“I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day you bet on people, not on strategies.”
Larry Bossidy, fomer CEO of Allied Signal (Honeywell) and GE executive
Before you begin researching, selecting and applying to your first job in the business world, it’s important to step back and understand the entire process. This process of hiring new employees, called recruitment, is unlike anything you have experienced in the military.
Moving positions in the military is a controlled and structured process. As a lieutenant and captain I had a defined career path in front of me at the platoon, battery and battalion levels. I wasn’t recruited to these positions nor did I have to sell myself. In the business world it’s much different. Here is an overview of the entire process and what it means for you.
How is a job created?
Turn on the news or open up a paper and you will most likely to come across a story about jobs. The President and his administration say they have a plan to create more jobs and thousands of people are looking for jobs. But how is a job created? There are only two ways this happens: a replacement of an existing position or creating of a new position.
1. Replace existing position. Most jobs are replacements of existing positions. The person who has previously had the position may have moved to a new role, left the company (voluntarily or involuntarily), or retired. Whatever the reason for the change, the position is opened and now has to be filled.
2. Create new position. The second way a job happens is by the creation of a new position. This is one of the most important developments for companies and the entire economy. Why? Whereas replacements can be caused by downsizing or departure, new positions are the result of growth. A new position means that a company is expanding, growing their team, changing the organization or building new plants, adding property or buying equipment and technology.
Understand who owns the process – the hiring manager
If you’ve read the Heroic Journey Series you have learned that the third part of the journey, the return, is best understood in marketing terms. And one of the most fundamental principles of marketing is understanding the needs of your customer. This is the *buyer* of the product you are selling – You.
In the job hiring process the ultimate *buyer* is the hiring manager. It is the person who will be your future manager – the person you will be reporting to, as we say in the military. He or she will make the final decision if you are the right fit for the open position. But they usually don’t make this decision alone. And they are usually helped in the hiring process by several individuals
The supporting team – Human Resources and Recruiters
The most important members of this supporting team of decision-making unit in marketing parlance are 1) the Human Resources manager and 2) a Recruiter. The Human Resources (usually called HR) manager is part of the team that manages the development and design of the organization, recruiting new employees, internal training, compensation and other personnel-oriented policies. This department gets the task of finding a suitable candidate for the hiring manager. HR managers usually work with external recruiters who specialize in finding, screening and selecting candidates.
What does this mean for you?
Now that you understand all the key players in the hiring process, let’s take a look at what this means for you. Here are the implications of this process:
- It’s a sequential process with multiple layers. Although one person makes the final decision, a number of people are involved. Think of entering a forbidden city. There are a number of gates you have to pass through before you can get to the palace. And if you don’t like my Chinese analogy here is another one for you. Think of all the layers involved in peeling an onion.
- The entire team acts like a decision-making unit. In marketing we say for large purchases a company usually has a decision-making unit. One person ultimately signs the check, but they are heavily influenced by the entire team. This supporting team will do much of the research and preparation work. The implication for you is that you need to influence and sell yourself to all the members of this virtual team.
- The entire hiring process is really accelerated if you get to the hiring manager directly. Getting to the hiring manager directly can really accelerate the entire process. It doesn’t mean of course you will automatically get the job but increases your success rate. In the last position I hired, a marketing program specialist for our corporate team, I had determined a short list of candidates to interview. I added one additional candidate pretty late in the process because of a referral from a personal contact in my network. This candidate got to the front of the line because of access to the hiring manager – me.
- None of this matters if there is no fit for the role. Ultimately, you as a candidate need to be an ideal fit for the role you are applying to. However you get in front of the hiring manager you need to convince him or her that you skills, abilities, experience and attitude is the perfect fit for the open position.
What has your experience been so far?
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