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 Today's advice comes from Paul Schoemaker, author of Brilliant Mistakes, at Inc.com. "If you want to innovate, you have to be willing to make mistakes. I take that as a given." When it comes to hiring, Schoemaker says having a very narrowly-defined profile of the kind of candidate you want could limit your possibilities of finding the best person for the job. While having a set criteria can help weed out less qualified candidates, being willing to at least take an interview with someone who may not seem perfect on paper may introduce you to someone who can add value in other ways. "Brilliant mistakes" -- which may seem unlikely to succeed but turn out to be extremely valuable -- can lead to the best and most surprising results, says Schoemaker. "It takes smart mistakes to survive in the business jungle, especially if your strategy is all about innovation. My contrarian advice is to induce variance in your hiring process rather than reduce it. Do that, and evolution will be on your side." Want your business advice featured in Instant MBA? Submit your tips to tipoftheday@businessinsider.com. Be sure to include your name, your job title, and a photo of yourself in your email.
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31 comments:
The "brilliant mistakes" as they refer to them are what can lead to the best discoveries. In many ways finding the perfect candidate for a job, is the same as trying to find "the one" to commit to. Both require a level of financial and emotional investment, as well as time. You want to protect yourself from making a mistake so as not to have to lose your investment and have to start all over again. Many times the searching party (as we will call them) has a list. whether it contain personal attributes (hair color, eyes, smile, does he make me laugh, interest, hobbies, ...) or a necessary level of skills, its always good to remember first impressions are great but not always right and what you find out about a person may surprise you, especially if you allow yourself to deviate from your list. You must keep in mind, while knowing what you want is a must, also realizing potential and a 1 dimensional list does not embody a person. That list doesn't exist. It is not a real person but on ideal. However a person who can fill what you need, does. You may just have to look past the sheet of paper to find them.
Having a strict job description for a certain employee may cause you to skip over the best candidate for the job. While someone's resume may not look the best, they just may be a diamond in the rough. Don't pass up an opportunity to find the right person simply based on a piece of paper. Interview the person and then judge for yourself whether they will be the right person for the job.
Having a strict set of criteria for a job is beneficial because it gives you something to look for in people. The problem is when you stick to that criteria and that criteria alone. If you don't allow for any deviance then you could potentially not find the best person for the job.
Strict criteria's leave for boring people. And if their are no boring people it leaves for those who will tend to be rebellious. Research who you would think can get the job done, interview people that you may think can live up to your expectations for the job it self and express that in the interviews.
When someone isn't perfect for a job on paper it doesn't mean that they aren't right for the job. Also, in turn that also means that just because you have an amazing resume doesn't mean that you are the best person for the job either. Something like that happened at a job I applied for once. Another girl and I applied for the ISC postion at my current job and because she had a better resume then me she got the job. I was upset about it at first, but quickly got over it. They later regretted their decision because even though she was great on paper she wasn't good at the job she took. This just goes to show you that even though someone is good on paper they can turn out to be not so good at their job.
Like many postings before, I will touch on how mistakes are the key to success and the key to learning somthing new everyday. Of course the same mistakes everyday are not too good, but you definately learn the best from your mistakes. I know when I make mistakes I love to learn from them but messing up gives me nots in my stomach. However, I have grown to accept that no matter how careful I am mistakes will happen and just to make the best of them.
Sometimes the best candidate for the job is overlooked because the employer is not flexible in evaluating the required job criteria. I’ve often experienced by taking risk the outcome may turn out to become successful or it may turn out to be a mistake. You should make the best of the result because it may very well pay off in time; and the same goes for any other lifestyle situation.
When I was in the restaurant business many people walked in and filled out applications on the spot. Whenever I had the chance I would try to do a brief interview and I found some pretty good employees that way. You need to talk to people face-to-face because you cannot feel a person from a piece of paper. We had a rule, “If the person you were interviewing looked like they could do a better job than your worse employee – hire them and try them out.” We were constantly making our staff stronger that way.
Any company that strictly limits its hiring process based on how smart person looks on a resume is making a mistake. Just because a person looks great on paper doesn’t mean they will fit your company needs. I believe that you can learn a great deal of information from talking to someone face to face.
Finding the perfect candidate for the job is not always easy. I think you need to set some criteria for the job, but not limit yourself to just those candidates that meet some of the criteria. For instance, if one of the criteria is to have a college degree and the candidate does not have one may not mean that they could not perform the job.
Yes, your perfect candidate may be found in the most unlikely person. I recently read an article where some companies were not accepting applications from people who had been unemployed for a long period of time. Just like the article said, setting criteria is good to establish minimum qualifications, but at least interview the person. What may not look the best on paper could turn out to be the best thing for your company.
If you can minimize your mistakes and learn from them then business will be good. The smaller mistakes a business makes the more room they have to be successful. Mistakes are going to be made because we are human. It just takes patience because you have to endure a little bit of rain to enjoy the rainbows in business.
I believe that during the interview process it is important to have an open mind when it comes to searching for the right candidate. There are obvious criteria that candidates must possess, but after that the process should be wide open. Just because a person on paper seems to be the perfect fit doesn't mean that they will be a good mesh for your company.
For me there is no Mr. right anywhere in this world. Everybody learn, practice and become expert. When it comes to hiring, you sure do need some criteria that will help you screen the candidates, and guide the applicants to apply for the right job. However a company ability to hire people with different knowledge, background and qualifications is the key to success. Everyone will bring something new and particular that will surely improve the growth of the company.
I believe in trying out people would dont seem to have all the qualifications on paper. because every one has to start somewhere so just because they dont have the qualifications doesn't mean they won't, it means they haven't yet. Also if you are willing to make a mistake our take a risk on someone it could help you in the long run.
When interviewing applicants, a business is most likely looking for the best fit for the job offered. I agree that sometimes people do not have well formed resumes, but still may be a homerun hire for a company. I wish more companies would follow this approach rather than doing keyword searches through resumes. The brilliant mistake that is talked about in the article probably happens more often than managers and corporations are willing to admit.
In today’s world of recruitment and selection, the interviewer focuses on the person more than the qualification. Interviewers hire people who fit the culture of the organization. That’s not to disregard qualifications and skills. If a person meets all of the qualifications set forth in the job task analysis but has no passion for what they do and is not a person of integrity, trustworthy and possesses honorable work ethic would you hire them? These things are some of the ingredients of an attitude. An individual’s attitude is out of the control of the organization and only controlled by the individual. Attitude is everything! Skills can be taught but people are who they are and the individual is the only one who will decide to change.
I agree with Schoemaker that you need to have more variance when looking for job canidates. You never know who you could find maybe the next Bill Gates and just think if you had high qualifications and decided not to interview them because they didn't look good on paper. Everyone deserves a chance to interview so i agree with this article and if you give someone a chance and it doesnt work out then just let them know you are going in a different direction it is not that hard.
I agree with Schoemaker that you need to have more variance when looking for job canidates. You never know who you could find maybe the next Bill Gates and just think if you had high qualifications and decided not to interview them because they didn't look good on paper. Everyone deserves a chance to interview so i agree with this article and if you give someone a chance and it doesnt work out then just let them know you are going in a different direction it is not that hard.
No person is going to be perfect for any job. Some may be better than others but they may be even better at some other job. That sounds crazy but it is all about opportunity. Just because someone may not fit the bill on paper does not mean they will not be right for the job. I do believe that going out on a limb with a potential employee can pay off.
I have learned through experience that "Mr. Right" does not exist. There is nobody that is perfectly qualified for a certain job. Some people may be better at one position than the other, but everyone makes mistakes at some point. Mistakes should be viewed positively instead of negatively. It gives employees an opportunity to learn and improve. So when managers are interviewing potential candidates for their business, they should try to be a little more open minded in a sense.
This business entry advice makes a precise reference to the idea of being an open-minded person when it comes time of making a tough decision such as hiring the best candidate possible for a certain position. Leaders must try not be deceived by appearances when interviewing possible candidates for a position. Being close minded in the selection process will definitely limit the possibilities of ending up with a choice that might seem a mistake at first, but on a long term basis that person could turn out to be more than appropriate for the job, increasing the company's possibilities of progress. For a company to evolve by innovating, the best thing to have present is the importance of being open to new concepts and ideas brought by different people.
I definitely agree with this. It makes sense that if you narrow your options too small, you may let go of some people who would be perfect for the job. Just like in regular relationships, there has to be a generalized list of the things you do like, the things you DEFINITELY do not like and will not accept, and the things that you would be willing to work with. This gives you a good starting point, and will give you more options of who to take onto your job force.
Loved this article. It gave me some kind of hope as I start my job search. I do agree with the message. It's like finding a diamond in the rough, on paper somebody may not look like the right match but then you see that they can really help your business succeed.
Three of the best hires ever made for our company, were the ones that did not present well on paper. Very pleasant surprise to have the employees we have now. It is amazing how the resume or application can be very misleading. Even a personal interview can be a bit vague, as the potential emplyee is putting on their game face andpresenting you with everything you want to hear. It is refresshing to hear that evolution is in the mistakes. Step outside the norm and great things can happen. Not just the expected.
I agree with Paul Schoemaker with his approach to hiring the right person. It gives me hope for when I graduate this December. There are companies that I have said that I would not even apply to because I am sure that they would not want me. I am going to now apply to those companies. Some people may not look great on paper because they don't have the highest GPA or haven't been in the most organizations. If they get an interview the may "WOW" the person interviewing them and get the job based on their people skills.
Having a bigot mind when hiring someone to lead to so many flaws. Paul Schoemaker is correct with his view of approach when hiring someone. Judging someone only by their appearance on paper can lead to a poor decision. Only half of someone's information and capabilities is on a piece of paper you must interview someone on paper. There are many successful business people that did not excel in school and on paper do not look capable of their accomplishments on paper. It is important to have an idea of want you do not want in a person but be open of what you do want.
When looking at candidates on paper, anyone can say what sounds like the best "sell" to get an interview and catch someone's attention. The interviewing process is what allows your personality and uniqueness shine through. Even if you aren't exactly what they are looking for entirely, you may bring something new to the table that the company wasn't aware they needed until you showed up. Brilliant mistake is the best way to describe finding a diamond in the rough in the business world.
This is essentially telling managers to continue to think outside the box, and reiterates what previous articles have stated. You may think a certain set of criteria is essential for a position, but you may find an individual with a completely different skill set who is able to get the job done faster. It is often said to work smarter, not harder. You may just find someone who is smarter at it than you!
As leader I am always looking for that person who can one day take my place. But, I know there is no such thing as the perfect candidate. Granted yes I have a list of qualities I am looking for in a candidate. I mange to look right that list of qualities and take a chance. I believe in giving people chances because someone once took a chance on me.
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