For the past six months or so I have been trying to pump you guys up about the marketplace. (Remember the sky is not falling?). Along this line, I want to share with you two recent events that tie in perfectly with that positive theme.

I subscribe to a lot of different publications (last time we moved we counted and it is over 100). These publications cover a variety of subjects from management to marketing and a whole host of other topics. One of the marketing newsletters I receive had an entire issue dedicated to how cutting back on marketing programs, including advertising, is the worst strategy you can employ right now. They went on to discuss how there is less competition and therefore you get a much better bang for your buck.

Sound familiar? I thought this was great advice. Second only to hiring great people, attracting and retaining customers is a key activity if you are going to have a successful business. While everyone else is complaining, you should be aggressively marketing your products and services.

The other event I want to share with you is my introduction to someone who runs a very interesting training program. The program is a combination of martial arts and combat training designed for self-defense. I know, your thinking what can this possibly have to do with recruiting and hiring. Well, what I found so interesting about this program is it all about thinking aggressively instead of defensively. You need to be on the offensive at all times. This is the same message I have been sharing with you for the past six months about recruiting and hiring.

In both cases, the message is don't be a victim, don't wait, and don't let circumstances dictate your actions. This has to be your attitude when it comes to hiring. The employment market is about to turn around. (Today, tomorrow, next week or next quarter I don't know but soon). If you wait to put together your plans and compete for the available talent, you will find yourself in the same situation that most of us experienced over the last few years.

Don't play self-defense, get aggressive. Don't wait until everyone else is recruiting and hiring, pick off the top talent now! Go get em!

Onward with some specific how-tos.

I read an interesting article this month about how you should interview for personality. Bad advice! The timing of the article was interesting because this month I was interviewed for a newsletter titled Software Success (contact Bruce Hadley at www.softwaresuccess.com for information). The title of the article was, "Hire Behavior, Not Attitude". This article, in a Q&A style, pretty well explained why interviewing for attitude or personality doesn't work. So, I decided to reprint the three key tips from that article here.

Tip #1 Define Your Labels

You can't hire "good attitude" or a "great personality" because you don't know what those terms mean. Here is an example. If you ask a person how many hours they worked last week, they might answer 40. One person interprets that to be a slacker doing the bare minimum. Another person interprets that to be a solid performer with a good attitude. Which is correct? The point being that undefined labels (attitude or personality) allow ambiguity into the process and ambiguity absolutely leads to mistakes.

Tip #2 Interview for Behavior

Once you have defined your label as a specific behavior, interview for that behavior. Suppose you want someone who is enthusiastic. Translate that label into specific behaviors. Ask yourself how an enthusiastic person behaves in the context of your job. An example might be that they seek out new tasks. Here is another example. Say you are marketing a new piece of technology. You want to hire sales people who can make a creative case during the sales cycle. In the interview, you can ask, "Describe the last sale where you needed to create circumstances to close the deal." Don't ask, "Are you creative?" This leads to a pre-programmed answer.

The key point is to seek out high probability predictors, like past behavior, instead of low probability predictors like trying to figure someone out.

Tip#3 Fit the Behavior to the Role

Make certain the behavior you are after is required for your target job. Everyone wants to hire team players. But, if you are hiring someone to work alone in a remote office, you better not hire someone who thrives on person al contact and a group setting.

Don't get carried away with a bunch of labels and so called personality stuff when you can focus on specific behaviors identified as crucial to success on the job.

Opportunity

I will be delivering a presentation for the Software Marketing 2001 conference, which is sponsored by Software Success, in September. This will be the fifth year in a row that I have delivered a keynote address for this conference. If any of you are interested, I have arranged a special discount for my subscribers. Click on the following link and you will be taken to a site that describes the conference and offers you $200 discount off the regular conference fee. Check it out! www.softwaresuccess.com/2001/.

Question of the Month

The question of the month resulted from a presentation I delivered this month to a group of CEOs in Phoenix. The question was, "What is the best way to select entry-level employees?" My answer has two parts. First, use all the techniques that are part of the Selecting Winners process. Define your requirements in terms of the behavior necessary to be successful on the job. Interview for those behaviors by asking effective, closed-ended, behavioral questions.

The second-part of my answer is to use a proven, cost-effective assessment tool. It is hard to get a lot of data from an entry-level candidate, which is why it is a good idea to supplement your data gathering with an assessment tool. My advice is to contact the folks at Effective Selection Systems at www.effectiveselection.com to learn about a number of good tools.

No rant this month (maybe I really am mellowing). Instead I want to welcome a number of new clients. Costco Wholesale warehouse clubs join the Selecting Winners family. This is a great organization and a great place to shop. MapInfo Corporation and Hotjobs.com also get on board.

Summer is almost over, the kids are getting ready to go back to school and you should be polishing your recruiting and hiring plans.

Have a great month recruiting!

Barry Shamis

PS. I will have some very exciting announcements next month so stay tuned!