#167 — Now Hiring

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Job interviews are the business-world’s equivalent of speed dating. Based on a brief conversation, hiring managers are supposed to select the candidate with whom they expect to have a long-term relationship of forty or fifty … months. The employer is expected to make a binding commitment to this person until death, promotion, mandatory staff reductions in the face of lower-than-expected earnings, or internal restructuring do them part. Even with a really appealing candidate this is a scary proposition so it’s only natural that managers can get cold feet when it comes to hitching their career wagon to a newcomer.

The hiring process starts when a manager feels a certain emptiness and yearning for companionship and realizes that it would be really nice to have another staff member to help carry the load. It’s important for the manager to have a clear idea of the kind of person they’re looking for so, just like a young person looking for a mate, they’ll write out a detailed, realistic description of the skills and experience they desire.