Comments on: How To Hire Someone In The Recession http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/hiring-firing/how-to-hire-someone-in-the-recession/ Mon, 21 May 2012 13:33:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: Mike Michalowicz http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/hiring-firing/how-to-hire-someone-in-the-recession/#comment-2608 Mike Michalowicz Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:39:27 +0000 http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/?p=340#comment-2608 @Bill - Thanks for the feedback. I agree completely that a persons future performance can be best anticipated by their past performance. I believe we should interview and hire people based upon their past attitude, their past energy, their past intelligence. Asking people what their attitude, energy, intelligence, values are is a waste of time, since people will say what you want to hear. Instead you need to interview them and seek the patterns of their behavior. Identify how they have demonstrated these components in the past, and you have a good indicator of who you will be hiring. By the way, interviewing for past behavior is NOT easy. You can't say "How was your energy in the past? How was your intelligence?", etc. for example. Instead you need to seek out patterns by asking for stories. For example "What was your first job like? What kind of hours did you work? Was your boss helpful?" Then keep asking "why? how? why not?" to peel back the onion and discover how their behaviors have played out. If for example, you find that the candidate again and again says "my boss was a jerk. She was always telling me what to do!", about all their jobs... I have news for you, YOU will be the next "jerk". In other words, this person has the behavior pattern of not wanting to take direction from a superior. And if that is a requirement at your company, you probably don't want to make the hire. @Bill – Thanks for the feedback. I agree completely that a persons future performance can be best anticipated by their past performance. I believe we should interview and hire people based upon their past attitude, their past energy, their past intelligence. Asking people what their attitude, energy, intelligence, values are is a waste of time, since people will say what you want to hear. Instead you need to interview them and seek the patterns of their behavior. Identify how they have demonstrated these components in the past, and you have a good indicator of who you will be hiring.

By the way, interviewing for past behavior is NOT easy. You can’t say “How was your energy in the past? How was your intelligence?”, etc. for example. Instead you need to seek out patterns by asking for stories. For example “What was your first job like? What kind of hours did you work? Was your boss helpful?” Then keep asking “why? how? why not?” to peel back the onion and discover how their behaviors have played out.

If for example, you find that the candidate again and again says “my boss was a jerk. She was always telling me what to do!”, about all their jobs… I have news for you, YOU will be the next “jerk”. In other words, this person has the behavior pattern of not wanting to take direction from a superior. And if that is a requirement at your company, you probably don’t want to make the hire.

]]> By: Bill Vick http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/hiring-firing/how-to-hire-someone-in-the-recession/#comment-2607 Bill Vick Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:37:06 +0000 http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/?p=340#comment-2607 Mike - I like your blog and commend your efforts but the bit about hiring for attitude and not experience is more questionable touchy feely assumptions that is just not true. I agree that hiring somebody for what they can do, not what they have done, makes great sense. But time after time it has been proven that people perform in the future as they have in the past. As an executive recruiter I placed hundreds of mid level and senior executives and without exception it was what they did that counted, not what they said they could do, regardless of their enthusiasm or can do attitude. Getting a job is really more about the road ahead than the rearview mirror of what has been. Bring me someone who can do, not somebody that thinks he can. Mike – I like your blog and commend your efforts but the bit about hiring for attitude and not experience is more questionable touchy feely assumptions that is just not true. I agree that hiring somebody for what they can do, not what they have done, makes great sense. But time after time it has been proven that people perform in the future as they have in the past. As an executive recruiter I placed hundreds of mid level and senior executives and without exception it was what they did that counted, not what they said they could do, regardless of their enthusiasm or can do attitude. Getting a job is really more about the road ahead than the rearview mirror of what has been. Bring me someone who can do, not somebody that thinks he can.

]]> By: 7 Steps to Finding & Hiring Your Next Rockstar « UnisonSearch http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/hiring-firing/how-to-hire-someone-in-the-recession/#comment-2606 7 Steps to Finding & Hiring Your Next Rockstar « UnisonSearch Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:55:45 +0000 http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/?p=340#comment-2606 [...] Info: Mike Michalowicz has a great post on his website about the new rules of hiring in this [...] [...] Info: Mike Michalowicz has a great post on his website about the new rules of hiring in this [...]

]]> By: Diana O. Moore http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/hiring-firing/how-to-hire-someone-in-the-recession/#comment-2605 Diana O. Moore Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:33:26 +0000 http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/?p=340#comment-2605 Have a great day. Have a great day.

]]> By: Randy @ dog training basics http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/hiring-firing/how-to-hire-someone-in-the-recession/#comment-2604 Randy @ dog training basics Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:17:39 +0000 http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/?p=340#comment-2604 I've recently started a blog, the information you provide on this site has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work. I’ve recently started a blog, the information you provide on this site has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work.

]]> By: Finding and Hiring Employees in a Recession » The StartUp Blog at PartnerUp http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/hiring-firing/how-to-hire-someone-in-the-recession/#comment-2603 Finding and Hiring Employees in a Recession » The StartUp Blog at PartnerUp Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:20:51 +0000 http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/?p=340#comment-2603 [...] Toilet Paper Entrepreneur blog posted a great article on hiring in a recession that I think all business owners and hiring managers can benefit from reading. My favorite tip is, [...] [...] Toilet Paper Entrepreneur blog posted a great article on hiring in a recession that I think all business owners and hiring managers can benefit from reading. My favorite tip is, [...]

]]> By: How to Hire in a Recession | KnowThenGrow http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/hiring-firing/how-to-hire-someone-in-the-recession/#comment-2602 How to Hire in a Recession | KnowThenGrow Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:56:03 +0000 http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/?p=340#comment-2602 [...] Paper Entrepreneur has a great article about How to Hire Someone in the Recession. It includes five points, each of which stresses attitude as much as [...] [...] Paper Entrepreneur has a great article about How to Hire Someone in the Recession. It includes five points, each of which stresses attitude as much as [...]

]]> By: dvovirtualtech http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/hiring-firing/how-to-hire-someone-in-the-recession/#comment-2601 dvovirtualtech Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:06:15 +0000 http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/?p=340#comment-2601 This is a very good point of consideration since most people put experience as a value to how work should be done... after all, you can never train an old dog with new tricks... This is a very good point of consideration since most people put experience as a value to how work should be done… after all, you can never train an old dog with new tricks…

]]> By: vaibhav agarwal http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/hiring-firing/how-to-hire-someone-in-the-recession/#comment-2600 vaibhav agarwal Fri, 17 Apr 2009 05:39:36 +0000 http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/?p=340#comment-2600 I wonder, if you would like to add the test for integrity and honesty for an employee there, since one might have the right attitute, zeal and intelligence, but without honesty he he/she could be harmfull for the company. I wonder, if you would like to add the test for integrity and honesty for an employee there, since one might have the right attitute, zeal and intelligence, but without honesty he he/she could be harmfull for the company.

]]> By: David Sandusky http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/hiring-firing/how-to-hire-someone-in-the-recession/#comment-2599 David Sandusky Fri, 17 Apr 2009 03:24:13 +0000 http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/?p=340#comment-2599 Another goodie Mike. I've spent my 10k hours interviewing and I will tell you where instincts come from: Listening to core values and core competencies while working through a real problem. Rinse and repeat. Confident and passionate people have no problem marketing potential you can FEEL. Another goodie Mike.
I’ve spent my 10k hours interviewing and I will tell you where instincts come from:
Listening to core values and core competencies while working through a real problem. Rinse and repeat. Confident and passionate people have no problem marketing potential you can FEEL.

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