Hiring Practices Concepts

Your best new hire is updating their resume right now. Because the first 90 days broke them. I've seen this pattern dozens of times. Company makes a great hire. Strong background. Hungry. Coachable. Everything you want. Six weeks in, they're drowning. Nobody showed them how to sell here. They got a laptop, a Salesforce login, and 47 PDFs nobody's read since 2019. Maybe a couple days of product training. Then they're on their own. No daily structure. No clear milestones. No way to know if they're on track or falling behind. So they guess. They flounder. They watch the top reps close deals and wonder what they're missing. By month three, they're in their own head. Doubting the product. Doubting themselves. Quietly looking at other options. By month six, they're gone. And leadership blames recruiting. "We need better candidates." No. You need a better system. When I took over my region, average ramp time was 157 days. Almost seven months before a new hire closed their first deal. Turnover was 50%. I didn't change who we hired. I changed how we onboarded them. Every day mapped out. Week one through week four. Shadowing real calls, not watching slides. Role-playing objections until they couldn't get them wrong. Live calls with managers listening. Same-day coaching on every conversation. Ramp time compressed by months. Turnover dropped to 17%. First year survival went above 90%. The math on this is brutal. One failed hire costs $150K+ when you add up salary, benefits, recruiting, training, and opportunity cost. Three or four failed hires a year and you're looking at half a million in invisible losses. That money doesn't show up on any report. But it's bleeding out of your org every quarter. If your new hires keep washing out in year one, stop blaming the candidates. Look at what happens between day one and day ninety. That's where you're losing them. I broke down my full onboarding system in the carousel. — P.S. If you lead a sales org with between 5-25 people and want us to find your top 3 revenue leaks, book a free 45-min working session here: https://lnkd.in/ghh8VCaf

Here's 16 common hiring mistakes ranked by how hard they are to solve: EASY FIXES 1. Copy-paste job posts Still using that job description from 2015? The one that says "must be a team player" and "5+ years experience required"? You're filtering out incredible talent who assume you're another boring company. 2. Slow response time Taking 2 weeks to email candidates back? They've already accepted another offer. The best people have options. 3. No interview prep Watched too many interviewers walk in cold and ask "so tell me about yourself" for 45 minutes. Create a simple question bank. Train your team. 4. Unclear next steps "We'll be in touch" is where good candidates go to die. Tell them exactly what happens next. Basic respect that most companies miss. STANDARD PROBLEMS 5. Wrong interviewers Your backend engineer interviewing salespeople because "they were free"? Stop it. Match interviewers to roles. Train them on what to look for. Bad interviewers drive away good candidates. 6. No scorecard One person loves them because they're "smart." Another hates them because they're "too aggressive." Meanwhile you have no idea what actually matters for success. Build scorecards before you interview anyone. 7. Poor selling Interviews are two-way. You're so busy evaluating them, you forget to explain why they should drop everything to join your vision. Sell that vision. 8. Bad timing Three month interview processes for a senior role? They're gone. Match process to seniority. Move fast on junior roles. Go deep on senior ones. DEEP ISSUES 9. No success metrics "We need someone good" isn't a hiring strategy. What does success look like in 30/60/90 days? What metrics matter? If you can't define winning, you can't hire winners. 10. Bias in process Hiring people because they went to Stanford or remind you of yourself? You're building a monoculture that will fail. 11. Zero feedback That amazing candidate who didn't quite make it? They'll trash you on Glassdoor if you ghost them. Or they'll improve and be perfect next year if you give them real feedback. Most companies choose ghosting. 12. Pipeline neglect Only recruiting when someone quits is like only eating when you're starving. Build relationships before you need them. CRITICAL PROBLEMS 13. Role design failure Badly designed roles attract desperate people, not talented ones. Period. 14. Unrealistic expectations Want someone with 10 years experience, startup hustle, and enterprise polish? Cool. That person makes $500K at Google. You're offering $120K and some options. Math doesn't work. 15. Toxic culture You can hire all the A-players you want. If your culture sucks, they'll leave in 6 months. Then you're back to hiring, except now you have a reputation. Fix the culture or stop wasting everyone's time. 16. No hiring strategy Making it up as you go works until it doesn't. Usually around 20 people when everything breaks. What else would you add? 👇

A post went viral this week after someone claimed you can’t possibly hire a strong Head of Marketing with just 3 years of experience. Here’s my take: YOE is one of the most overrated hiring metrics out there. Yes, experience can help you navigate large org structures or understand operational nuance. But the idea that “years in the game = guaranteed quality” feels completely outdated. Especially today. Some of the most brilliant people I’ve worked with, including founders who went on to build multi-billion dollar companies, had virtually no experience when they started. What they did have was hunger, curiosity, and the ability to figure sh*t out in real time. My own experience is similar I came into BuzzFeed straight out of college with zero work experience and ended up leading a 150-person team that helped build a billion-dollar business. By every traditional measure, I shouldn’t have been in that position. In fact, there were several attempts to layer me with someone “more experienced.” But what kept me in the role was simple: I could move faster, learn faster, and I was hungrier. In an environment that required constant reinvention, those traits mattered more than years on a resume. That’s why I push back when people say it’s “impossible.” Sometimes the best person for the stage you’re in isn’t the one with the longest CV, but the one with the most drive and adaptability. I’ve also hired people with zero experience who went on to build empires of their own. Why? Because they had something more valuable than a line on a résumé: a spark, an adaptability, and a willingness to reject old frameworks in order to build new ones. In fast-moving industries, that’s often worth more than 10+ years of repeating the same playbook. Because at the end of the day, years don’t build companies—people do.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗡𝗼 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁: 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗼 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗬𝗼𝘂. Most business owners unknowingly hire 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺, 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. It feels comfortable, but it’s one of the biggest hiring mistakes. Why? Because great businesses thrive on diversity of thought, not sameness. When you hire clones of yourself, you create an echo chamber - where the same ideas circulate, creativity stalls, and blind spots go unnoticed. The best hires challenge you. They question assumptions, bring fresh perspectives, and make decisions you wouldn’t think of. That’s how businesses innovate and grow. When hiring, ask yourself:  ✅ Does this person bring a 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴?  ✅ Have they 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲 during the interview?  ✅ Do they have 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸? A strong team isn’t built on similarity but on balance. Hire for complementary skills, not comfort. Have you ever caught yourself hiring someone just because they "felt like a great fit"? #hiring #business #diversity

8 Red Flags To Watch For In Your Next Interview (Avoid Companies That Do These): 1. Disorganized / Rushed Scheduling Great companies have a clearly defined and documented process around scheduling, communicating, and moving candidates through the process. If the company is: Rushing you to book something Spotty with scheduling Rescheduling multiple times That’s a sign of larger issues. 2. Vague On The Role & It’s Responsibilities Great companies have a clear plan for every new hire that they make. If the job description for the role is vague, and the interviewer: Can’t provide more clarity Can’t speak to clear, tangible goals Can’t clearly define who would be a good fit It means whoever is hired is going to be set up to fail. 3. There’s A Lack Of Mutual Respect Great interviewers understand the interview is a two-way street. They show each candidate a level of mutual respect in their demeanor, questions, etc. If your interviewer is lacking in those areas, especially respect, that’s a big red flag. Ex: One of our clients last year was interviewed by someone who was in the middle of biking to get lunch. 4. Too Much Emphasis On “Fit” Over Skills Cultural fit is a critical part of making a great hire. But if an interviewer is focusing the majority of the conversation on how you’d fit the culture and there’s a lack of focus on your actual skills? That’s a company that’s more prone to: - Bias - Valuing personality over performance - A lack of diversity around ideas, solutions, etc. 5. Overselling The Company & Role Every role should have a vision for how it’s going to drive success for the company, team, and individual. But be wary if the interviewer is focusing 100% of their energy on talking about how amazing the company is with no mention of challenges, weaknesses, or struggles. If you find yourself in this position, asking questions like: “What’s the biggest challenge your team is facing right now?” “You mentioned [Initiative], what’s the largest hurdle the team will have to overcome to make that a success?” 6. Vague Answers To Your Questions Great companies should be able to provide clear answers around: - Goals - Challenges - Responsibilities - Vision - Etc. If your interviewer is providing vague answers or seems unwilling to provide that information? That’s a big red flag. 7. Trick Questions Or “Brain Teasers” “How many ping pong balls fit on an 747 airplane?” “How many gas stations are in Manhattan?” These types of brain teaser questions are often used by companies that are completely out of touch. They’ve been proven to have no impact on capability and top companies have moved away from them. Be wary of companies that put stock in questions like this.

I’ve spent 2 decades hiring employees and I still don’t hire based on resumes. Over the years, I learnt that a resume rarely tells the full story. Yes, skills and experience matter but what truly stands out is discipline, drive, alignment with our values, and the hunger to grow. At Filter Concept, some of our best team members didn’t tick every box on paper. Some lacked the technical qualifications for the roles they applied for. What they did show was: → The willingness to learn → The courage to take ownership → The mindset to solve problems, not just follow instructions That’s who we bet on and time after time, those bets have paid off. The goal of hiring is to find people who align deeply with your mission and are ready to build something meaningful with you, individuals who bring attitude, ownership, and a hunger to grow. While Ivy League degrees and certifications can be impressive and valuable, they are only part of the picture and should not be the only determinant in any hiring process. If you’re reading this wondering if you’re “qualified enough,” Remember this: your attitude, work ethic, and alignment with purpose will take you farther than any certificate ever will

They asked you to do what as part of the games interview process? We ran a poll to see how common exploitative interview asks are in games. Out of ~1,000 respondents: 30% said yes for them, across multiple instances 23% said yes one time 47% said no More than half of games candidates, in our community sample, were asked to complete work or projects in interviews that felt inappropriate or exploitative. In addition to the examples people shared in the poll comments, here is a selection from the more than 40 additional situations people shared with me over just a week, often with evidence: • Being given a five-day take-home assignment before even a screening call. • Asked to build a small web application over a week, with frontend, backend, testing, etc., usually unpaid, used to evaluate technical skills. • Designers being asked to produce large sets of deliverables (illustrations, packaging designs, flags, merchandise mockups) over 3-4 days for companies they liked, then hearing nothing back. • Tasks that mirror actual product work (for example, making artwork or content that ends up being used in the product or marketing) without pay, without offer. (People suspect their work got re-used.) • Assignments where the candidate is asked to plan a full marketing campaign or a multi-step strategy including research, copy, visuals, all on their own time, many hours, but only “as an example.” Sometimes the company likes pieces of it and uses them anyway. • Asked to submit “complete mechanics” or large system code (inventory, UI, interactions) that would take several days, for no compensation. • Being told the test is maybe a few hours, but once you start, you realize it’s more like 10-15+ hours between researching, preparing, polishing. • Being asked to do work “live” as though you are already on the team: designing parts of pipelines, creating assets, laying out final deliverables, etc. We need to be aware of this issue. Candidates deserve fair and respectful processes, not unpaid labor disguised as tests, especially at a time when many are vulnerable and desperate after going unpaid for over a year. Based on the considerable evidence and screenshots shared with me, I am convinced that some games hiring teams are exploiting candidate vulnerability and desperation in ways that are inappropriate. If someone makes such an ask of you, my recommendation is not to comply and instead report it to our community. Reach out to me directly! We already track these practices, will be monitoring them even more closely going forward, and will do our part to enforce accountability.

Red flags in job interviews are easy to miss when you're desperate for an offer. But ignoring them can cost you months (or years) of misery. Here's how to spot toxic workplaces before you accept the offer: 🚩 Red Flag 1: They can't explain why the role is open. If they say: "We're just expanding the team" (vague) "The last person moved on" (without details) Ask: "How long was the previous person in this role?" "What did success look like for them?" If they dodge or seem uncomfortable, something's off. 🚩 Red Flag 2: High turnover on the team. If multiple people have left recently, ask why. Pay attention to how they answer: → Do they blame the employees? → Do they acknowledge the problem and explain what's changing? High turnover = systemic issues. 🚩 Red Flag 3: The interviewer speaks negatively about current employees. If they say: "Our last hire just didn't work out" "The team needs someone who can actually deliver" This tells you: → They don't value their people → You'll be talked about the same way when you leave 🚩 Red Flag 4: Vague answers about growth opportunities or work-life balance. When you ask: "What does career growth look like here?" "How does the team handle work-life balance?" And they respond with: "We wear a lot of hats here" (code for: you'll be overworked) "We work hard, play hard" (code for: no boundaries) That's a red flag. 🚩 Red Flag 5: They pressure you to decide quickly. If they say: "We need an answer by tomorrow" "We have other candidates ready to accept" This is a manipulation tactic. Good companies give you time to think. Desperate companies rush you. A job offer isn't a lifeline. It's a two-way decision. You're evaluating them just as much as they're evaluating you. Don't ignore red flags just because you need a job. The right company will: → Communicate clearly → Respect your time → Answer your questions honestly → Give you space to decide Anything less than that isn't worth your time. Follow me so you don’t miss these tips that can transform your career.

The $2.3 million mistake just walked out the door. That's the average cost when an executive fails in their first 18 months. Yet most hiring managers are still using the same broken metrics to make these critical decisions. Here's what they're getting wrong: 1. Years of Experience ≠ Leadership Capability 20 years doing the same thing ≠ 20 years of growth. I've seen 10-year veterans outperform 30-year "experts" because they understood change, not just process. 2. Blue Blood Company Names ≠ Individual Impact A big logo on a resume doesn't tell you how they'll perform when they ARE the infrastructure. Many executives from large companies struggle without massive support systems. 3. Perfect Interview Performance ≠ Real Leadership The best leaders I know are often terrible at selling themselves. They're too busy solving problems to perfect their pitch. 4. Industry Match ≠ Cultural Fit Cross-industry leaders often bring the fresh perspective that stagnant companies desperately need. The executives who truly transform organizations rarely look perfect on paper. So what should you look for instead? They look like problems solvers, not resume builders. The real indicators of executive success? Adaptability under pressure, decision-making speed, and the ability to inspire teams through uncertainty. These don't show up in traditional metrics. What's one hiring criterion you've learned to ignore? P.S. If you're tired of expensive hiring mistakes, let's talk strategy. 15 minutes could save you millions. DM me. #ExecutiveHiring #Leadership #TalentAcquisition #HiringStrategy #ExecutiveSearch

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 They look for themselves. They search, interview, and complain, but they don’t actually hire, waiting for the perfect fit or another version of themselves. And when they don’t find that, they say: ⇢ “There’s no one in the market.” Translation: “I skimmed three resumes and gave up.” ⇢ “The candidate was too raw.” Right, because only pre-packaged, plug-and-play humans exist. ⇢ “The candidate had too many demands.” Imagine the nerve—asking for growth and fair pay. The result? They either don’t hire or hire too late. If you’re looking for a 100% ready-made product, you’re hiring wrong. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐚 𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡. I’ve never been one. Not on paper. Not in skills. Not in experience. But people placed bets on me. Not because I checked every box, but because I had hunger, adaptability, and the ability to figure things out. That’s exactly how I hire today. The Myth of the Perfect Hire Leaders say: ⇢ “Hire for attitude, teach the skill.” The best teams aren’t built with perfect hires. They’re built with people who grow into the role. 𝐀 70% 𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞. The remaining 30%? That’s where the real growth happens. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐃𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞? If you’re waiting for recruiters to bring you hungry, high-growth talent, good luck. Recruiters optimize for safe bets. ⇢ Safe resumes. ⇢ Safe backgrounds. ⇢ Safe skills. But game-changers don’t fit neatly into standard hiring boxes. Stop waiting for perfect resumes. Go where the right people already are. If you’re looking in the same places as everyone else, don’t be surprised when you keep seeing the same profiles. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 (𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐄𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬) ⇢ Look Beyond the Obvious Stop filtering by industry experience. Some of the best hires come from completely different fields. Look for rising stars, not just the big names. Five years of momentum beats fifteen years of coasting. ⇢ Look for People Already Acting Like the Hire You Want Who’s publishing ideas, building side projects, or solving problems before they have the title? Who’s upskilling on their own, not waiting for permission? Who’s asking the right questions in industry forums? ⇢ Go Where the Hungry People Are Niche communities, industry discussions, LinkedIn conversations. Your own network—because the best hires come through conversations, not applications. ⇢ Take a Bet on Potential, Not Just Credentials Some of your best hires won’t “fit” at first. That’s what makes them valuable. Hire people who challenge you. If they think exactly like you, you don’t need them. I Know This Because I’ve Lived It. The best hires don’t come fully built. They become great because you hired them. What’s one hire you made that didn’t seem perfect at first but turned out great? #Leadership #HiringRight #TalentStrategy