DM Hiring Practices: Best Ways to Find Good People, Part 2
Last week, I discussed some recent trends in the catalog/direct marketing employment world. In this week’s part two, I dig into the actual hiring practice.
The H.R. Issue: My Rx For Failure
Note to the H.R. department: I’ll review my own resumes, thank you. I know this may not make some people happy, but having H.R. managers screen applicants for hiring managers is like having Dracula accepting a day job; some things are just not meant to be. Let the H.R. folks at my applicants after I’ve sorted out my top few candidates. Then, they can ask them dumb questions like these:
“Describe to me a business experience you had where you failed?” (note to applicants, the correct answer is NEVER!!!).
“With regard to your business acumen, what personality traits do you have that you feel you could improve?” (the answer… NONE, I can do my job professionally all the time!)
On some interviews I’ve been on, I’ve had to work really hard to keep a straight face when asked those inane questions. I’ve had to bite my tongue too as I tend to be a smartass, lest H.R. people hear what is truly going on in my head.
Unorthodox Interviewing Works for Catalog Businesses
The truth is, once you do your due diligence in a “normal” interview session with candidates, it’s pretty much a crap shoot whether they’ll live up to their expectations AND fit into your corporate culture.
To me, those typical “take me through your resume” interviews say next to nothing. In most cases there’s not much more I can learn other than how well they do or don’t do in an interview that I could not find in someone’s resume.
And I can tell you from first hand experience that some people are horrible interviewees (like myself for instance). There’s a definite set of interview skills that have nothing to do with an actual job description that one must possess.
- Categories:
- Management
Jim Gilbert has had a storied career in direct and digital marketing resulting in a burning desire to tell stories that educate, inform, and inspire marketers to new heights of success.
After years of marketing consulting, Jim decided it was time to “put his money where his mouth was" and build his own e-commerce company, Premo Natural Products, with its flagship product, Premo Guard Bed Bug & Mite Sprays. Premo in its second year is poised to eclipse 100 percent growth.
Jim has been writing for Target Marketing Group since 2006, first on the pages of Catalog Success Magazine, then as the first blogger for its online division. Jim continues to write for Total Retail.
Along the way, Jim has led the Florida Direct Marketing Association as their Marketing Chair and then three-term President, been an Adjunct Professor of Direct and Digital marketing for Miami International University, and created a lecture series, “The 9 Immutable Laws of Social Media Marketing,” which he has presented across the country at conferences and universities.
