Illustrations
Foreword
Preface
Part 1 Defining Requirements for Yourself and Your Candidates 1
Developing Your Hiring Strategy Ask questions when creating a hiring
strategy.
Identify the problems you should address.
A True Story
Determine which roles you want to fill first.
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Decide which
criteria matter most.
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Identify what process you’ll
use in decision-making.
Plan what you will do if you can’t find the
right people.
POINTS TO REMEMBER 2 Analyzing the Job
Define the job’s requirements.
Define the essential and desirable qualities,
preferences, and non-technical skills for a successful fit.
Identify corporate
cultural-fit factors.
Define the necessary technical-skill level and the
required educational background.
Identify essential technical skills.
Identify desirable technical skills.
A True Story
Evaluate educational
or training requirements.
Define all elimination factors.
Think twice
about elimination factors.
Complete the job analysis worksheet.
Case
Study: Walker Software
POINTS TO REMEMBER 3 Writing a Job Description
Write a clear job description.
A True Story
Use job descriptions
to help you screen candidates.
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Identify who will use your
job description.
Learn how best to use standardized job descriptions.
Develop your job description over several drafts.
Case Study: Walker Software
POINTS TO REMEMBER Part 2 Sourcing and Selecting Candidates to
Interview 4 Sourcing Candidates Use time, not money,
to attract suitable candidates.
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Develop a continuous recruiting
program.
Use money, not time, to attract suitable candidates.
Points
to Remember 5 Developing Ads for Open Positions Use a simple
job advertisement template.
Write different types of ads.
Case Study:
Walker Software
Develop techniques for eliminating writer’s block.
Make the ad memorable by offering a challenge.
Work with HR staff members
when they write ads.
Make sure outsiders review the ad.
Deliver the
ad in person.
Points to Remember 6 Reviewing Résumés
Correlate your résumé filter with the openings you have
to fill.
Start reading each résumé at the top.
A True
Story
Look for more than appears in print.
Consider your fellow hiring
managers’ staffing needs while you review.
Read the cover letter or
e-mail.
Look for a work summary.
Compare the candidate’s stated
objective with the job description.
Correlate the candidate’s work experience
with your open position.
Evaluate tool and technical expertise when hiring
technical staff.
Evaluate a management candidate’s ratio of management-to-technical
experience.
Know the reasons behind multiple career or job changes.
Two True Stories
Determine the reason behind an employment-history gap.
Look for signs of merit-based promotions and initiative.
Look for indicators
of cultural fit and of assumed responsibilities.
Assess personal qualities
and problem-solving skills.
Assess education and technical skills in terms
of the open job.
Put typographical and other clerical errors in perspective.
A True Story
Evaluate résumé items in terms of local and
national hiring laws.
Evaluate each candidacy using your résumé-review
process.
Inform candidates of your decision as soon as you have made it.
Look for patterns in your résumé-review process.
Use résumés
as feedback for evaluating your advertisements.
Review résumés
with a team to reach consensus.
Case Study: Walker Software
POINTS TO
REMEMBER Part 3 Preparing to Interview Candidates 7
Developing Interview Questions and Techniques Choose which kinds of
questions to ask.
Schedule auditions to allow candidates time to demonstrate
their abilities.
Formulate a set of meta-questions.
Learn to avoid asking
irrelevant questions.
Combine question types to make the best use of available
time.
Ask all candidates applying for one position the same set of questions.
Ask questions to reveal cultural fit.
Ask contractors the same questions
you ask prospective staff hires.
Help non-technical interview-team members
develop questions in their own area of expertise.
POINTS TO REMEMBER
8 Creating and Using Phone-Screens Facilitate a positive phone-screen
environment.
Plan your phone-screen strategy and script.
Select phone-screen
questions to elicit job-performance details.
Use written phone-screen scripts
to keep track of what candidates say.
Develop a thirty- to forty-five-minute
phone-screen script.
Troubleshoot your phone-screens.
End the phone-screen
gracefully and when you want to end it.
Consider when to use a second phone-screen.
Case Study: Walker Software
POINTS TO REMEMBER 9 Planning
and Conducting the In-Person Interview A True Story
Choose an
interview team.
Prepare the interview team.
Decide how much time to
spend in each interview.
Plan who will ask which questions.
Choose an
appropriate interview environment.
Clarify how to handle meals.
Create
an interview package.
Conduct the interview.
Verify that the candidate
and interviewers are ready.
Welcome the candidate.
Ask focused questions.
Ask lawful questions.
Listen to and evaluate each candidate’s answers.
Answer the candidate’s questions.
Deliver the candidate to the
next interviewer.
Conduct group interviews sparingly.
End the day of
interviews.
Case Study: Walker Software
POINTS TO REMEMBER 10
Following Up After the Interview Meet immediately after the candidate’s
last interview.
Hold the meeting in a private space.
Facilitate the
meeting.
Learn the reasons behind each thumb-down vote.
Understand the
thumb-sideways responses.
Understand the thumb-up votes.
Revisit the
thumbs one more time.
Use limited consensus to make a decision.
Use
follow-up forms with care.
A True Story
Tell the candidate what to expect
next.
POINTS TO REMEMBER Part 4 Bringing In the Candidate
11 Checking References Check all offered references.
Develop
your list of reference-check questions.
Get your call to go through to each
reference.
Check references as completely as possible—even when the
candidate has provided few, unreachable, or no references.
Establish rapport
during a reference-check.
Start the conversation quickly.
Listen carefully
to the answers.
Verify employment, salary, and education claims.
Incorporate
other checks that are required by your organization in the reference-check.
Take action to uncover the truth if you find discrepancies.
POINTS TO REMEMBER
12 Creating, Timing, and Extending an Offer In a strong
economy, make your offer soon after the last interview.
For every offer,
review all components before presenting it to a candidate.
Beware of making
promises you may not be able to keep.
Make the offer easy to accept by including
perks and benefits you can deliver.
Learn the reasons behind a candidate’s
rejection of your offer.
When the reason is salary, salary, salary, rethink
the offer.
Know when it’s okay to offer a job to an over-qualified candidate.
Close the offer.
Use a standard offer letter.
Extend the offer.
Points to Remember Part 5 Making the Most of Hiring Opportunities
to Control Uncertainty and Risk 13 Creating a Great First Day
Prepare for a smooth transition before the new hire starts.
Identify the
when, where, who, and what for Day One.
Prepare the new hire’s work
area for Day One.
Explain enough of the work to help the new hire assimilate.
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Assign a buddy.
Create and use a checklist for new hires.
Points
to Remember 14 Hiring Technical Managers Define the value
you want the technical manager to contribute.
Define the technical manager’s
interactions.
A True Story
Define the management level.
Compile
a list of the desirable qualities, preferences, and skills.
Don’t hire
managers without the requisite talent.
Define the manager’s required
technical expertise.
Define which activities and deliverables the manager
will oversee.
Points to Remember 15 Moving Forward
Take action to fill your open position even when no one seems just right.
Verify that your hiring work is on track.
Know how long you can wait for
the right candidate.
Hire from within the organization.
Hire a candidate
with limited skills if he or she can be trained.
Hire a contractor rather
than a permanent employee.
Replan the project to fit the current staff.
Rework the project’s schedule.
Rework the project’s lifecycle.
Change the work practices.
Change the job description.
A True Story
Choose your actions carefully.
Points to Remember Appendix
A Walker Software Case Study: Hiring Multiple People Appendix B
Templates to Use When Hiring Technical People Bibliography
Index | 
