"Andy Brown Wants You" Fast Company June 1999 by Polly Labarne

As the labor poolgets tighter, recruitin prospective employees may het harder unless you can sell your company. You may have to interview numerous candidates to find the right person. Once you have found that special person, that is when the real work begins - getting them to join your company.

This article pointed out that if you want the best employees you have to have your best do the hiring. Most companies have people who have never worked in the company, besides in the human resources department, do the hiring. This makes it hard to sell the employee on working for your company. If they haven't worked in all areas of the company they cannont give the employee a clear picture of the job tasks. The best way to do this is to have your best employee sell the recruit on your company.

Comanies that offer similar jobw with the same pay need to differentiate the intangibles. Do you offer bettter training, job advancement, more individual authority, etc.? Good interviewers will ask candidate what motivates them or what they want to accomplish. Once you know this, you can identify how your company can help them achieve their goals.

I really thought this article made two strong points on recruting. The first was that you need to differentiate your company from other similar companies. At the present time, a good prospective employee has more than one company trying to hire them. The company that fits their needs will most likely get them.

The second point I liked was to have your best employee help with the recruiting. I agree that good employees can help sell the company and provide a better picture of the job than any human resource person.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 1999

Answers

Bill Berning,

Some appropriate thoughts, Bill. Those of us in the hiring process are sometimes surprised; however, at the person who shows up after the interview, having sold him/her self too well. In these times of nearly full employment, the process is even more critical.

Remember to include comments on your discussion with your colleagues.

-- Anonymous, October 01, 1999