…but we DO plan!

Then, why do these things happen….and more than once!

• Requests sent to me personally where there is no connection to my qualifications… “We have the perfect position for you as a temporary Admin Asst in Iowa.”  I’m sure Iowa is lovely, but I’m in Connecticut and while I think administration assistants actually rule the world, I couldn’t be one if I tried.

• Significant errors in the software programs.  Would you use a budget program that said ‘2 + 2 = 3’?   Why do you expect to get a good candidate if the software you’re using has mistakes that every job hunter can see?

• Jobs that are withdrawn well after hiring process has started (or even completed!).  This has happened to me and to friends too often to think that this is fluke.  …and this isn’t a way of saying ‘You weren’t right for the job.’ – reports from friends inside say the job’s gone. 

Dare I suggest that these things need fixing?

...a few more items on planning...

#3 Sounds Like a Plan

I believe that what you can get down into a repeatable routine and measured will take less time and cost less. 

Tip #3: Set up a process for hiring the same way you would any business plan - pre-planning, milestones, entry and exit dates, role and task assignments, expected outcomes and post-project reviews.

I am biased.  I believe that process, process, process goes with business like location, location, location goes with real estate.  ‘Plan Ahead’ and ‘Measure Twice, Cut Once’ are my mantras. 

Will you be trapped in a bad cycle?  Will you be caught in a rut?  Will you be labeled uninventive? staid?  These certainly can happen.  But if you don’t have a plan you’ll be working haphazardly.  You may strike gold once in a while.  Will you know how to get to that gold vein again?

Next…Why I think I need to suggest this!

#2 To Each His Own

Tip #2: Figure out who’s going to do what. 

This should cover all the players – Hiring managers, budget controllers, human resources personnel, recruiters and staffing firms and the computers/software they use.   Then assign the roles and play to your strengths.  

If your HR person doesn’t know a spreadsheet from a tweet, don’t have them wallow in interview questions about software systems.  If the hiring manager gets deep into the intricacies of installing firewalls in the job description, lean over their shoulder and do some editing.  If the budgeting people are wishy-washy about whether the company can afford the position, make that decision first.  Get the team together and plan.

You wouldn’t expect a football team to exchange the quarterback for the wide receiver…they each know exactly what the game plan is…You should too.

…and speaking of plans…

….Using Your ‘Not-Watson’

Here’s an example I described -  a bad day in November!

“The job description was intensely detailed with a long laundry list of tasks.  It sounded like things I have done, with a few misses...I continue and push the button to apply.  

Next screen is a list of 4 very specific requirements with a pull down checklist for number of years of experience.  Two I had, two were the items in their long list which were misses for me.   I see no point applying.”

My analysis:

Not productive: burying the key items in a long list of job requirements.

Productive: Your computer CAN scan for you – on a limited level.  Listing and ordering the requirements with a checklist of the number of years is computer child’s play.   You could even ask for rankings on expertise.   Simple example: Excel experience in years: (1 to 10+).   Excel mastery level: (beginner to expert)

If you have specific requirements that can be quantified, the computer can pick out your best candidates in a microsecond.   But this has to be planned into your application. 

Not possible:  having the computer tell you what the candidate was able to accomplish with Excel!

We’ll revisit this later in my Top 10 List….but it leads me to Tip #2….

#1 Your Computer’s Not Watson, Get Over It!

As of this morning Google had 16,700 different matches on the phrase "recipes for strawberry shortcake".   Don’t tie the words together and the matches go up to over a million.  Watson, IBM’s Jeopardy wizard, can find questions if you have the answer.   So using a computer to find the perfect candidate for your job should be easy…Right?

Absolutely!  …and…you are willing to spend gazillions on a super-computer, hire the cream of computer geekhood and wait several years to develop the algorithm to pull your candidate out of LinkedIn.

Not what you had in mind – starting with the $$$ gazillions! 

Can YOUR computer match phrases and words, find them in a string of text?  It certainly can.  So you choose some words out of your job description and go hunting for the candidate who has guessed correctly and put exactly these same words in his/her resume.  Will you get a hit?  Maybe, maybe not.

To rephrase Tip #1: Don’t expect your computer to work miracles.  The level of search techniques used to scan a resume, even using well tested techniques, is a guessing game.  The candidate can only guess what you are looking for.  It’s not playing at the top of the computer’s game.

Corollary to Tip #1:  Use the computer for what it is good at – filing, organizing, ranking, tracking and sending e-mails. A little time spent at the beginning figuring out exactly (computers are good at exactly) what you want it to do and it will be your efficient servant saving you time and money.

Before I go on to Tip #2 – an example of doing this both well and badly…