Looking to Hire? Make the Sale.

I was asked recently about how to put your company’s best foot forward when hiring in a competitive market. The first thing to think about is why someone would want to work for you.

Recruiting and hiring is a sales process. We usually think that it’s the candidate doing the selling. You and your company need to be selling, too. The best candidates have options so you have to show them why your opportunity is a great one. Show your candidates the WIIFM — what’s in it for me.

Position yourself as a top choice by having the answers to these frequent questions from top performers. They may not always ask them but they are thinking about them.

• Why would someone want to work here? If you can’t answer this question, how can your possibly attract great people?
• What’s different about your organization versus where the person is now? How does this opportunity give him more of what he’s looking for and less of what he doesn’t want?
• What is the culture like and how is it unique? Top performers want to be part of something special. What’s special about your culture?
• Who works here? People want to work with people they like and respect. Strong performers want to work with other strong performers.
• What’s it like to work for you? Do you involve people in interesting work? Do you coach and provide feedback? Do you provide development opportunities? Do you help increase people’s visibility in the organization?
• What will my day look like at work? This is where realism is key.
• What might my career look like? Is this job the end of the road or are there opportunities to grow with and within the organization?