The Google approach to employee selection

By Nathan Chanesman, founder of Myprofile, MyCareerMatch and CEO of JobProfile

Imagine having such a strong brand that you receive over a million job applications annually. What would you do? Review every 200th application? Only consider those that have the best qualifications? For Google, this is the very situation they are faced with– every year. So how does Google effectively tackle this enormous “problem”?

An article I read in the New York Times discussed the approach to employee selection taken by Google to better select employees. Google has attempted to integrate a highly scientific methodology into the employee selection process. Recognising the absurdity of trying to review over a million applicants annually, Google has adopted some (for them) “non-traditional” criteria for assessing potential employees.

Instead of focusing heavily on academic achievements and previous job titles and experience, Google is seeking out employees who contain certain personality or behavioural characteristics that are favourable to success in an open job position.

You are probably thinking to yourself, “that is great for Google, but what if I don’t have a team of highly-trained psychologists?” Don’t despair, the secret is not an in-house team of specialists but rather access to the right tools to get the job done. Google is essentially doing what thousands of companies just like yours have already discovered – job benchmarking and employee selection with the use of powerful assessment tools achieves a higher success rate when hiring.

The process is relatively simple: Identify the traits and characteristics necessary for success in a position and hire candidates who possess these traits as identified by a personality assessment.

THE PERFECT ‘FIT’

Some people are naturally better suited to particular jobs than others. We all know that. For a recruiter though, it’s essential to understand people styles in order to choose the right person for the job.

When the job profile and the candidate’s profile align, you have an applicant who is a natural fit for the job. This doesn’t mean you automatically hire them as they obviously must have the skills and qualifications, but it does mean that they possess the personal talent required for the job.

So how do recruiters determine which candidates are a good match for the job? If you base your decision on their resume you could be misled by the jobs they’ve previously had. For example a sales person, they’ve always been in sales and applied for a sales job you’re advertising. The question you should ask is, “are they a good match for the products being sold by my client?” Some people are great at selling fast moving goods where the decision-making is quick; however, these people are not ideal for products that have long lead times.

THE FIRST QUESTION TO ASK IS ARE YOUR CANDIDATES ATTRACTED TO PEOPLE OR TASKS?

We each have an internal magnet that’s attracted to either people or tasks, or somewhere in between. Some people need people around them – it energises them, stimulates and excites them. They don’t like being alone. These personality styles tend to be suited to jobs that require good people skills.

Those whose magnet is attracted to tasks have their energy drained by being around people. They enjoy their own company and can work alone on detailed tasks. These people rely on fact and logic and are persuaded by rational arguments. Recruiters as a group tend to be “people focused” while accountants and bankers are best suited to working with facts and figures.

When advertising a job that requires people interaction such as sales, media, PR and hospitality, then the best candidates are those who enjoy being with others and dislike non-communicative work. For jobs where detail is required such as finance, research, medicine and engineering, you’ll be looking for people who are attracted to procedures, facts, data and who don’t necessarily have to have good people skills.

THE NEXT QUESTION TO ASK IS AT WHAT SPEED DO THEY WORK?

The other way to distinguish people is by speed, no not the drug or vehicle, but the pace at which they work. Some people are dynamic and move at a rapid pace. They are outgoing and do things quickly, they want things done now!

Some people are conservative and work at a much slower pace, they also want to get things done but done correctly and in a considered manner. They decide slower, are more cautious, don’t like taking risks and are discerning. They see no need to rush and prefer the steady approach to completing tasks.

YOU’RE MORE THAN A RECRUITER

Hiring the right employee for a position has tremendous implications: effective recruitment for your clients; reduced turnover (less replacement hires); improved morale and higher productivity just to name a few.

To do a great job for your clients and candidates, a recruiter needs not only to match the candidate’s skills and experience but they need to match their natural talents with those necessary for the job to be done successfully.