Hiring Outside the Box
You are hiring. It's a new position on the team. You clearly see that missing piece on your team, and you've written a job description that matches it. However, flexibility is crucial to your hiring success when the labor market is this tight. So, even if you think you know exactly what you want, you may have to work with what you can get.
Here are a few questions to process with your team when adding a new position. They will help you think through those core areas that you CANNOT flex on (inside the box) and those areas that you CAN flex on (outside the box).
What are the core responsibilities vs "it'd be nice if they could do this too” responsibilities? For example, you may desperately need a bookkeeper, so they will be primarily responsible for handling AP/AR, reconciliations, invoicing, etc. But wow, it would be nice if they could also help with purchasing when you are busy. You also need to be realistic about the odds of finding all your desired skills/traits in one person. For example, your bookkeeper is unlikely to excel at negotiating pricing with vendors, even if they can call in and place an order.
Do we need a specialist or a generalist? By this I mean do you need someone highly skilled in one area or more broadly skilled? For example, think about a Marketing Coordinator vs. a Content Writer, an HR Generalist vs a Payroll Specialist, or a roofer vs an exterior remodeler. What will best serve your company and your customers? Do you have full-time work for someone with a very narrow skillset?
What are the core values we won't budge on? A word of caution here: remember not to chase perfection. If you are looking for someone to score a 10 out of 10 in all five core values, you may be in for a long search. Don't disregard a candidate that is a good match but not a perfect one,but also avoid hiring someone misaligned with your core values just because they are a skill match.
What aptitudes should they have? Everyone has God-given gifts. Some people are mechanical, mathematical, creative, relational, technical, etc. What natural strengths should this person have to be successful? Look for someone who was designed to do the work of your open position.
What can we train? And do we have time to train? There's a temptation to say, "If you can get me a good person, I'll train them." We might find a great person with the right aptitudes but not many of the skills required for success. Then we realize that we don't have any available time to train the skills. You might love that bright, young, coachable candidate, but love them enough to be honest about your capacity to get them up and running over the next 30-60-90+ days.
While we'd all love to find that candidate who is a perfect match for every skill, experience, personality trait, and aptitude on our wish list, the reality in a tight labor market is sometimes we have to look at those candidates who are a close match (outside the box) but with a bit of wrangling of the job description or a little extra training could fit inside the box. And as a leader of a team of mostly career changers, I can attest that outside the box candidates can bring tremendous value to your business.