Think Like a Boss

by Trevor Calton

How does the boss approach finding somebody to fill a job? What do they do?

[Note: Sometimes there are rules. Larger companies or public institutions, like universities or government jobs, might have rules in place for how a job needs to be posted, but outside of a company specifically defining the process on how a hiring manager can go about finding the right candidate, this is typically the process that hiring managers go through.]

The first thing that a hiring manager wants to do when they want to fill that position is they look within within the company. A hiring manager is typically going to say, okay, who can I move from another department? Who can I promote? Who in the company can I take and put into this job?

If you’re the boss, and somebody already works for the company, you don't have to go through the hiring process, so it's less expensive. And whether they're an employee, a volunteer, or an intern, you already know that person's work performance and how they operate.

You're going to very easily, be able to find out from one of your colleagues, "Hey, what type of a job does this person do? Are they a good worker?" 

So it's lower costs and lower risk to look within the company to find your candidate. 

But let's say you looked within the company and you can't find anybody. Where's the next place that most hiring managers look?

They look within their network. 

They're going to do is reach out to people they personally know professionally and personally and say, "Hey who do you know? That might be a good fit for this job." 

And what's the reason there? Well, the reason is risk. If I know somebody professionally or personally that knows the candidate that's trying to get this job, then I'm going to have an easier time finding out what that candidate is all about. 

Are they a good worker? Are they punctual? Do they work hard? Do they have the skills necessary to do this job? 

It's not as inexpensive as hiring from within the company because you still have to go through the process of onboarding, but it's lower risk because you have more certainty about that person's performance. 

And so typically a hiring manager is going to look first within the company. And then second, they're going to look within their own network, both personal and professional network. And only after that does the hiring manager then typically go to the public, which means like posting the job online or publicly advertising the job. 

Now, most hiring managers would strongly prefer that they are able to find somebody that can promote or transfer within the company, or somebody in their network, before going through the process of posting a job online or making it public. 

And why is that? Okay, again you have the expense of paying for that job posting and paying for bringing a new person into the company. And then you also have the uncertainty, and all of the time, energy, resources, and a risk associated with opening up a job to the public. The average job opening gets between 100 and 300 resumes within the first 30 days. Most hiring managers in the 21st century will tell you that when they post a job publicly online, they typically get at least 100 resumes in the very first day.

So think about all the time and effort that goes into trying to evaluate all of these different candidates when all you have is maybe a resume and a cover letter. 

So the point here is when you are thinking like a boss, right? And you are going out and trying to find opportunities. The best place that you can be is right here, is in the network of the person who is the boss. 

We're going to talk about how that process works because it's more of an indirect process than a direct process. And this is going to springboard us into networking. 

Whenever you can, the more that you build your personal and professional network, the more people that you are going to know that know hiring managers, that know a boss that is looking for somebody.

And the more people that you have in your network, the more likely that you are going to have people that will vouch for you with that hiring manager and say, "Yes, this person that I know is a good worker, they'd be great fit. You should interview them." 

And I cannot tell you how many times I have bypassed this whole process because I either knew somebody in the company, or got to know somebody in the company intentionally, so that I would have a personal relationship with the hiring managers network.

Very important when you are going out and we're going to talk about how often and when that you should be looking for jobs online, because I'm not going to tell you not to, but this, I just want to illustrate the importance of becoming part of other people's network and having them be a part of your network.