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Dear Mike,
Welcome to my occasional blog post, a humorous take on sales and management. You recently gave me your contact information, so I thought you might enjoy getting this.
If you'd rather not be on this list, my apologies. Scroll to the bottom and unsubscribe.
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How many candidates do you want to interview for one open position?
Is 10 too few? 100 too many?
Try rethinking your candidate attraction strategy. How? Read on...
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Attracting the Right Candidates | |
A few lucky companies have no trouble attracting qualified candidates for their open positions. Google, Apple, and Amazon get thousands of applications for every job posting. The rest of us? We are not so lucky. | |
Do we want thousands of candidates? No, that's too many to screen. But how many times have times have you posted a job and gotten dreck?
When we write a standard, straightforward job posting, you may get bupkes for responses, especially if you are honest about the compensation. However, when you overstate your position and On-Target Earnings, you may get deluged. How to handle this?
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Parkinson's Law
British humorist Northcote Parkinson had the ideal solution to this dilemma. He proposed writing a job description with such a balance of risks and rewards, that only one person would respond. That candidate would be perfect for the job.
- Job too enticing? Too many applicants to sort through.
- Job too difficult? Nobody responds
- Perfect balance = perfect candidate
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I was intrigued with Parkinson's idea, and several years ago I decided to give it a try. I placed a job posting in a local newspaper designed to attract one, and only one candidate.
The headline read "Wanted: a Brain, a Plan, and a Clue". The job description contained the usual boilerplate blather about the company, the opportunity, and requirements.
I did get several responses, but I only read one. The response stated:
- I have a brain, and college degree to prove it
- I have a plan to help grow your company, and I would be happy to review it with you in an interview
- And if clues were shoes, I'd be Imelda Marcos
The interview was hardly necessary. That candidate was perfect. She was hired, of course, and she spent the next few years running the office and helping us grow the business into a regional powerhouse.
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Everybody's Job Posting
If you want to sound like everyone else, try posting the same ad as everyone else:
- Great Opportunity
- Great Company
- Great Culture
- We are Great at Being Great
This job posting presumably differentiates you from all the companies advertising their lousy opportunity, terrible company, and toxic culture.
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Make it Edgy
Take a look at this image of a job posting, which some people call "The Most Famous Job Ad in History". It was placed by British adventurer Ernest Shackleton in 1914, and it attracted 10,000 applicants. That's right, 10,000 wanted a job with low pay, bitter cold and constant danger.
Shackleton certainly delivered on his promise, as his ship got trapped in the Antarctic ice and sank. Still, all the men survived the trip and eventually received the honor and recognition they were seeking.
The point is, you don't have to fluff up your position to make it attractive. Be different, edgy, and real. Not everyone will notice, but the right person will. All you need is one.
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Mike Schmidtmann coaches business owners and sales leaders across the USA. He works to drive results in sales recruiting, new business development, and profitability.
Mike led sales for Inacom Communications for ten years. then founded and built a $30 Million business unit for SPS.
Mike produces the award-winning Trans4mers webinar series on IT sales and management subjects. He is a frequent public speaker on business topics.
He lives on a farm in Northern Virginia with his family and assorted horses, alpacas, goats and dogs.
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Play "Stump the Chump"
E-Mail Mike with a vexing and perplexing question and you'll get a telling and compelling reply.
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Mike Schmidtmann
(703) 408 - 9103
Mike@Trans4mers.net
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