The JobSync Blog
Say "Aloha" to Better Recruiting
December 13, 2011
Makai is a small marketing firm based in El Segundo, California. Yet this firm of only 38 full-time employees has offices in Europe and Latin America and boasts big clients such as Nestlé and Suzuki. How did founder Robbie Thain pull it off?
He brought in a little island spirit that embraces diversity and unorthodox thinking to inspire his hiring philosophy.
As BusinessInsider.com reveals in a recent interview, this unconventional son of Hawaii has compiled a set of helpful rules that has been central to his successful hiring practices. And these rules could just assist you in making the right decisions about future candidates you hire:
1. Have the manager whom the hiring manager reports to conduct the first round of interviews. Thain believes hiring managers at lower levels have a tendency to bring in people who think like they do. This decreases a company’s diversity of thought and undermines its well being.
2. Be open and honest in the interview phase, but with a twist. As Thain points out, finding a good fit for a position requires transparency from both the candidate and company during interviewing. To that end, before making a final selection, Thain will have the candidate meet with another firm employee who has no vested interest in the candidate becoming part of the company. The candidate is then encouraged to ask any questions he wants about the company.
3. Hire for attitude, train for skill... and encourage collaboration of backgrounds that complement one another. You don’t have to hire all MBAs. Thain will take a kid off the street if the person can do the job, because he hopes this person would also be able to teach an MBA street smarts.
4. Hire what you expect and inspect what you have expected. As Thain explains, “I look and I say, ‘What do I expect of this individual?’ and then I tailor my hiring practices to that. I say, ‘What am I going to expect out of them?’ and then those questions are tailored toward that.”
In general, Thain believes people don’t rely on their gut as much as they should. Is your gut telling you some of his rules could help you get that elusive candidate you’ve been looking for?
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