Excerpted from the Executive Report: Attracting Top Talent When You Can’t Spend Big Bucks
If you're a smaller organization, how do you beat out the big companies for talent?
You can flourish by focusing on what the big guys tend to overlook.
Take a harder look at three groups of job candidates that often get dismissed by other companies. And let's dispel the myths.
"Former fast-food workers are (a) disengaged and (b) 'the bottom of the barrel.'"
Consider the numbers from a recent survey: About 12% of Americans have worked at a fast-food outlet at some time in their lives. That alone should tell you that the industry is a training ground for workers, most of whom have learned how to work face-to-face with all types of customers and all types of co-workers. On top of that, fast-food workers learn procedures, multi-tasking and the importance of deadlines and schedules.
"Single mothers are too distracted to be dedicated to their jobs."
Does anyone really believe that most single mothers can afford to not be dedicated? As a group, single mothers have shown themselves to have the ability to juggle a lot of balls, solve problems that would befuddle Solomon and take on responsibilities immediately and without much preparation. If those traits don't make a good employee, what does? Certainly, few successful, modern employers would reject an applicant just because she's a woman with children. But many employers factor in "family responsibilities" - maybe even subconsciously - when selecting candidates for jobs that require a high degree of responsibility and dedication.
"Ex-military are too rigid."
While veterans certainly understand rules and the concept of chain of command, they also understand the concepts of accepting personal responsibility and adapting to changing situations. And don't forget that one of the key links in the chain of command is leadership.
You may not subscribe to any of those myths, and maybe you'd be thrilled to hire someone in one of those categories. The point is that almost everyone has ideas about what makes a perfect candidate. Successful recruiters will look more deeply than the common ideas.
DIGGING DEEPER
Not everyone wants to work at a big company. There are a lot of talented people who will do better in smaller environment. Find out how to recruit those people in the Executive Report: Attracting Top Talent When You Can’t Spend Big Bucks
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