3 Lessons From Hiring 2000 People

For context, I hired 2000 people over the course of a four year period in my last business. I handled the hiring start to finish first 50 or so, then had HR, recruiting, and management support for the remainder. Nevertheless, by any measure, we hired a lot of people and I had a unique perspective.

These are the 3 observations that had the biggest impact on new hires:

• “You Guys”
• Authenticity
• Best Practices Trap

“You Guys”

Keep in mind, I live in New Jersey. “You guys” really has no gender specificity — it is the northern version of Ya’ll ,which I’ve come to find more fitting.

Many candidates use the phrase “you guys” or “your company” during the interview.

Alternatively, some people use “we” putting themselves on your team during the interview. Of all of my findings, this is the most accurate predictor on someone’s ability to be accountable and collaborative — two very important traits I liked in candidates.

Example:

Interviewer: what do you think about strategy related to this market

Normal Candidate: it seems like you guys do a really good job connecting with this market segment.

Awesome Candidate: I think we could continue to connect with this market segment.

This is exacerbated once a new employee starts with a company. It was always a red flag when someone joined the team and had a hard time using “we”.

Whenever you have the opportunity to show your innate collaborative and inclusive nature — do it.

Authenticity

Interviews are weird. No matter how many interviews you take part in, they will always be strange. I don’t say this in reference to the nerves people usually carry with them into interviews. The strange part is the hierarchical and possessive nature of one side having something that the other side has to win by making an impression.

Awesome candidates find a way to be authentic. If you are nervous, say “I’m nervous.” The interviewer doesn’t want you to be nervous, and can tell you’re nervous whether or not you say anything. Ninety percent of the time you say you are nervous, the interviewer will reply, “there is no reason to be nervous.” This provides you the opportunity to tell them “well, I really want this position.”

Everyone has a passion. If you don’t share your passion, you are making a mistake. This doesn’t mean telling the interviewer that you are passionate about reconciling account ledgers. Are you a foodie? Tell them. Are you an MMA enthusiast? Tell them. Are you a banjo player? You get the point. While business capabilities, experience, and talent surely win the job — I can tell you that people’s passions become endearing human identifiers. I can still remember most of my closest colleagues by their passions.

Stop fitting in.

The internet has made people bad karaoke versions of best practices.

To this day, I can’t figure out why everyone’s resume looks exactly the same. Aren’t we trying to be picked out of the crowd, not blend in?

I wish I had a dollar for each time someone asked me a generic (and always written down prior to the interview) question like: “What do you think the biggest opportunity for your company is in the next 5 yrs?”

Don’t get me wrong, if that is your question, ask it. But, you shouldn’t need to write it down. What do you genuinely care about? Did parking at your last job suck? Ask them about the parking situation. There is something special about someone who shares their real self; it is shockingly uncommon. You would be amazed what a leg up over the crowd it gives you to understand who you are and find a way to share a little piece of it.

There are so many ways to step out of the crowd, any single one works.