BINDER #008 - Recruiting/Hiring - Cast a Wide Net, Part 2: Don't Discard Them Immediately

Other than some very deliberate choices I've made to work myself silly on some ridiculous projects in order to maximize profits and keep clients happy... I feel pretty blessed that I have not had to work any "sucky" jobs.

I suppose everyone can find enjoyment in their work, but I don't think I would survive well in a number of positions:

• Traffic control flagger

• Long haul truck driving

• Any sort of manufacturing line

• Any sort of position where you have to perform a quality inspection of harvested food before sending it on a truck for distribution.

Yes, the last one is pretty Niche... But it plays into the point I am trying to make.

In part one of this article, I wrote about casting a wide net early.

Now, I Am shifting to what happens when you actually "haul in a load" - AKA, get applications to your job posting.

When applications come in, the Instinct of business owners is almost unilaterally the same:

1. Receive resumes.

2. Sort resumes "best to worst".

3. Call the top "x" amount of resumes.

4. Schedule interviews.

5. Choose the best applicant who actually showed up for the interview.

In theory, this order of operations appears to be sound, logical, and pragmatic.

The problem, however, is we tend to make a big misstep around step number two.

Pretend that you are one of those employees in charge of sorting large amounts of harvested food before it gets shipped on the truck for distribution. 

Equipment is bringing to you, and you get to decide apples to go to the market, and which ones get thrown out.

At best, your eyes will scan the Apple, and if there is an obvious blemish, it will get discarded.

This is a sound, logical, and pragmatic system for sorting commercial produce. Time is of the essence.

It is not, however, sound, logical, or pragmatic for hiring employees in your business. You can't afford to get even one hire wrong.

Our goal of hiring is simple:

Choose and retain a talented individual who can produce a positive return on their investment for years to come, while simultaneously giving them opportunities for career growth within the company.

In other words... It may not be wise to chuck out candidates simply because we didn't like their resume.

A better system for sorting what is in the net

I went to a training seminar in early 2023 for snow removal. The keynote speaker was discussing his hiring method when he was in charge of hiring at a eight-figure snow removal company in the early 2000s.

One day, when hiring snow shovelers, he came across a resume that was the gold standard of resumes. 

According to him, this resume could have been used for a position at the White House. It was perfect, professional, and screamed "Hire me, and watch me become a C-level executive in 12 to 24 months."

And so, he categorized the rest of the resumes, scheduled the interviews, and brought in 10 candidates for interview.

This "Gold-Star" resume was one of the last ones to interview. The instructor said that he remembered powering through the first interviewers quickly, because he just couldn't wait to get in a conversation with the author of this masterpiece.

Finally, the time came. The candidate walked in the door, and sat down for the interview.

The interview was over in less than 10 minutes.

The candidate was sloppy, unkempt, and didn't appear to be able to spell the word "Shovel", let alone be counted on to consistently operate one.

I remember exactly what the instructor told us in this seminar: 

"I felt like I just got catfished, but for a job candidate, not my Tinder date!"

As it turns out, the young man had a school counselor who was incredibly skilled (and enjoyed) writing resumes for his students.

The lesson is obvious: Resume's are terrible - and I mean, terrible - predictive indicators of hiring success. (You know, the success we talked about earlier, with all of the longevity of employment and ROI and stuff.)

This isn't just opinion. Organizations have researched the key indicators of predictive hiring, and resume creation scores poorly.

How to Identify the Keepers

So, the question becomes obvious - 

"If resumes don't tell us the real story, how do we know who the real ones are?"

It's not as if we can interview every applicant.

Here is a simple strategy that has worked great for my company:

1.  Don't look at a resume that is submitted. Delete it from your brain.

2. When applicants apply, send them a job application form on a free service such as Google Forms (more on this below)

3. Sort the application form answers to immediately gauge who the qualified applicants could be; discard the remainder. 

4. Invite the qualified applicants to book a time with you for a 5-minute pre-screen phone call. (This will verify they have the initiative to continue the process.)

5. Ask 3-5 basic questions on the pre-screen call. The idea here is not to analyze the answers in great detail, but rather get a "feel" for the candidate, how they converse, etc. You should include a couple of questions that will give you the best indicator of the type of talent you're looking for. (Remember, however, that if you choose to not continue the process with someone because you didn't like the way they sounded, you could be shutting the door on a great candidate if you're not careful.)

6. Interview the best candidates from the pre-screen call.

7. Hire the best candidate.

So, what is the deal with step two above?  The idea here is very simple - resumes can tell us a lot about someone's working experience, but they may not tell us exactly how someone can perform at OUR company.

An application form with questions such as, "Rate your experience on the following pieces of equipment", or, "Rate your experience with the following selling strategies and software" are going to give us asignificantly better indication of who could fit in at OUR company for OUR position - not just what they've done in the past.

Do you want one of the application forms that we use in our company? 

I will hook you up for free to get you started. All you have to do to get it is:

1. Refer someone you know to this newsletter,

2. Let me know via email or DM who signed up,

3. I will hook you up with an application form.