The job search process is no walk in the park. Applying and interviewing for a job can be stressful and strenuous for the candidate—and the process isn’t always much easier for those trying to fill the open position.
Hiring managers take huge risks every day. They strive to recruit top tier talent, sift through hundreds (or thousands) of resumes, narrow down the applicant pool and ultimately select the “best” candidate for the job. But if you hire the wrong person at the top of a company, “they can destroy it in no time at all,” writes Virgin Group founder Richard Branson.
Earlier this week, some of the world’s most accomplished leaders–including Branson–took to LinkedIn to discuss what they look for when they hire new talent.
Last fall the social networking giant launched the ‘LinkedIn Influencers’ program, which gives its members the ability to follow an exclusive group of thought leaders who contribute to the platform regularly. Today, the group of ‘Influencers’ exceeds 300—including President Barack Obama, Arianna Huffington, David Cameron, Jeff Immelt and Randi Zuckerberg.
As part of the ‘Influencers’ program, LinkedIn regularly assembles editorial packages where some of these thought leaders write posts on the same topic. In the latest series of original posts, “How I Hire,” about 80 leaders in business, politics, real estate, travel, technology, and media shared their thoughts on the recruiting and staffing process.
Here’s what 10 top leaders had to say:
Lesley Jane Seymour
Editor-In-Chief, More Magazine
How I Hire: 6 Ways I Find and Hire Hardworking Millennials
Editor-In-Chief, More Magazine
How I Hire: 6 Ways I Find and Hire Hardworking Millennials
“Yes, I hear you complain about them every day: Those millennials, they ask about vacation time in the first interview! They get a bad cold and disappear for days! They want my job after a week in their job! ‘Who do these upstarts think they are,’ you moan to me over every business lunch. I feel your pain—but question your premise,” Seymour writes. “Sure, there are tons of indolent slackers lounging in their parents’ rec rooms and some of them should stay there because they make terrible employees. But don’t dismiss the generation; just take some hiring and management precautions.”
Seymour says there are certain steps to take when “weeding out the duds and finding the eager hard-chargers who’ll stick around, build your business and make you look good.”
First, she says, be brutally honest in the interview. “I’m not polite any more. I tell the prospective employee that publishing environments can be hard to work in.” She also tells them that publishing is a very stagnant business right now. “Several tiers of the job ladder have been eliminated and now there are only assistants and senior editors.” If they are still sitting in the chair across from her when she’s finished with this “non-seduction,” Seymour assumes they must really want the job.
Other steps to take and things to remember: Don’t hire them if you sense even a whiff of entitlement; do a hunger check; remember, everyone announces themselves in the interview; shake ‘em up a bit; and when you find the good ones, help them move up—even if that means losing them.
Richard Branson
Founder, Virgin Group
How I Hire: Focus On Personality
Founder, Virgin Group
How I Hire: Focus On Personality
“There is nothing more important for a business than hiring the right team,” Branson writes. “If you get the perfect mix of people working for your company, you have a far greater chance of success. However, the best person for the job doesn’t always walk right through your door.”
The first thing to look for when searching for a great employee is somebody with a personality that fits with your company culture, he says. “Most skills can be learned, but it is difficult to train people on their personality. If you can find people who are fun, friendly, caring and love helping others, you are on to a winner.”
Branson explains that personality is the key—and it’s not something that always comes out in interview. “People can be shy,” he writes. “But you have to trust your judgment. If you have got a slightly introverted person with a great personality, use your experience to pull it out of them. It is easier with an extrovert, but be wary of people becoming overexcited in the pressure of interviews.”
Other tips for hiring: Find people with transferable skills; don’t be afraid of hiring mavericks; and while promoting from within is generally a good idea—bringing in fresh blood can reinvigorate a company, Branson says.
Deepak Chopra, MD
Founder, Chopra Foundation
How I Hire: Look Into an Applicant’s Soul
Founder, Chopra Foundation
How I Hire: Look Into an Applicant’s Soul
“Since my life’s work has always focused on self-awareness and well being, I have made those two attributes the criterion for people I want to work with,” Chopra writes. “I advise employers not only to get references and bios from prospective employees, but also to engage with them before hiring in creating a ‘Soul Profile.’” To create a soul profile, Chopra suggests asking questions like: “What makes you joyful?” “Can you recall the most joyous moments of your life?” “What is your life purpose?” “Who are your heroes/heroines/mentors in history, mythology, religion or contemporary times?” and “What are the qualities you look for in a good friendship?” among others.
“Asking a person to write down two or three words or phrases in answer to each of these questions gives both them and you an idea of the meanings, the context, the relationships, and the archetypal themes in their life. It also is an expression of their deeper core consciousness and what drives their passion and their vision.The key to a successful business or organization is the creation of dynamic teams where a) there is a shared vision, b) people acknowledge and complement each other strengths (as in a sports team), c) everyone is emotionally bonded and cares for each other. Such teams, between 5-12 people take time to form, but guarantee success.”
Chopra believes that focusing only on professional skills can lead to problems. “In many instances technical skills can frequently be outsourced adequately. However, what makes an organization or business successful are core values, qualities of character, vision, purpose, camaraderie, and joy. And these cannot be outsourced.”
Sallie Krawcheck
Former head of Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney
How I Hire: You Can’t Build a Team With All Point Guards
Former head of Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney
How I Hire: You Can’t Build a Team With All Point Guards
“Ask the question ‘How do you hire?’ and you most often get an answer that concludes with ‘and that’s how I find the best person for the job.’” Krawcheck writes. “That’s not how I hire. I don’t look to put the best person in the job. Instead I look to put the best team together … and that can be a very different exercise.”
She says greater diversity of thought, perspective and background has been shown to lead to greater innovation and superior financial results. “So, when I hire for a management team, I try to avoid hiring all point guards. This means that I look for people who make me somewhat uncomfortable. I look for people who are different from me, who hold different views than I do, who have different areas of expertise than I do. I look for people from whom I learn in the interview. I look for people with qualities and backgrounds that are additive to – rather than the same as – the rest of the team. Hiring in this way may make the workplace less ‘comfortable’ for the team, but that is exactly the point.”
Walt Bettinger
President & CEO, Charles Schwab
How I Hire: Let’s Do Lunch
President & CEO, Charles Schwab
How I Hire: Let’s Do Lunch
“For me, hiring is more art than science. Sometimes the determining factor can be how you treat the wait staff at lunch, and literally the tip you leave,” Bettinger writes. “Let me explain.”
He says everyone he interviews is more than smart enough or technically capable for the job. “When I’m interviewing someone, it’s typically for a leadership position with the responsibility for attracting the talent and building the teams that we need to get the work done and delight our clients. So what I’m after goes beyond someone’s skills and knowledge – which have already been well vetted – to an understanding of the person’s true character.”
Bettinger says one easy way to evaluate a candidates character is to observe how they treat people they’re likely to never see again. “I like to take the people I’m interviewing out for a meal – usually breakfast or lunch. I’ll arrive at the restaurant early and arrange to have the wait staff intentionally mix up whatever the interviewee orders. Or other times, I may say to the interviewee, ‘I’ll get the tab if you get the tip.’ Either way, it’s an opportunity to see how the candidate responds in those situations and how he or she treats other people, particular those who are doing their best to serve them, and may be less financially fortunate than them.”
He says not all hiring decisions come down to how well someone treated or tipped a waiter—but character tests like these “can offer a unique perspective on someone’s inner most self.”
He concludes: “In an increasingly commoditized world where the difference between our company and our competitors can boil down to a simple act of kindness and service, it can make all the difference in the world.”
Charlie Collier
President & General Manager, AMC
How I Hire: You’re Not Interviewing For the Job You Think You Are
President & General Manager, AMC
How I Hire: You’re Not Interviewing For the Job You Think You Are
“By the time I’m considering a senior-level candidate, the final decision rarely comes down to their ability to relate a prior experience or convince me they can perform specific tasks in the job description they’re interviewing for. Frankly, if I’m doing my job, by the time they get to me the candidate’s experience and proficiency has been vetted and established,” Collier writes. “What I’m looking for is what they are going to be able to do to make us successful beyond their job description. How does the individual sitting in front of me relate to people, approach unusual challenges, flex when blind spots are exposed? In essence, I want to find out not just how they ‘fit’ their defined functional role but how they will be able to quickly adapt and make decisions that will have impact well beyond it.”
Jack Welch
Founder, Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University
How I Hire: The Must-Haves, the Definitely-Should-Haves and the Game-Changer
Founder, Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University
How I Hire: The Must-Haves, the Definitely-Should-Haves and the Game-Changer
Welch writes that you probably know from experience that hiring is about as hard to get right as it is critical to your company’s success – “which is to say, very.”
“Fortunately, hiring isn’t a black box of gut and luck, although it can sometimes feel that way, like when your home-run candidate turns out to be a wash out by Day 30 on the job. Rather, hiring is a discipline which improves with time and practice. Or put more precisely, we’ve found that hiring improves with time and practice if you deploy a very specific (and truth be told, pretty unbending) qualifications check-list.”
The check-list itself is short, he says. “It contains two flat-out must-haves, five qualities that are definitely-should-haves, and one very special quality that, while not exactly commonplace, is a total game-changer.”
The must-haves are high integrity and high IQ. The “definitely-should-haves” include energy, the ability to energize others, edge, execution (the ability to get things done) and passion for both work and life. And finally, the “game-changer” quality is what Welch calls the “generosity gene.”
“Look, hiring is hard; no one’s ever going to argue otherwise. But winning is about assembling the best team, right? What else is there? So make sure you look for people who truly demonstrate the seven qualities on our checklist. And when you find someone with that magical eighth – the generosity gene – do whatever it takes to bring that game-changer into the organizational fold. That, in one fell swoop, is hiring right.”
Beth Comstock
CMO, GE
How I Hire: There Is No Lone Genius; Hire a Team With these Four Types
CMO, GE
How I Hire: There Is No Lone Genius; Hire a Team With these Four Types
“There’s something romantic about the idea of the lone genius,” she writes. “The early success of GE is often attributed solely to the inspiration and perspiration of Thomas Edison. But experience and research both tell us that lasting success is built by teams that drive each other through collaboration, different skill sets and, yes, tension.”
Diverse teams drive more innovation, she adds. “Hiring people with different styles, backgrounds and experience increases the success of teams. My sense of what makes a successful team is constantly evolving, but these days I look for these four types when I hire: 1) The fish out of water. 2) Someone who can FIO (Figure It Out). 3) Candidates with design training. [And] 4) The well-balanced player.”
Jon Steinberg
President & COO, BuzzFeed
How I Hire: It Never Gets Better Than the Interview
President & COO, BuzzFeed
How I Hire: It Never Gets Better Than the Interview
Steinberg writes: “The process of negotiating and hiring someone is a microcosm of what your working relationship with them will be. If you are having fun and like the cadence of hiring and negotiating with someone that you are recruiting, you will love working with them. If you find the person slow to respond, uninspired in their responses and ideas, or unpleasant in negotiations, let me assure you: it never gets better. In courtship, you see the best of the person. In negotiation, you see how the person works and competes. In sample work, you see the best of how the person problem solves and ideates.”
He says there should be a lot of thoughtful conversations and insightful solutions to various problems in the interview and hiring process. “People have all different kinds of styles. The key is that hiring process should showcase how you’ll collaborate in the future. This goes as much for the applicant. If you find the person recruiting you to be out of sync with you, that won’t change.”
Randi Zuckerberg
Founder & CEO, Zuckerberg Media
How I Hire: Employ Someone You’d Want to Work For One Day
Founder & CEO, Zuckerberg Media
How I Hire: Employ Someone You’d Want to Work For One Day
“Obviously, I’m looking for a great, well-qualified candidate, but just as important is their desire to work for my company specifically,” Zuckerberg writes. “It’s obvious when someone who comes in for an interview has read some of my articles, Googled me, knows my background, and can ask educated questions about it (without seeming overly stalkerish/creepy). It makes me feel special, like they really took the time to do their homework. You’d be surprised how few people do this. An enthused and passionate hire will jump right in and start making a difference in the company from Day One.”
Another thing she keeps in mind when hiring is whether this person would be a good boss someday. “Could I see myself ever happily working for them? This means I want anyone I bring onto my team to be someone I can learn from, someone who inspires me, someone I can see taking the company to the next level. Someone I can trust. Someone who I believe will go far in their career down the road, even if they are an intern or associate now. If they offer a great suggestion in the interview, or an idea I actually want to implement, I’m much more likely to want them on the team.”
Zuckerberg says social media influences her hiring process, as well. “I like to look and see what kinds of articles and news they share with their network. Is the candidate a thought leader in his chosen field? Do they belong to any professional organizations or interest groups on LinkedIn or Facebook? Do they re-tweet and follow interesting people on Twitter, as well as come up with their own observations and insights?”
Hiring the perfect candidate isn’t a mathematical formula, she concludes. “A beautifully formatted resume? Not going to impress me. But a demonstrated interest in what I do? You bet.”
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