This document discusses strategies for finding and assessing talent. It suggests focusing on traits like judgment, resilience and curiosity rather than just credentials. Sources of talent have expanded from just print ads and referrals to include social networks, company websites and public talent portfolios. Assessing candidates requires observing them over time and asking open-ended "how" and "why" questions to understand traits like problem-solving ability. Non-traditional resumes with niche skills can succeed if the right traits are present. Public portfolios now allow employers to identify talent anywhere in the world. Overall it encourages looking beyond surface credentials to find special traits and abilities.

1. Solving the Talent Puzzle:
Putting ‘The Rare Find’ to Work
In Your Hiring
UVM Family Business Initiative
Nov. 1, 2012
George Anders

2. What Question Unites Us Today?

3. How Do World-Class Organizations
Get Talent Right?
And what can the rest of us learn from them?

4. Our Agenda This Morning
1. What traits matter most in our businesses?
2. Where should we look?
3. How can we best assess candidates?
4. What’s the appeal of a jagged resume?
5. How can we tap into public portfolios?

5. 1. Traits: A Lesson From Nashville
Great Hires and Flawed Hires Look Similar; They Aren’t

6. What Everyone Sees When Hiring
Education
Transcripts
Paper Credentials
Prior employers
Resume claims
Interview Poise

7. What Experts Also See: ‘Soft Skills’
Character
Motivation
Potential

8. Central Traits in ‘The Rare Find’
Desire to
Learn
Efficiency Judgment
Resilience
Compati- Self-
bility Reliance
Curiosity/
Acumen

9. Unique Cultures => Unique Traits
• Amazon.com => F r u g a l i t y
• Procter & Gamble =>
Mu l t i t a s k e r s
• Linear Technology => T i n k e r e r s
• McKinsey => S t r i v e r s ’
Et e r n a l Dr i v e
• Google => E a r l y
F a s c i n a t i o n Wi t h
Te c h

10. What Defines Your Best Hires?
 ________________
 ________________
 ________________
 ________________
 ________________
 ________________

11. What Lurks Behind Problem Hires?
 ________________
 ________________
 ________________
 ________________
 ________________
 ________________

12. 2. Where to Look: 1970 and Today
Social Networks
Your Web Site
Internet Job Boards
Referrals
Agencies & Recruiters
Print Ads
Paper Applications
1970 1997 2006 2009 2012
Sources: Rees & Shultz (U of Chicago); BoozAllen; CareerXRoads

13. Which Sources Do You Use Today?
 _________
 _________
 _________
 _________
 _________

14. The Internet Yields Endless Names
219 1
Source: Jobs2Web Inc.

15. But We Still Struggle to Find …
Critical Hi-Po Top
Skills Employees Performers
72% 60% 59%
Source: Towers/Watson Talent Survey 2012

16. The Special Role of Personal Networks
Employee Referrals But They Yield
Are Rare the Most Hires
45
45
40
Referrals 40
35
35
30
Career Sites 30
25 25
20 Job Boards 20
15 15
10 Recruiters 10
5 5
0 Other 0
Source: JobVite

17. Why Trusted Referrals Pay Off
• Deep Reference Checks
• Good Sense of Cultural
Fit
• Understanding of What
The Job Is All About
• Commitment to Get It
Right

18. Now We’re in a Networked Age
2012
1970

19. Networking 2012: Zuckerberg’s Law?
You!

20. Big Data – and the Power of Weak Ties
(Test this yourself: inmaps.linkedinlabs.com)

21. What New Sources Will You Try?
 _________
 _________
 _________
 _________
 _________

22. 3. Assessing: Taking a Wider Gaze
Look Beyond Credentials; Spot Top Traits

23. The Little Stuff Adds Up
Great assessment starts with sustained careful observation

24. Keep Circling Back to Those Key Traits
Some Experts Get There Others Are As Tough As A
Via Genial Chatter Cross-Examination

25. Pore Over Bios; Try Auditions for …
Resilience
Capacity to Grow
Efficiency
Judgment
Compatibility
Self-Reliance
Acumen

26. Learning to Ask ‘The 3rd Question’
How Did You Accomplish
That?
What Happened Next?
What Adjustments Did You
Make?
How Did Other People
React?
Tell Me More

27. Ask More ‘Why’ and ‘How’ Questions;
Move Beyond ‘What’ and ‘When’
What’s Her Why Does
Shooting She Get Open
Percentage? So Often?

28. What vs. How in Business Settings
• What academic degrees • How would you design
do you hold? an energy-saving circuit?
• What C-level experience • How do you inspire
do you have? people to follow you?
• What are your career • How do you stay on
successes to date? track in the face of
setbacks?

29. What Questions Pay Off for You?
 _________________
 _________________
 _________________
 _________________
 _________________
 _________________

30. 4. A New Role for the Jagged Resume
• Rare Virtues
• Great at a Few
‘Must Haves’
• Erratic at the
‘Nice to Haves’

31. 4. Why Jagged Resumes Pay Off
• These Mavericks Excel
As Innovators
• Unique Good Fits
Promote Loyalty
• The Competitive Payoff
Can Be Significant

32. What About Common Flaws?
Some May Not Be Ruinous At All
• Limited direct experience – if offset by an
intense, proven knack for fast learning
• A career stumble or two along the way – if it
fuels self-awareness, resilience and drive.
• Personalities that take a few moments to
appreciate – if core character is solid.

33. 5. The Rise of the Public Portfolio

34. There’s an Explosion of Websites
Catering to Dozens of Specialties

35. How Public Portfolios Pay Off
For Employers For Talent
• You Can Look Anywhere for • You Can Live Anywhere and
Talent at the Right Price Attract Global Clients
• You Can Identify Stars Who • Your Work Markets Itself;
Aren’t Hunting for Jobs You Lose Less Time Hunting
• You Can See Relevant Work • You’re More Likely to Match
Right Away; It’s Efficient Jobs in Synch With You
• It’s Easy, at Last, to Notice • Your Credibility Builds Fast;
‘Talent That Whispers’ Less Time Paying Dues

36. Facebook’s Ingenious Shortcut
70,000 puzzle Top 1% earn an 118 solvers win jobs
solutions/year interview

37. Talent That Whispers
‘The Long Tail’ applies to people, too
• S
Source: “The Long Tail,” by Chris Anderson

38. How Stripe Found 978 Security Experts
(while everyone was playing “Capture the Flag.”)

39. Closing Thought: Savvy Hiring Is
Almost Within Our Grasp Already
• Trait-Based Hiring Works; It
Just Takes Courage to Do It
• Better Talent Strategies Take
Time; Repairing Mistakes
Involves Vastly More Time
and Money
• Ask: ‘What Can Go Right?’

40. “Good-to-great
companies place
more weight on
character than on
specific skills or
experience.”
Jim Collins
Good to Great

41. Follow Ups? Of Course!
Twitter: @GeorgeAnders
Facebook: TheRareFind
Slides will be on
SlideShare
Email:
George.Anders@gmail.com