have time for anything…. Hello? This is the reason you are hiring!
I always compare hiring to “speed dating”, where both parties have to decide if they want to continue dating after a quick first impression (45-60 minutes), where the “lovers” usually don’t show (or try to make up) their worst side. In this process, both parties try to put on their best attire and, obviously, some clothes maybe hide some truths.
Needless to say, you have to live with the outcome of that quick decision. You hire because you have more than you can do; a good decision will reduce your work, and a bad decision will increase your work and headaches….
Some companies create long processes where 6-8 steps are required including several interviews… and frankly speaking the outcome is not necessarily the right one. At least in my opinion, I have hired an excellent professional in three weeks (Including the whole process from preparing the ad, posting it, evaluating candidates, interviews, second opinion and signing the contract. I didn’t know the candidates beforehand, in case someone thinks it was fast because I was already prepared) and I screwed up a 5 month recruitment, involving a well known recruitment company, following corporate procedures, pre-selection process, long interviews, reference checking… and hiring the wrong person (*).
In fact, one of my biggest learnings, if you have doubts about it, “don’t hire”. Hiring the wrong person will become a liability, and will suck more of your time than you have.
At this point, I will make the caveat for first time hires. If you are hiring for the first time, you can always have doubts about candidates no matter how good they are due to lack of experience, and here having someone with experience helping you will really make decisions easier.
During my professional career, I have hired many Project Managers in different companies. I have to say that the outcome has been quite good. I guess there is a personal bias in the decision. If you have done the work, it is easier to compare the person to yourself. However, I have hired for quite a few positions and have made several serious mistakes. And on several occasions, one of the problems is that I didn’t know the job the candidate was supposed to do (okay, I understood the duties and deliverables, but not the job itself). This is perhaps the main problem I have seen in many organizations – if the hiring manager doesn’t know, how can he or she judge the person’s capabilities? It doesn’t matter how good the recruiter is, how good the selection process is, how many tests are done….
It’s another matter if you know what you’re looking for, but you can’t find it.
In this situation, perhaps the biggest question when it comes to hiring is: is it good to hire someone for this specific project/role even though they have only done projects/roles in a completely different industry?
The answer is obvious: if you have a choice, choose the one who has done exactly the same thing in their previous life. As I mentioned in another post, experience is the mother of Project Management, and if someone has done the same thing, the outcome is quite predictable. The selection process should focus more on how this person might fit into your organization and/or with you.
That said, if you are in a booming industry, and there is a lack of experienced roles, and it is difficult to find one, you should think about retrieving roles from other similar industries.
(*) I have to clarify that the meaning of “wrong person” is in the context of that particular position having me as the person responsible for that particular position (maybe the wrong person was me, but unfortunately, I was the one recruiting)
