Over and over, we hear how the American school system is broken. We hear about underfunded schools with oversized classrooms taught by uncaring, untouchable teachers where kids graduate without knowing how to read. Frankly, I’m not so negative. I believe most of our teachers really care about kids and most students get a good education. I believe there is great opportunity in the United States for people who really dedicate themselves to a pursuit, which is why people from across the world still try to come to America, above all other nations. But there is one thing America’s schools could …Read more »
Category Archives: Perfecting The Hiring Process
Why Is Nashville Booming While Memphis Busts?
One was recently named the second-best big city for jobs, with an unemployment rate just over 5 percent. The other has an unemployment rate of 7.9 percent, and has been one of the slowest cities in the nation to recover from the Great Recession. One has a show named after it, a thriving culture and was described by Forbes as “Nowville.” Meanwhile, the other was described by Forbes as being the third-most miserable city in the United States and the second-most dangerous city in the United States. One has attracted 48 percent more college graduates to its population of 25 to 34 year olds since 2000, according to the New …Read more »
Did Netflix Just Blow $90 Million?
In an obvious attempt to “follow in the footsteps”, i.e. rip off, the success of one of the most successful shows on television, Game of Thrones, Netflix is releasing its own Middle Age-set, highly-expensive dramatic series on Dec. 12, Marco Polo. Despite the show’s introductory season being a mere 10 episodes, it costs $90 million to make, making it one of the most expensive shows in the history of television. It is a massive chance by Netflix to try to lure (and, more importantly, retain) viewers with its own original content, which could work if not for one small detail… The show, according to the …Read more »
How To Write Amazing Job Postings (And Why That Matters)
There’s a new website called Cladwell that essentially serves as a personal shopper for men buying clothes. It’s pretty cool. Cladwell asks you seven questions, including your body shape, hair color, if you prefer fashion over function and your budget, and then it recommends clothes from around the web. So if you are 5’10” and prefer function over fashion and don’t want to spend a lot of money, they’ll recommend you some comfortable, cheap outfits from stores that will fit well. The concept of Cladwell is a perfect representation of where the economy is headed. Today, companies are working to …Read more »
The World’s Most Successful People Are On HGH (Proverbially)
Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is among the most controversial drugs in the world. Some have heralded it as the fountain of youth, a way to counteract the aging process. Others have declared it incredibly dangerous and unproven, and it has been banned in most major sports, such as the NFL, MLB and the Olympics. What exactly are the positive and negatives? Well, the fact is HGH hasn’t been studied enough to answer that question definitively, but many suggest it essentially amplifies whatever your body is doing naturally. So that means muscle cells are built faster, as an example, so you …Read more »
Mark Cuban is Wrong. If You Work, You Should Get Paid For It
Donatella Versace and Mark Cuban are the most outspoken advocates for it, but there’s a new trend going on in America: large companies wanting people to work for free. Actually, Versace wants you to pay her. There has been a rise recently in the amount of unpaid internships in America, with desperate job seekers willing to do anything to get hired. Some companies have even come under fire by the US Department of Labor for offering unpaid internships, saying they violate the law. Versace took it further than anyone, actually asking $20,000 for the right to be her intern (in …Read more »
3 Actionable Steps To Hiring Smarter
It’s time to say it: the days of screening via the resume, bringing someone in for an unstructured interview and “trusting your gut” to hire is dead. Or at least is should be. There are too many examples out there of companies using data to hire smarter, and those organizations have been hugely successful because of it. Like Netflix, which is approving shows without ever watching them based off of algorithms, and having great success. Or in sports, where the Oakland Athletics are able to consistently field World Series-caliber teams, despite having one of the smallest payrolls in Major League …Read more »
What the CIA’s Ridiculously Intense Hiring Process Can Teach Us
Aside from perhaps running for President of the United States, the most intense hiring process in America belongs to its own Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which often takes two years. The process will almost certainly uncover your deepest, darkest secrets and use them against you. Along with you undergoing every possible assessment out there, from polygraph exams to personality tests, your family, your exes, your neighbors and your friends will all be interrogated. Along the way, if you lie, or even exaggerate, you’ll be instantly disqualified. Obviously, you can’t take drugs or commit any criminal acts. And you have to …Read more »
The Five Tenets To A Great Hiring Process
For the past six months, we’ve studied unique hiring processes at some of the most successful companies in America, from Google to Amazon to Chipotle, and some trends began to emerge. Specifically, companies with really successful hiring processes put their energy into doing five things really well. What are they? Know Your Company And The Position Great companies have a strong vision of who they are. And that carries over to their hiring processes, as they have an exceptional understanding of what type of person they need for each position. Take Southwest Airlines, for example. Southwest is a discount airline …Read more »
How Southwest Hires: Taking Fun Seriously
Traveling on Southwest Airlines has the potential to be a pretty miserable experience. There are no assigned seats and no first class, so it is always a bum rush to get A or B seating. The in-flight meal consists of “various forms of sodium,” as one quick-witted flight attendant once told me. Compared to other airlines, there are less TVs, leg room and the décor is, well, either overly brown or overly blue. And yet, it isn’t. Why? Because generally, the safety instructions that start every flight go something like this: Just about all of the dozen or so Southwest …Read more »