Please Stop Doing This When You Hire!

It’s time to be straight with you…

If you’re like most executives, you’re making the biggest hiring mistake. Over and over and over.

I wouldn’t be a friend if I didn’t tell you. Because it’s totally avoidable.

But the change will take some courage… it’s the road less traveled.

Here it is: Industry experience is, Overrated. Overhyped. Overindexed.

In short, I’m over it.

I understand why you do it. It sounds like a safer bet, a short cut. Plug and play from one of your competitors to your organization. All things being equal, industry experience is great, because the candidate should ramp up a bit faster in the new role.

But putting it first (like most executives do) is just nuts. Because industry experience comes with baggage, bad habits, and often non-competes. Plus, it artificially constrains the pool of people you’re evaluating (not a good idea, in the tightest labor market in 50 years.)

Plus, industry experience isn’t predictive of a candidate’s success. It’s a nice-to-have, but shouldn’t be a must-have. Yet, every day, I see hiring managers and recruiters put it first, at the very top of their criteria list for candidates.

So then, what should you look for in a candidate? I’ve been at this for 25 years, made every mistake in the book, and I’ve figured out what works.

I made a 5-minute video to explain step-by-step. And here it is.

Never settle,
Jeff

Jeff Hyman

Jeff Hyman launched his recruiting career at Heidrick & Struggles and Spencer Stuart, the preeminent global executive search firms. Today, he’s Chief Talent Officer at Chicago-based Strong Suit Executive Search. Along the way, Jeff created four companies, backed by $50 million in venture capital. He currently teaches the MBA course about recruiting at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and hosts the five-star Strong Suit Podcast. Jeff has been featured by Inc., Fortune, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Bloomberg, and other media outlets. He holds a master’s degree from Kellogg School of Management and a bachelor’s degree from The Wharton School.