1. HIRING
A complete crapshoot
& what to do about it.
911CEO

2. Lesson 14 from:
20 Learnings from Electroline
& Places of Lesser Repute
Confirmed by Google’s senior vice president of people operations Lazlo Bock in 2013
interview with New York Times:
“……we did a study to determine whether anyone at Google is particularly good
at hiring. We looked at tens of thousands of interviews, and everyone who had
done the interviews and what they scored the candidate, and how that person
ultimately performed in their job. We found zero relationship. It’s a complete
random mess….”
911CEO
Hiring decisions are the riskiest decisions
managers make, essentially a 50/50 crapshoot.

3. Try a different
approach – ya gotta be
able to do better than
50/50
911CEO
Go on, have a look. It can’t hurt.

4. 911CEO
J.T. O’Donnel’s Four Step Hiring Process
"I stopped asking for resumes a long time ago. Years in the staffing industry taught me
they weren't useful when evaluating candidates. I also stopped creating 'traditional'
job postings altogether…”
Step 1: Don't post a job; post the problem the employee will solve.
Step 2: Ask candidates to answer three key behavioral questions.
Step 3:
Ask for their LinkedIn profile, Twitter name, and any other online presence that
supports their candidacy.
Step 4: Provide an alias email address and have applications sent directly to you.

5. 911CEO
J.T. O’Donnel’s Four Step Hiring Process
f
Step 1: Don't post a job; post the problem the employee will solve.
 Write out what problem this new hire is going to solve. Be rich in details. Explain
what pain they will alleviate and how you see them accomplishing that as quickly as
possible in the role.
 Next, explain why your company exists. Again, be rich in details. What problem does
your company solve? What pain does it alleviate for its customers?
 Finally, tie in how the right candidate will support those efforts.

6. 911CEO
J.T. O’Donnel’s Four Step Hiring Process
Step 2: Ask candidates to answer three key behavioral questions.
Ask candidates to share as much as they can about the following:
 What do you know about our business and industry?
 How did you come to learn that what we do is important to our clients?
 What is your favorite aspect of our business, and why?

7. 911CEO
J.T. O’Donnel’s Four Step Hiring Process
Step 3: Ask for their LinkedIn profile, Twitter name, and any other online presence
that supports their candidacy.
Make it very clear you do not want a resume or any other materials submitted beyond
answering your three questions and providing social profile links.

8. 911CEO
J.T. O’Donnel’s Four Step Hiring Process
Step 4: Provide an alias email address and have applications sent directly to you.
Set a deadline of 10 business days for applications to be submitted. Then share the
posting via all your social channels and sit back and wait for the right applicants to
come in.
Why does this approach work ?

9. 911CEO
Why does this approach work?
1. Slackers won't apply, since they see researching your company and writing out answers to your questions as
too much work.
2. Candidates who submit a standard cover letter and resume clearly did not read and follow directions. They
can be eliminated without a second thought.
3. The deadline motivates candidates to get their applications in, again, weeding out the lazy folks.
4. Asking candidates to answer your three specific questions provides a sense of their writing and
communication style and ability. You'll also see how well they understand and connect with both your
business and the role they hope to fill.
5. Asking for Linkedin profiles and other social media presence gives candidates a chance to direct you to
professional information they want you to see. If for some reason they don't want you to see their online
presence (maybe they have something to hide?) they won't apply.
6. The best responses show how the candidate can solve your problem and why he/she is the right person to
solve that problem. That also makes for a far more relaxed and productive first interview; you'll have more
to talk about.
7. Applicants are more committed to the interview and hiring process simply because they invested in the
process during the application stage. (In part they'll want to land the job simply because of the time they
put in.) Better still, landing the job will feel like a big "win" and they'll be more likely to try to exceed your
expectations when they start.
J.T. O’Donnel’s Four Step Hiring Process