Last fall we found ourselves in a position to hire for a new position. Super! I was pretty jazzed about this for many reasons, first and foremost certainly, that we were growing at a pace to require a new hire. But also because this came at a time in our country’s economic history that many many people were supposedly looking for work and I assumed I would have the pick of the crop.
Oh, how wrong I was.
Now, granted, I was not hiring for a CEO position. I had available an entry level position that did not entail a huge amount of skill, but did require someone to be honest, hard-working, efficient and to show up on time.
With a single post on Craig’s list, I got over 200 resumes.
About 180 of those had typos, about 150 did not have a cover letter, about 140 of them were addressed Dear Sir, and about 5 of them I felt called to bring in for an interview.
Now, I haven’t actually ‘done the math’ on the above statistics, but at first glance, I’m thinking that 5 out of 200 resumes is not a good percentage. (Those of you with a left brain…feel free to call up the specific number.)
Out of the 5 we interviewed, 2 were very strong and we had to make a difficult decision. We chose poorly. The new hire quit after 2 months, right smack dab in the middle of our busy Christmas rush.
In the meantime, my current employees stepped up the plate and we have since rearranged, revamped and reorganized so that everyone is happy, the work gets done and the company moves forward. I am eternally grateful.
Over the years I have come to not take for granted great employees – and I have been lucky to have had several. It is extremely difficult to find great employees who’s particular stage in life and career goals match your needs. But when you do, boy is it magical.
So I guess this post is a tribute to my current and past employees that make my life easier and make my business run smoothly. I could not do it without you. I thank you for putting up with my neuroses, venting sessions and odd little quirks. If I don’t say it enough, I appreciate your hard work and dedication. I hope that you found and are finding fulfillment and don’t dread Mondays too much. I hope that you are happy.
You guys rock.
CourageInStone 