Hiring? Thoughts on ‘smart’ rather than ‘fit’
When clients decide to make an external hire, they [almost] always state that candidates must have industry experience-to fit in more quickly, to engender credibility, have an easier learning curve, and to ‘hit the ground running.’
Industry knowledge helps, no argument. Indeed, if the job to be filled is mid or low level, technical or statistical/mechanical with specific metrics, yes, a specific background is best.
But as we go up that oft-quoted ‘ladder’, what counts as much if not more is being smart, strategic and savvy–the truly transferable skills. In an age where businesses must pivot quickly, behave globally with local know-how, along with attracting short and long term talent, employing those with smarts help. A sharp hire can learn the essentials of a new industry in about 6 months or so-and with a fresh perspective.
I thought of this after reading an interview in the AWSJ the other day with Neil Torpey, the Hong Kong head of US law firm Paul Hastings, and have excerpted a couple of questions:
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WSJ: What do you look for in a potential hire?
Mr. Torpey: For starters, we look for people who are really smart. In our business that’s the first thing that clients expect when they need answers to very complicated questions, so we have to find people who are very bright and highly analytical, especially in Asia when almost every deal is multi-jurisdictional. It’s not like in the States where you’re often just dealing with U.S. law. Here you almost always have two or three or more jurisdictions whose laws are going to come into play, so you need to have people who can figure out how things work well enough to integrate that analysis into the overall solution for the client.
And, of course, there’s no substitute for willingness to work very hard….. and to learn how the business principles involved in a matter mesh with the legal principles. Determination and persistence are very important.
WSJ: How do you retain associates?
Mr. Torpey: We focus a lot of attention and resources on….develop[ing] their legal and business-development skills. We also offer associates the opportunity to be seconded to clients, and to spend time at other offices in our global network. We also focus intensely on getting exciting, interesting, challenging work from our clients for our associates to do.
[/blockquote]
Folks, what he said is not limited to law firms, but true for every company. And in Asia, working across a region does require different regional, cross-cultural, and business smarts-and I ain’t talkin’ about those who flit across Asia regularly, but are there in body only, not in mind; they’re a dime-a-dozen.
What I (and Neil Torpey) am addressing is how companies must ratchet up their strategy to find and hire bright people who can think and absorb laterally, work hard, like to be given challenging and interesting work, and let ‘em blossom.
Whether they come from a neatly fitting background is not absolute. That infernal phrase of ‘The war for talent’ was never written ‘The war for those who have our industry knowledge’.
Finding and hiring good, strong talent is as much of an art as a science. If it was easy no one would bemoan their inability to find good people. But a sane start would be to reconsider the must-haves, veer a tad more on smarts, and see what you get..
