How to Hire A-Players: Finding the Top People for ... - GIT home page

172 How to Hire A-Players
know a lot about the company, its products, and its customers—as
much as they will their first day on the job. Why not see if they can
take this information and create a realistic, results-oriented business
plan? The vice president of sales reviews the plans with these
questions in mind:
Did they complete the assignment? Some people fail to execute
this plan on time—or at all. If candidates can’t hit a deadline
during the interview process, what are the chances they
will follow through on projects after you hire them?
Do they understand what it takes to succeed? Investment precedes
return in every conceivable role. Does this plan demonstrate
a willingness to do what it takes to get the job done?
Are they specific? The best action plans are explicit, detailed,
and ready to execute. Is this person’s plan detailed enough to
actually implement, or is it so broad that it is really no plan at
all?
Are they organized and logical? If action plans are not logical
or well organized, what implications does this have for their
creators’ future performance? What kind of work will these
people produce once they are on your payroll?
A-Player Principle: Making a bad hire is worse than not
hiring anyone at all. Creating a stringent interview process
minimizes your bad hiring decisions.
Passion Is Demonstrated by Preparation
You want to hire employees who have a career mentality rather than
a nine-to-five mind-set. The best people have a passion for their
work that goes beyond a paycheck. One way to measure something
as intangible as passion in job candidates is to assess the amount of
preparation they do for an interview.