If you want to hire talented innovators then Apple is a good company to emulate and hiring tips from Steve Jobs should get you well on your way. (Image credit: Flickr)
When being interviewed for the book Company of Giants, Steve Jobs said – “When you’re in a startup, the first 10 people will determine whether the company succeeds or not.”
So what would be critical to hiring the right 10 people? Here are 3 hiring tips from Steve Jobs.
1. Define the requirements but don’t be rigid.
Give some thought to defining the need accurately. Without defining the requirements for the hire you won’t realize even if you are interviewing the right person. In fact you will probably end up with hiring the wrong person.
2. Don’t limit your search to the usual methods.
Steve Jobs accepted invitations to lecture at Stanford University on a regular basis. he considered this to be an honour to share with students but it also was an opportunity for him to find potential candidates for his company.
3. Talented people know other talented people.
Steve often said, “Make sure you’re hiring only A-players.” Hire a few B-players, he said, and they hire B’s and C’s, and pretty soon the whole operation is going to pot. Obviously not everyone can afford to hire only A-players. So how do you find people who are exceptionally talented and a good fit? One of the greatest sources is your own employees. Really sharp people generally prefer the company of other really sharp people. When you need to hire someone, you ask the people on the team to recommend somebody they admire.
What other hiring tips from Steve Jobs or even ones you have used for putting together your A-team, would you recommend? Please do share below in the comments. Also let us know if you have recruited wrong people for the role and why that happened.
