No Brainer Recruiting Tactics That Need to Be Brainier

Today is National No Brainer Day, created by Adrienne Sioux Koopersmith. I know you are saying, who is that? That was my response, too. So, it was a no brainer to pop over to favorite search engine to find out. I learned that Adrienne is an ordinary person who was broke and needed to pay her rent. She started creating holidays and has been credited with dreaming up and promoting over 1,275 holidays. Yes, you read that right! She just made them up and turned that skill into a money-making business. So, what does this have to do with recruiting?

Merriam-Webster defines no brainer as something that requires a minimum of thought. Not thinking is easy, right? Try it. See, you can’t stop thinking. It’s hard to consciously stop thinking. Be honest. You were thinking about not thinking. It’s okay. I have the same problem.

It was a no brainer for me to come up with some ways to help you with your recruiting and to celebrate National No Brainer Day.

Hiring should be a no brainer, so why is it so difficult? Because you are not using your no brainer skills properly. When you recruit and hire, you do a lot of things without thinking. You do things the same way you have for years. That’s a no brainer. You copy what someone else did successfully. Another no brainer. Yet, you are still struggling with finding the right people in your business. Here’s a great example of how no brainers can cause trouble.

Imagine that you are reading reference letters from a potential new employee. They are written on nice letterhead, include stories of amazing skills and dedication, and are signed by people with impressive titles. Would you agree that hiring this person is a no brainer? Except, it turns out that it was a big mistake. Imagine your surprise when you later discover this amazing employee wrote those letters herself! This person not only wrote her own reference letters, she also sent herself congratulatory flowers on her first day of work. Yes, this really happened to a business associate of mine. As she told me the story of how she had to fire this person, I started to think about the recruiting no brainer mistakes we make.

To combat those no brainer mishaps, I’ve compiled a list of things that appear to be no brainers and yet require more than a minimum of thought.

Asking Insightful Interview Questions

Interviews are the single most important piece of the hiring process, and yet, it’s the one piece that isn’t done well. Many interviewers rely on traditional questions like “Tell me about yourself. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Where do you see yourself in five years?” Savvy candidates have researched all the “correct” answers, and tell us what we want to hear. We think we’ve gotten smarter by asking behavioral-based questions like “Tell me about a time when you solved a problem.” Sounds better, right? Wrong. We’ve just told our candidate we want to hear about success. But, what about all the times they didn’t try to solve the problem? What about the times they failed? We’ll never know the answers to those questions.

The solution is to ask Insightful Interview™ questions that reveal a true picture of what a candidate is really like. You can download an example of an Insightful Interview™ question from my website here.

Checking References

People have been known to stretch the truth on their resumes. Shocking, isn’t it? Most HR departments will only verify employment dates, titles, and salary, and you should verify that information. However, you can and should talk to other references–people who worked closely with your candidate, a former supervisor, professors, or others who have direct knowledge of your candidate’s skills and abilities. Adapt a couple of your Insightful Interview™ questions to use when you speak with a candidate’s references. You’ll be surprised at how much insight you can get.

Writing Job Ads

Dare to be interesting and creative. Trash those boring job ads. Write for real people about what the job really is and what it would be like to do that job for you. One of the best ways to attract the right people and reduce the number of unqualified candidates is to write a great job posting. In a world where time is money, most of us lack the time and resources to wade through a sea of resumes to filter out resume spammers and get a manageable number of highly-qualified candidates. Job descriptions are boring, boring, boring! Even worse, most look the same. Catch their eye. Stand out from the crowd; make ‘em go, “Whoa!”

Congratulations! You are now officially skilled in the art of no brainer recruiting.  If you or someone you know needs some brainier help, call me, send an email, or text MOMENTUM to 480-418-1411 to get more in-depth, step-by-step recruiting help by becoming an advance reader of my upcoming book. And, the best part is that it’s FREE!