Hiring strong salespeople is just about the most difficult hire any company can attempt to make.  One of the reasons it is difficult is due to the types of ads that companies use when sourcing.

Here is a prime example:

Detailed Description

Prospect region to identify new Referral vendors

Provide regional support for National Referral relationships

Re-engage Referral Endorsers not assigned to current reps

Introduce (Company) to Referral vendors

Manage paperwork for registering Referral vendors

Educate Referral vendors on (Company) products and services

Manage leads received through Referral vendors

Develop (Company) solutions for referred leads

Complete profit assistants and proposals for referred prospects

Submit orders and process paperwork for provisioning

This description is for a business development position.  If you are looking for a hunter and find the words “manage paperwork” in your ad, you are in trouble.

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That title probably got your attention.  The economy is completely dynamic so things can change, but the quarterly CareerBuilder.com/Harris Interactive survey came back with some surprising results (my editing).

“The job loss reported in the first quarter signified a gradual deceleration in recruitment in the U.S. as the nation’s economy downshifted,” says CEO, Matt Ferguson. “In the next three months, employers anticipate marginal change in their hiring pace. While some industries are experiencing a contraction in employment levels, areas such as information technology, healthcare, professional and business services and sales continue to add full-time jobs.”

…29% of employers state plans to grow their number of full-time, permanent employees from April through June, while 59% anticipate no change, and 6% expect to decrease headcount.

Despite all of the “sky is falling” forecasts, we are blessed with a fairly robust economy, even when it is in a down cycle.

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Forbes.com offers up an article about companies hiring large numbers of employees.  How large?

Infosys received 1.3 million résumés last year. “In peak seasons we receive around 6,000-10,000 resumes in a day,” says Nandita Gurjar, vice president of human resources development at Infosys.

And you thought you had a pile of resumes to get through.  The article explains how many of these companies are using online tests or questionnaires at the first step in the process.  Clearly, as cold as it sounds, they would have to do some sort of first-pass, automated filter to handle this level of response.

After the initial culling, one casino uses a unique approach to role playing:

Once the initial pool is culled, candidates go to an audition, which is what the job interview is called. Since hotel and casino employees have so much interaction with customers, managers want people who deal well under pressure, interact positively with customers and can demonstrate that they can do the tasks their jobs require.

Hiring managers use software to rate candidates on their performance during a series of scenarios. For instance, a roulette dealer must go through several rolls of the dice while the hiring manager acts as the customer.

Yeah, I know – roulette “dealer” and “several rolls of the dice” – they appear to mixing positions, but you get the point.  The casino is using a strong approach to their hiring.  We use different techniques in our initial phone screen with candidates without their knowledge.  This approach allows us to get a glimpse into their ability to handle specific interactions.

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