What do we owethe people we do not hire?

The question that changed my life.

Brooke AllenBrooke@BrookeAllen.com

On Sunday, January 18, 2004 I ran an ad in

My life would never be the same.

The next dayI had 150 resumes.

But I couldn’t tellwho would bemost trainable.

I decided to give everyone a hard task.

1) I asked them all to download a 500 page computer manual.

2) And I gave them some puzzle questions to answer

in a new computer language.

That should get rid of all but a few.

47 people answered my questions.

It didn’t work.

Then I invited everyone to visit our offices all at once.

38 people came to visit.

I told everyone I had too many candidates. So I asked them tothink of reasons to drop out.

I asked everyone:“What do you want me to do?”

Twenty-Seven people said: Train us first

then decidewho to hire.

So I gave them two days of instructionand three weeks to solve some

very hard problems.

Thirteen students madeit to the end.

Some studentsleft for jobs elsewhere.

Some could not keep up or lost interest.

I asked everyone:If you were me, who would you hire?

They all said, “Orlando”so I hired Orlando.

That left me with a problem:I felt like I owed something to everyone else.

The people I did not hire gave me something very valuable.They gave me a choice.

I invited everyone I knewto meet my candidates in New York.

More than 50 people came from as far away as California and England.

Three more got jobsusing the language I taught them

and more got jobs doing other things.(I did not keep track of everyone so I cannot tell you exactly how many. Sorry.)

This is what I learned:

Attitude and aptitudeare more important

than education and experience

>

Generosity and curiosity are more importantthan a desire to leave a job you don’t like

to do the same work somewhere else.

How do you test for aptitude?

1.Teach something

2.See who learns

Teach somethingyou want your employees to know that will benefit them even if you do not hire them.

How do you test for attitude?

1.Ask everyone to help each other

2.See who does

Ask them to do something that benefits them, not you.

For example, you might ask them tohelp each other find work.

The last thing you need an employee to be good at is getting a job.

The best employees are good at doing a jobbut bad at getting one.

For 10 years thisbecame the only way I hired.

Every timeI would hireone personmany peoplewould get jobs.

This has worked for meand everyone I’ve taught.

It works for all types of jobs(not just ones that require technical training).

This is a better way to hire.We owe it to the:

Underemployed

And employers owe it to themselves too.You get employees with better attitude and more aptitude.

They are grateful and work longer,and they are better value for money.

Unemployed

Students

Mid-LifeCareer Changers

I have a new purpose.I want to help you hire better.

For 30 years I was a professional stock trader. I did very well.

Now I have retired and it is time to express my gratitude forall that I have received.

I want to improvethe most important market of them all:

The market for human potential.

If you are:A hiring manager, an HR professional,

a business owner, or a recruiterthen

I would like to help youfill your next position.

And I will not charge you for my helpas long as you let me place the people you do not hire.

You can find me at: BrookeAllen.comand you can write to me at: Brooke@BrookeAllen.com