The way to get actually good employees is to be the sort of place that actual good employees want to work for. Good pay, good work-life balance, good managers and company culture, work that is enjoyable and meaningful. Then, you hire through social networks. The founders start off as people who meet through informal social networks. They hire their friends. And then they ask their friends for further recommendations. The best way to know if someone is a good hire is if you have actually worked with them before. And at this point, the interview is really just hanging out, shaking hands, and having lunch before you sign some paperwork.
The problem with only hiring people you have met personally is that you miss out on a whole world of people who would be great to work with but had no chance of ever meeting you or your network. I agree that network recruiting is the safest route, but having diversity in your employees is great. If you only hire through your networks you’ll see quickly quickly how you only get one kind of person.
I have seem this happen a lot in smaller companies. It’s also the story of how I’m typically the sole woman in the department. I by happenstance happen to seed my professional network from college with a lot of men (because I accidentally picked a college that like 80% men). I’m a unicorn because many men’s networks include so few women since in IT they tend to be non-traditional and/or generally excluded from younger men’s social groups.
I get tapped via my network all the time. But if the company basically only does referral based hiring me and perhaps one other woman is there for the whole engineering department. It’s way more balanced at 20%-30% of the department at companies that don’t do this. There is some value in shotgun hiring even if it has a higher fail rate than referral hiring. Different kinds of people can bring fresh perspectives and considerations.
I mean, kind of. I wouldnt say extroverts, so much as “people with good/decent social skills”. Introversion/extroversion is a sliding scale, not a dichotomy, and it refers more to your propensity to gain or lose energy from social interactions - not your ability to socialize.
While many more introverted people find socializing more difficult in general, there is no reason why they can’t develop the skill.
Sure, but if someone is more introverted, then, even if they have amazing social skills, they will have a much harder time forming social networks with a lot of reach because it takes more energy for them to do so, whereas it is a lot easier for a more extroverted person to do this.
I mean, this is essentially all hiring processes.
The way to get actually good employees is to be the sort of place that actual good employees want to work for. Good pay, good work-life balance, good managers and company culture, work that is enjoyable and meaningful. Then, you hire through social networks. The founders start off as people who meet through informal social networks. They hire their friends. And then they ask their friends for further recommendations. The best way to know if someone is a good hire is if you have actually worked with them before. And at this point, the interview is really just hanging out, shaking hands, and having lunch before you sign some paperwork.
The problem with only hiring people you have met personally is that you miss out on a whole world of people who would be great to work with but had no chance of ever meeting you or your network. I agree that network recruiting is the safest route, but having diversity in your employees is great. If you only hire through your networks you’ll see quickly quickly how you only get one kind of person.
I have seem this happen a lot in smaller companies. It’s also the story of how I’m typically the sole woman in the department. I by happenstance happen to seed my professional network from college with a lot of men (because I accidentally picked a college that like 80% men). I’m a unicorn because many men’s networks include so few women since in IT they tend to be non-traditional and/or generally excluded from younger men’s social groups.
I get tapped via my network all the time. But if the company basically only does referral based hiring me and perhaps one other woman is there for the whole engineering department. It’s way more balanced at 20%-30% of the department at companies that don’t do this. There is some value in shotgun hiring even if it has a higher fail rate than referral hiring. Different kinds of people can bring fresh perspectives and considerations.
Great points. Thanks for sharing your perspective
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So in other words, focus on hiring extroverts who are great at forming social networks.
I mean, kind of. I wouldnt say extroverts, so much as “people with good/decent social skills”. Introversion/extroversion is a sliding scale, not a dichotomy, and it refers more to your propensity to gain or lose energy from social interactions - not your ability to socialize.
While many more introverted people find socializing more difficult in general, there is no reason why they can’t develop the skill.
Sure, but if someone is more introverted, then, even if they have amazing social skills, they will have a much harder time forming social networks with a lot of reach because it takes more energy for them to do so, whereas it is a lot easier for a more extroverted person to do this.