DM Hiring Practices: Best Ways to Find Good People, Part 2
How I Conduct Interviews (And You Should Too)
If you really want to know what people are made of, let them “try out their position” in an interview. When I interview people, I’ll challenge them. If I’m interviewing for a sales or customer service position, I’ll stick a catalog in their hands, give them a few minutes and tell them to sell me any product in the catalog.
When interviewing graphics candidates, I’ll give them some plain text copy, throw them on a Mac workstation and let them design an ad or a postcard. This one works great with copywriters too.
With marketing people, I’ll give them a marketing problem to solve.
Ah, now you’re beginning to get the true hiring picture. Let’s adopt some new hiring practices and see if we magically see candidates in a different light. Maybe our levels of candidate dissatisfaction have something to do with more than just lousy candidates.
Speak to you next week.
Jim Gilbert is president of Gilbert Direct Marketing, a full service catalog and direct marketing agency. Reach him at jimdirect@aol.com or 561-302-1719.
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Jim Gilbert has been creating direct marketing programs that drive superior ROI for almost 30 years. Fluent in consumer or B-to-B, creative, operations, and analytics, he marries the strategic and tactical sides of direct and social media marketing in a seamless fashion that gets results. He's CEO of a multidiscipline direct marketing agency, Gilbert Direct Marketing, Inc., which focuses on direct mail, catalogs, DRTV, telemarketing, print, alternative direct marketing media and social media marketing. Jim has been involved in start-ups, expansions and turnarounds, and is an expert in helping multichannel marketers get to the "next level." He's a former adjunct professor, teaching direct marketing at Miami International University, and is President of the Board of Directors of the Florida Direct Marketing Association. Jim loves to talk direct marketing, and has done many lectures on direct and social media marketing.
