I don't write about my day job much here, because my world of work has little to do with blogging. At one point I was a copywriter by job title, but now I manage a team of copywriters. It's a familiar pattern in corporate life -- your expertise in one area leads you to career advancement, but the job responsibilities at your next stop preclude you from doing what actually advanced your career.
I am in the midst of hiring someone for my team. We had a tremendous response for the position and the applications came in so quickly that we turned the ad off so we could evaluate the candidates we'd received. One of the candidates who applied for a job on the team was my predecessor. He had left to work for a competitor, but the competitor has hit the skids lately and he was laid off, so he needs a job. For obvious reasons, I can't tell you how we're handling the situation, but it's a scenario they don't tell you about in business school.
3 comments:
I'd like to hear how this one turns out.
A few years ago I had an opening for a writer on my team and we received an app from a well-qualified guy. The HR rep just loved him, and his credentials and samples were great. The thing was, the position was pretty much a developmental one where we expected the new hire to have to grow and gain some experience. This was mainly because I didn't want to have to go through the process again in a year when the writer moved on to more challenging things. The guy would have been a good fit for the job at the time, but not a long-term option.
Of course, what is "long-term" these days?
This was mainly because I didn't want to have to go through the process again in a year when the writer moved on to more challenging things. The guy would have been a good fit for the job at the time, but not a long-term option.
That's the balancing act. Short-term advantage can backfire and hiring is expensive and fraught with difficulties. Although the economy is better now than it was a few years back, there's still a lot of talent out there and you have to do a fair amount of forecasting when you think about it. In some cases it is better to find someone you can develop rather than a fully finished product.
Gino, once the process is over I'll shoot you a note about it.
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