"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'"Isaac Asimov
|
| |
Keywords For Job Searching
There are keywords that work better then others and not every single one of the keywords listed below will pull up legit jobs every time, but they are worth using. You might just uncover a gem of a job!Try the following telecommuting keywords when ...
Some Tips On How Not To Lose A Job
Nowadays, finding a job can be very tedious. However, some people contend that trying to keep a job to avoid the risk of losing it is in even harder. This is because they are trying whatever viable means there is, in order not to lose their jobs. ...
Unemployment Blues: Getting Active
Unemployment is depressing: financial pressures stress you out, looking for work is humiliating, and your fragile self-confidence reels under the blows of indifference and rejection.It becomes harder to get up in the morning, to take care of yourself, to ...
|
|
|
| |
Here is a true story. My dentist did a “clinical” evaluation of my teeth. That is his fancy way to say he looked in my mouth and starred at my teeth with his own two eyes. He found no cavities in his “clinical” evaluation. I felt happy and relieved!
But then he took a quick x-ray. Lo-&-behold, the x-ray immediately spotted a cavity hiding under one of my fillings!!
In other words, what you see is not always all you get!!! An objective x-ray found a lot more important information than a highly trained eye.
Likewise, some applicants come across fine in a job interview. But, they then proceed to flop after you put them on the payroll. In fact, huge amounts of research prove most interviewers do poorly at predicting how an applicant will do, if hired.
So, it is crucial for a manager to use special “x-rays” to spot potential trouble lurking within an applicant – and also uncover skills and talents that will prove beneficial on-the-job. Here are five superb “x-ray” methods you can use immediately to help you hire high-achievers – and stay away from underachievers.
1. Pre-Employment Tests
Research shows that customized tests are the best way to accurately predict on-the-job performance. You can use three types of tests:
A. Behavior tests – to evaluate interpersonal skills, personality, and motivations
B. Abilities tests – to predict brainpower in problem-solving, vocabulary, arithmetic, grammar, and handling small details
C. Character tests – to detect a “bad apple” who has a bad work ethic or might steal
Tests can be given in paper-&-pencil test booklets or on the Internet. Importantly, only use tests designed for pre-employment assessments.
Customize tests you use by doing a “benchmarking study” to find out how your highly productive, low-turnover employees typically score. Then, you quickly can compare applicants’ test scores against scores of your most productive employees. Of course, you can show preference for applicants who score like your winners.
2. Remember One Truism
When I deliver my speech or seminar on Hire the Best -- & Avoid the Rest™, I always point out: Whatever behavior you see from the applicant during the screening process is likely to be the very best behavior you ever will see from that person! You surely witnessed this truism.
Let’s say you want to hire a high-energy person. Candidate A stays very high-energy during your entire screening process, including all in-depth interviews. Candidate B starts interviews high-energy (a good sign) but then acts increasingly drained as the interviews go on (a bad sign). Candidate A is much more likely to be high-energy on-the-job than Candidate B. Do not expect Candidate B to suddenly explode with energy if you hire that person.
3. Referrals from Your Best Employees
Winners hang around with winners. Losers hang around with losers. Your best employees probably hang around with high-achievers. Ask those employees to refer applicants.
4. Bio-data
I’m not referring to DNA. Instead, bio-data is biographical data. Here’s how to benefit from bio-data. Grab the files on your superstar employees. Look for
common work-related experiences or education that most of them have.
For example, one company I consulted to wanted to hire salespeople to sell a service (not a product). Upon examining bio-data of the company’s superstar salespeople, we found the high-achieving salespeople had worked selling services. Most of the company’s underachieving salespeople worked in sales, also. But, the underachievers sold products, not services.
Interestingly, the same company also discovered most of its superstar salespeople worked at McDonald’s for six months or longer in high school or college. This showed an interest in serving customers (after all, that is what McDonald’s stresses) plus stick-to-itiveness (lasting six months or more in a normally high-turnover job). So, start digging into your bio-data treasures located in employees’ files.
5. RJP
RJP stands for realistic job preview. To do an RJP, (a) show applicants exactly what they will do on-the-job if you hire them, (b) let applicants think about it for 24 hours, and (c) then ask applicants if they want to take the job. Research shows employers who give detailed RJPs get two results:
1. less employees accept the job offer
2. applicants who accept the job off are less likely to turnover
Importantly, an RJP needs to be super-realistic. For example, I consulted to a tire company. It had great difficulty getting people to work in “purgatory” – a horribly hot room in which hot, just-made ties were moved on the tire molds. Anyone who worked in the “purgatory” room spent all day covered in sweat and thick white dust. No wonder most people quit that job after short time!
I recommended using RJPs. The company worried, “Applicants won’t take that job if they know much about it!” I said let’s try RJP anyway. Sure enough, after seeing this awfully hot and dusty job, only a small percentage of applicants took the job. But, those who did stayed a long time. Note: They were people who acted distinctly “odd,” and relished feeling hot and sticky all day!
Do It Now
If you remember these points, you can hire the best – and profit from it:
1. what you see is not all you get – but it is the best you will see
2. use customized tests, since tests predict job success better than other methods
3. take advantage of predictors right under your nose, including referrals from winners, bio-data, and RJPs
Importantly, you can start these valuable methods today so you immediately start hiring the best.
© Copyright 2005 Michael Mercer, Ph.D.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Boomers find meaning in 'encore careers' at nonprofit groups - Dallas Morning News
Move over, Bill Gates. You've got company. The former full-time executive of Microsoft and present co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is just one of an estimated 1.1 million baby boomers who have traded jobs in the corporate world ...
Healthcare Good and Bad News For Bush Republicans - Seattle Post Intelligencer
The Good News is more Americans have healthcare then they did a year ago! The Bad news for Republicans is this result was achieved by Doing things the Democrats way and Government help which is not the Republicans way of doing things. www.latimes.com ...
German women face trade-offs in balancing work and family - International Herald Tribune
FRANKFURT : Maria Schaad, who works in the communications department of a major pharmaceutical company, considers herself lucky. After the birth of each of her sons, now 7 and 3, her employer allowed her to work flexible, reduced hours - a perk that ...
Lehman looking at cutting some 1,200 jobs: source - Portland Tribune
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc is looking at cutting some 1,200 jobs in its latest round of cost cutting, a person familiar with the matter said, as weak financial markets spur layoffs across Wall Street. The job cuts would amount ...
America's Most Dangerous Jobs - Forbes
The good news: Fewer people are dying on the job in the United States. Last year work-related fatalities dipped 6%, to 5,488 (or 3.7 per 100,000 workers), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' National Census of Fatal Occupation Injuries ...
|
