Look Out! There's Some Dangerous People About
I believe a good recruitment company, used in the right way, can add real value to the recruitment process: We save you hours of time and let you get on with your main business, but, most importantly, we bring years of expertise to the process and significantly reduce the risk of a bad hiring decision. I know people find it hard to believe but we do save companies money.
However, if you really do want to do your own hiring here is my easy-to-use guide to people to avoid. Don't say I didn't warn you!
Colin Climber
Colin looks good on paper. He has had wide experience, seems to know his stuff, and when you interview him, he is equally impressive. The truth: Colin should be impressive at the interview, he has had plenty of practice. To Colin you are not a career option;you're a stepping stone. Colin ensures he changes job every two years. That way he keeps pushing up his salary and never has to suffer the long-term consequences of his actions, but he will insist he wants a long-term career and has just been unlucky to date.
Mary Maybe
Mary is very flexible. She doesn't mind what role she has and will do anything you ask. She hasn't changed jobs too often and has the skills you are after. The truth: Mary can't make a decision to save her life. Which means that whenever she comes to a decision point, she will have to ask someone to make the decision for her and if there is no one available? Well things just stop.
Wally Onejob
Wally is the salt of the earth, stable as houses. He got a job when he left school and stuck with it for 25 years, getting promoted from time to time, before being made redundant in the recession. The truth: Wally is stuck in a time warp and can't get out of it. He tries to relate the new job to the old company processes and it doesn't work. He can't pick up the new stuff and keeps complaining that the old company was sooo much better.
Freda Friendly
Freda interviews really well. She gets on with the interviewer and, curiously, the interview lasts much longer than usual. She knows heaps about the job area, is enthusiastic and friendly. The truth: Freda can't stop talking - ever. She talks at the coffee machine, at people's desks, over lunch. It's about work - mostly, but productivity drops markedly, and it's really hard to nail exactly what the problem is.
Sam Sporty
Nothing wrong with Sam. Knows his job, interviews well, not too friendly, not too anything really. Looks like a good hire. The truth: Sam's main interest lies outside work, and it affects his productivity - taking and making calls to organize the next match, checking league tables on the internet, skipping off early to get to matches, but mainly he just doesn't have interest in the job -it's all elsewhere.
Norman Knowall
Norman is highly dangerous. Again he interviews well, seems to know a great deal, is a great communicator and appears high on confidence and ability. The truth: Norman has a problem, he can't say "I don't know". Consequently he doesn't ask questions when he should. He makes guesses and works on assumptions. He ploughs ahead with false confidence and an aura of high competence -until it's too late.
Carol Closed
Like all the others Carol interviews well. She knows her job, can explain what she's done and how she worked. She has no obvious personality defects. A good hire? The truth: Carol is no problem at all - until she leaves, or her job changes. That is when you find out Carol is a job protectionist. Nothing is written down, important information is stored only in her head. Take her out of her job and things start to fall apart very quickly and Carol is pleased, finally everyone appreciates how important she is!
by Barry Knowles - Sydney@WorkGWP Magazines® Business Resource & Lifestyle™ Issue #28, Jan-Feb 2010
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