Have you made a Money Ball hire, recently? I did, and it feels great. I’m a corporate recruiter for Nexxt. Which is pretty cool, by the way, because I recruit for a company who helps recruiters make hires. Say that three times fast, lol!
Anyway, My definition of a “Money Ball Hire” doesn’t tie back to various mathematical equations and draw parallels to the movie with Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. It does, however, directly relate to adherence against cues and best practices that can yield hiring a diamond in the rough.
The individual that may not be your first base player right now can indeed be your best player after a little bit of coaching.
Recruiting is about finding A+ players in your field, right?
Not always.
Sometimes those candidates may be so used to doing that particular job that they are making the same mistakes over and over. Perhaps they feel entitlement, or they think that they are worth more money than they really are. What if they are just burnt out, lacking what was freshness, enthusiasm and vigor?
All of these factors and more can just mean one company taking on an employee that has simply checked out. I recently started searching for individuals that possessed a resume demonstrating that the candidate knew the industry – but not the specific job I was recruiting for.
For example: A candidate has six years of development experience working on building a particular website that engages job seekers and connects them with employers looking to fill their job opening. The individual had zero sales experience but did, however, know what types of clients used the website. This was a person that you would have never thought to put on the phones to engage with customers.
Due to his knowledge of the industry and a little training on the sales tools he is now the top producer in the company – a First Base Player. With this being said, my recruiting efforts shifted and I began seeking candidates that were not always who you would look for and certainly not always the person that would fit your perfect hiring profile against the job description.
Many successful sales people become sellers by accident. How many sales people went to college to become a sales person? There is a sales person in all of us somewhere, sometimes it just takes the right recruiter to recognize it and to sell it to the company seeking that person looking for the elusive “it” factor.
Moral of the story? Don’t close your mind to a potential Money Ball Hire that could potentially turn into your recruiting home run.
Nexxt is a recruitment media company that uses today’s most effective marketing tactics to reach the full spectrum of talent – from active to passive, and everything in between. Learn more about hiring with Nexxt.