9 Tips to Hire Those Who Get Things Done, and Ship Fast

A business is made up of people who work in it.

If they are slow movers, the business will move slow too.

Over time this can cost you in the form of opportunities lost, low sales, slow response to customers, and missed deadlines.

So, it makes sense to hire those who get things done, and ship fast.

How do you find such people?

Here are some ideas:

How to Hire Those Who Get Things Done, and Ship Fast

[1]

Hire those who have worked in a fast growing startup, for a couple of years. No one can survive in a fast paced environment if they can’t get stuff done.

[2]

Hire someone who has worked on side hustles or have built multiple projects. Because a person who can find time for their side hustle outside their regular work hours, is a doer.

[3]

When it comes to interviewing people give them on the spot tasks. Something that can be done in 20-60 minutes. Give them a task where you know how long it takes to do it usually

[4]  

Make the application process biased towards fast action takers. So, you can ask people who apply to a role, to respond with a note or short essay within 48 hours of first contact.

This testing can continue even in the later stages of the hiring process, after you have interviewed them, send them 3-4 questions and see how fast the response is. Someone who moves fast, will reply fast, because it’s their habit.

[5]

Ask people for when they shipped a project fast or for their usual work style and when you ask enough people, you will learn to get a sense if they are a slow or fast mover. You can even if they value shipping fast.

So if the person who you are hiring will come in and manage a big project, then ask them how they’d manage it and how much do they think it will take to do it. Assess their approach, if they’d break the task into small chunks, or what will they do first.

[6]

Give them a rough unfinished draft related to what their role will be. So if you are hiring a coder, then give them buggy code and ask them to rewrite it to see how well they organize their code and if they are methodical about what they do. If you are hiring a writer, you can give them an unedited draft to see how well they bring it life, and in how much time.

[7]

See if they are a quick learner who also knows how to apply what they learn. To test it, ask them what they are good at. Then ask them what it is that they know will help in the job, but they don’t know much about. Now, ask them to pick a short online course on this topic and to finish it in one week. Once they finish it, ask them to apply what they learned in a trial project. This will take some time but will help you find learners and doers.

And in the end, something that’s more important than anything else.

[8]

Get people to do a task that makes them uncomfortable. Like ask them to reach out to strangers on LinkedIn to get answers to questions related to their role. This will tell you who is egoless and get over the fear of showing up. Always a good sign if you find a person like that. Because someone who cares about looking good or ticking all the boxes often can’t move fast.

[9]

Hire people for whom the job you are hiring for is fun ie they enjoy doing that kind of work. That only happens when they know what they are doing. With such people onboard you will create a happy and efficient work environment which is good for everyone’s morale and productivity.

What are some other ideas that you’d like to add to it?

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