You Are Who You Hire (part 1)
The recession has done strange things to the hiring process. Few openings, many applicants. Stacks of resumes, many embarrassingly overqualified, some grotesquely underqualified. All too frequently, companies are treating applicants poorly, not following up after interviews and behaving arrogantly. And often people are hired in a hurry, without sufficient scrutiny.
Hiring may be the most important process at any company. Everything else depends on having the right people in place, especially when it comes to product managers. But whether you're hiring a product manager, a CEO, or a product support rep, your company's future depends on having the best people in place. You are who you hire.
Hiring the right person isn't that difficult if you know what you're looking for, make the effort to get to know applicants well, and are patient.
Here's what I look for when I'm hiring, in order of importance:
1. Intelligence. You can't teach this, and if it isn't there, you get mediocre results. Hire only smart people, at every level. No exceptions. None. (Note: this does not always correlate with "educated." There are very smart people who are undereducated, who can be valuable contributors.)
2. Personality and cultural fit. Your hires should be people that you want to work with, and who want to work in the kind of workplace you want to have. It's important that people have compatible attitudes about things like teamwork, cooperation/competition, personal and work goals, and work/life balance. Find out whether they have an appropriate energy level, initiative and drive. Do they pass the "airport test": would you want to be stuck in an airport with them for eight hours?
3. Experience. While this is somewhat dependent on the position you're filling, you want people with appropriate experience. Sometime this means that they've done the job before; sometimes it means they have work or life experiences that give them knowledge and insights that will be useful for the job.
4. Domain knowledge. Does an applicant know about a specific industry or product type? This can be enormously valuable, yet it can often be learned on the job by a smart, motivated person.
5. Technical expertise. Obviously, this is most important in a technical position, and is a higher priority for, say, a software engineer. A product manager needs to at least be conversant with current technology, if not an expert. But any employee who knows how to get the most out of Office or the web can be valuable.
How do you figure out if a candidate fits the bill? Here are a few tips…
First, make sure you've written a thorough, precise job description, but don't fill it with minutia that excludes qualified candidates. Is a degree in computer science absolutely required for the position? (Hint: It is not required for a product management position, contrary to recent hiring trends.) If not, don't say it is - you'll lose qualified candidates. Provide applicants with enough information that they'll know whether there's a real potential fit…and leave the rest to the interview process.
Preliminary telephone interviews are often called "screening," an unfortunately negative term for the first contact with a future employee. But it's usually too time-consuming to talk to a lot of candidates in person, so it's necessary. The goals of a first-round phone interview are getting a sense of what's behind the job listings in the resume and getting a feel for the candidate as an individual (see priorities #1 and #2, above). Who is best suited to conduct a preliminary interview? Ideally, the hiring manager, but realistically, it's often more realistic to use an experienced interviewer who understands the company and the job requirements. Someone who is really good at this can sort out the best potential candidates.
From this point on, it's best to meet candidates in person if they are local, though if they live an hour or more away, it's reasonable to do a detailed phone interview. Usually the hiring manager should do the second round. I like to do this in a one-on-one meeting that will be "up to an hour", which I can cut short if someone is clearly not suitable. I generally don't schedule additional interviews the first day, unless a candidate is coming from a long distance. But I'll often ask a second interviewer to be available in case someone seems really good and I want a second opinion on the spot.
If a candidate reaches the "final round", I'll bring him or her back for a series of interviews with the team. (In the case of the non-local candidate, I'll schedule a series of interviews the first time they come in.) Some companies use group interviews. I prefer one-on-one, except with team members who are less experienced interviewers - then I will team them up.
When a candidate is a finalist, it's very important to listen to every interviewer's opinion. Most "bad hires" drop plenty of hints in their interviews, but the hints are ignored because no one was encouraged to provide detailed feedback, or "only one interviewer said there was a problem." When someone raises an issue, listen. It can save you a lot of pain and trouble later on. And never ignore warning signs because you're in a hurry to fill a position. Once you hire someone, you're going to have them around for a long time - so get it right.
In part 2, we'll look at some interview techniques.
Hiring may be the most important process at any company. Everything else depends on having the right people in place, especially when it comes to product managers. But whether you're hiring a product manager, a CEO, or a product support rep, your company's future depends on having the best people in place. You are who you hire.
Hiring the right person isn't that difficult if you know what you're looking for, make the effort to get to know applicants well, and are patient.
Here's what I look for when I'm hiring, in order of importance:
1. Intelligence. You can't teach this, and if it isn't there, you get mediocre results. Hire only smart people, at every level. No exceptions. None. (Note: this does not always correlate with "educated." There are very smart people who are undereducated, who can be valuable contributors.)
2. Personality and cultural fit. Your hires should be people that you want to work with, and who want to work in the kind of workplace you want to have. It's important that people have compatible attitudes about things like teamwork, cooperation/competition, personal and work goals, and work/life balance. Find out whether they have an appropriate energy level, initiative and drive. Do they pass the "airport test": would you want to be stuck in an airport with them for eight hours?
3. Experience. While this is somewhat dependent on the position you're filling, you want people with appropriate experience. Sometime this means that they've done the job before; sometimes it means they have work or life experiences that give them knowledge and insights that will be useful for the job.
4. Domain knowledge. Does an applicant know about a specific industry or product type? This can be enormously valuable, yet it can often be learned on the job by a smart, motivated person.
5. Technical expertise. Obviously, this is most important in a technical position, and is a higher priority for, say, a software engineer. A product manager needs to at least be conversant with current technology, if not an expert. But any employee who knows how to get the most out of Office or the web can be valuable.
How do you figure out if a candidate fits the bill? Here are a few tips…
First, make sure you've written a thorough, precise job description, but don't fill it with minutia that excludes qualified candidates. Is a degree in computer science absolutely required for the position? (Hint: It is not required for a product management position, contrary to recent hiring trends.) If not, don't say it is - you'll lose qualified candidates. Provide applicants with enough information that they'll know whether there's a real potential fit…and leave the rest to the interview process.
Preliminary telephone interviews are often called "screening," an unfortunately negative term for the first contact with a future employee. But it's usually too time-consuming to talk to a lot of candidates in person, so it's necessary. The goals of a first-round phone interview are getting a sense of what's behind the job listings in the resume and getting a feel for the candidate as an individual (see priorities #1 and #2, above). Who is best suited to conduct a preliminary interview? Ideally, the hiring manager, but realistically, it's often more realistic to use an experienced interviewer who understands the company and the job requirements. Someone who is really good at this can sort out the best potential candidates.
From this point on, it's best to meet candidates in person if they are local, though if they live an hour or more away, it's reasonable to do a detailed phone interview. Usually the hiring manager should do the second round. I like to do this in a one-on-one meeting that will be "up to an hour", which I can cut short if someone is clearly not suitable. I generally don't schedule additional interviews the first day, unless a candidate is coming from a long distance. But I'll often ask a second interviewer to be available in case someone seems really good and I want a second opinion on the spot.
If a candidate reaches the "final round", I'll bring him or her back for a series of interviews with the team. (In the case of the non-local candidate, I'll schedule a series of interviews the first time they come in.) Some companies use group interviews. I prefer one-on-one, except with team members who are less experienced interviewers - then I will team them up.
When a candidate is a finalist, it's very important to listen to every interviewer's opinion. Most "bad hires" drop plenty of hints in their interviews, but the hints are ignored because no one was encouraged to provide detailed feedback, or "only one interviewer said there was a problem." When someone raises an issue, listen. It can save you a lot of pain and trouble later on. And never ignore warning signs because you're in a hurry to fill a position. Once you hire someone, you're going to have them around for a long time - so get it right.
In part 2, we'll look at some interview techniques.
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