Businesses have never done as much hiring as they do today. They’ve never spent as much money doing it. And they’ve never done a worse job of it. For most of the post–World War II era, large corporations went about hiring this way: Human resources experts prepared a detailed job analysis to determine what tasks the job required and what attributes a good candidate should have. Next they did a job evaluation to determine how the job fit into the organizational chart and how much it should pay, especially compared with other jobs. Ads were posted, and applicants applied. Then came the task of sorting through the applicants. That included skills tests, reference checks, maybe personality and IQ tests, and extensive interviews to learn more about them as people. William H. Whyte, in The Organization Man, described this process as going on for as long as a week before the winning candidate was offered the job. The vast majority of non-entry-level openings were filled from within.

You’d like to believe that when you’re meeting with a hiring manager, they’re prepared, well-trained in the art of interviewing and spent an inordinate amount of time researching your résumé and constructing pertinent questions. I’m sorry to be the one to disappoint you, but this doesn't happen too often—or at all.

Given the ‘tight’ labour market we are currently experiencing, based upon an increasing number of conversations we are having with Hiring Managers who are seeking to add to their Team(s)/Organisation, I have set out below our thoughts on how to maximize the potential for a successful outcome in your search process. As in most search processes, the successful applicant (who meets the selection criteria) will come from one of the following three categories.

Shortly after we started hiring for our business, we recognized that most traditional interview processes are flawed, at best. At the time, we had a goal of growing our CRM software company from six to 18 employees. Our objectives were simple: Find talented people to contribute to our culture, generate great work, and stay with us for the long term. To avoid retention issues, we decided to focus on optimizing our interview process early on as opposed to relying on outdated behavioral questions to guide us.

For some people, choosing a career is simple. They have a path they want to pursue and they go for it. What’s more challenging is when someone is unhappy in their career, but completely unsure of what to do next. That place of uncertainty is Career Coach Maggie Mistal’s sweet spot. Not only does she counsel clients on how to find the perfect fit, but 17 years ago she pivoted from management consulting to a coaching so she understands the process.