{"id":10528,"date":"2011-02-25T13:27:00","date_gmt":"2011-02-25T18:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/devweb.rjrinnovations.com\/if-you-under-hire-you-will-over-fire-2\/"},"modified":"2016-10-13T10:21:55","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T14:21:55","slug":"if-you-under-hire-you-will-over-fire-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rjrinnovations.com\/fr\/if-you-under-hire-you-will-over-fire-2\/","title":{"rendered":"If You \u201cUnder-Hire,\u201d You Will \u201cOver-Fire\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Two of my favorite blogs are written by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz (founders of the new VC firm Andreessen-Horowitz). Both individuals have impressive track records building companies and investing in the next big thing at just the right time. Ben Horowitz recently wrote a post titled, \u201cHiring Executives: If You\u2019ve Never Done the Job, How Do You Hire Somebody Good?\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">While this post offers great advice, such as, \u201cIt is imperative that you hire for strength rather than lack of weakness,\u201d and, \u201cbackdoor reference checks can be an extremely useful way to get an unbiased view,\u201d it doesn\u2019t address one of the biggest pitfalls in executive hiring. That pitfall is what I call the \u201chiring someone without enough horsepower\u201d trap.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">This pitfall is dangerous because it is MUCH easier to find someone who is \u201cokay\u201d than to find someone who is \u201cgreat.\u201d Over the past few years Bomgar has grown significantly (33% in 2010 alone), and that has led us to do a significant amount of hiring. While some openings have been for individual contributors in various groups, just as many have been for strategic positions where the right fit is critical and where I am personally involved in the hiring process. In an effort to combat the tendency to hire the first person that is \u201cgood enough\u201d or \u201cshould be able to do the job,\u201d I\u2019ve started to listen for specific verbal queues when I debrief with those involved in the hiring process. If I find myself and others using certain terms to describe the candidate my thinking is \u201clet\u2019s get \u2018em.\u201d If I hear and feel other descriptors, it usually means \u201ctime to pass.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">What are those verbal descriptors? Here is a list of questions with the words I listen for in bold\/underline:<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Can the following questions be answered in the resounding affirmative?<\/li>\n<li>Is this person truly outstanding and the best in the world at what they do?<\/li>\n<li>Is this person THE strategic hire that I\/we originally envisioned for this position?<\/li>\n<li>Is there a consensus that this individual is a slam-dunk \/ perfect fit \/ home run?<\/li>\n<li>Is this a person we would want our kids to work for some day?<\/li>\n<li>And my favorite: Would I\/we describe this person as game-changing to our organization?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">On the flip side there are certain phrases that trigger my \u201ctime to pass\u201d reflex. \u00a0These quotes include, \u201cthey could definitely \u2018do the job\u2019, but\u2026\u201d or \u201cthere may be someone better, but it might take a long time to find them\u2026\u201d or any other feedback that isn\u2019t laced with a bunch of enthusiasm. Inevitably the person who could \u201cprobably do the job\u201d can\u2019t, and you lose 18 months with the wrong person because you \u201cdidn\u2019t want to spend months searching.\u201d (By the way, you have to do the search anyway; you just do it 18 months later.)<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Another good test is how you feel the next day. A great question to ask yourself is, \u201cAm I still completely pumped about hiring this person, or has my enthusiasm waned?\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In summary, the biggest trap in strategic hiring is hiring someone who doesn\u2019t have the horsepower to be \u201cgame-changing,\u201d because someone who does have the horsepower to change the game is always really hard to find. \u00a0It is worth the wait. And with that, Happy Hiring!<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Posted by Joel Bomgar<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two of my favorite blogs are written by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz (founders of the new VC firm Andreessen-Horowitz). Both individuals have impressive track records building companies and investing in the next big thing at just the right time. Ben Horowitz recently wrote a post titled, \u201cHiring Executives: If  [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[39],"class_list":["post-10528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-english-fr"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>If You \u201cUnder-Hire,\u201d You Will \u201cOver-Fire\u201d - RJR Innovations<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rjrinnovations.com\/fr\/if-you-under-hire-you-will-over-fire-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"If You \u201cUnder-Hire,\u201d You Will \u201cOver-Fire\u201d - RJR Innovations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two of my favorite blogs are written by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz (founders of the new VC firm Andreessen-Horowitz). 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