Hire the Best, You’ll Never Be Disappointed

My favorite ad of all time is one by Mercedes Benz that said, “Never be afraid to buy the very best. You’ll never be disappointed.” That has often proved true, and that idea goes double when it comes to hiring. I’ve never heard anyone say, “Gee, I wish I had hired for mediocrity.”

So, when I saw Marc Andreessen’s article titled How to Hire the Best People You’ve Ever Worked With, I was intrigued. Marc, as many of you probably know was the co-author of the web’s first widely-used browser, Mosiac, and is also the co-founder of Netscape. He knows what he’s talking about when he talks about hiring good people. His formula? It’s not about the fancy resume or just raw intelligence, it’s drive, curiosity, and ethics.

There’s a lot more in the article about the hiring process that’s worth reading, too. But his last piece of advice is one to carry away today as we think about our job in HR and how we can help managers throughout the organization:

Finally, although this goes without saying: value the hell out of the great people you do have on your team. Given all of the above, they are incredibly special people.

Posted on June 8, 2007 by Frank Roche 
Filed Under Recruiting

Comments

Viewing 3 Comments

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    I sense that drive, curiosity and ethics is a great formula to use when considering a hire.

    I'm wondering what measuring rods one uses to determine curiosity and whether that might be revealed in all people during an interview. I was shy when younger and the interview process would be intimidating at that point so maybe some of my good qualities would be hidden - one of these being curiosity.
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    I almost always ask people how they stay current in their field. The range of answers can show something about the intellectual curiousity of the person. Some people will talk about courses, books, or seminars, others can't come up with specifics.

    Also, the questions they ask of you might be a good gauge of their initial curiousity but the follow up conversation might suggest even more.

    If you have something interesting about your life, "I worked as a polymer chemist prior to HR" and the can only generate a "really..." without a follow up, that might say something too.

    JT
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    Those are neat words, but the curmudgeon in me thinks they're far easier for Marc or any Supreme Boss to use than for an HR grunt or hiring manager in a big outfit. I'm not even sure how you measure ethics. Do you ask: "Tell me something ethical you've done?" And how do you guard against having personal bias rule your hiring process?

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