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Nailing The Interview / Part 1: Recruiting & Hiring New Employees
So you want to start a high-level
raiding guild in WoW with people who really know how to play
and won't dump the guild after they get all the best stuff. You could
broadcast on a recruitment channel that everyone is welcome... or you
could be a little more efficient and spare yourself at least some of
the inevitable drama and attrition that comes with an open invite.
Does it really matter who you
pick to play in your MMO guild? Sure it does, because you've probably
invested a fair amount of time and money in the game. So you can understand
that it matters even more if you're looking to hire people to build
an MMO, because you're going to be investing a whole lot more than $14.99
a month!
Recruiting and hiring new employees
is one of the most stressful aspects of management. Whether you're asking
the questions or answering them, hiring the right people is crucial
to a company's success and ultimately to its survival. Both employers
and employees need to understand the process so that they can eliminate
many of the problems that can keep the right people from getting the
wrong job (or the wrong people from getting any job at your company.)
This involves doing your homework, having the confidence in your information
and honing your social skills to get through the process from initial
job posting to finding the employee (or job) of your dreams.
Before You Start
"Looking for Signatures"...
We'll assume for the sake of
these articles that you've already defined your company's mission and
know how you want to build, or keep building, a strong successful team.
Whether you're recruiting for a new position or seeking a replacement,
first things first -- you need to write a job description. This means
that you need to figure out where the job fits in the company's hierarchy,
what the employee's role will be in the division, department and/or
team, how the reporting structure works both up and down the ladder,
and the really tricky one -- personalities and methodologies
throughout the company.
That brings us to the vacancy.
Job openings are created when someone vacates a position for whatever
reason, or when you obtain approval to open a new position. In the case
of vacancies, use that opportunity to reassess the job, clarify the
duties and refine the job description. It's safe to assume that you're
going to need a healer for your guild but what kind of priest is best?
Shadow Priest or Holy Priest? For your company, let's say you're looking
for a designer. Content or Mechanics? Do you need a stronger writer
or a stronger stat person? This is why it's important to evaluate your
needs and then customize the job description so that you get the person
you really want. That doesn't mean one type of designer is intrinsically
better than the other; it's a question of using your funding and headcount
intelligently.
Evaluate your current team,
including people who have the skills you're looking for but might be
in another division. Some companies have a policy about not switching
teams or divisions until after a certain amount of time, and there are
good reasons for that. However, that doesn't mean that managers can
afford not to know who does what. You may have a Lead Tester who has
written a couple of successful fantasy novels so there's a potential
member of the Design Team. Or you may have a member of the Design Team
who is adept at database management and technical writing. The important
thing is to know who can do what before you look outside the company.
Bringing in some new blood can be good but it can also generate resentment
if members of the team feel that they have been overlooked.
Consider whether you need to
fill the job in the same way. If part of the job (or the whole thing!)
has become obsolete for some reason, consider appointing a part-time
replacement. Use a job-sharing plan if the role needs different skills
or consider keeping an employee who wants to work part time. If the
work occurs only at certain periods, you could use freelancers or contract
workers. There are a lot of questions you need to ask (and the odds
are that even after you've posted the job description, you'll think
of something else you need and/or want!)
- Changes in the game
business occur so rapidly that the need for a job may exist only for
a short time, so use a vacancy as an opportunity to reassess the reason
for a job and check whether the qualifications required for a job have
changed.
- A vacancy may also
be a good time to review all job descriptions for your team when a vacancy
is created.
- Currently unfulfilled
tasks and duties can be added to a job description or combined to create
a new job but only if you can support it financially.
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