[mashshare] Did we confuse you with the title? Of course we did. When everyone around the world is trying hard to find and hire the best talent, we have been preparing a theory on why one should NOT hire the best.
When you come across the “best” candidate, in your excitement of finding a gem you often miss the fact that s/he might not necessarily be the “best fit” for that job. This generally happens because we use the words ‘best’ and ‘right’ so interchangeably that we ignore what they mean in essence.

• Working with your competitor, does not make him best: Your competitor might have a different work culture. His ability to perform there might not be sufficient to perform with you.

• Great performance in last job does not make him best:There is no guarantee of why his performance was good previously. May be luck, may be the product/service was easy to sell/serve, or other such external factors.

• High enthusiasm in your job, does not make him best: The candidate may show lot of enthusiasm/interest in your job, but this does not necessarily make him eligible. Rather than jumping to conclusions about his suitability for your job, perhaps you should test drive his capabilities “live” or with a real “case study”.

• Worked in a “well known” company, does not make him best: Just because s/he has worked in a good reputed MNC does not mean that he has better set of skills than another candidate from lesser known smaller company. In fact, often smaller companies serve as a better training ground for employees to hone their skills, than major corporations.

 

• Having an MBA degree, does not make him best: This is often an argued matter. An MBA from the best of B-Schools might still not be enough to toughen or train the candidate for your kind of work. Does s/he have the EQ (oh yes, not IQ!) to handle your job?

 
When recruiting for your startup, try and find a combination of factors in a candidate, that make you feel confident of him/her being the ideal fit for your job. Of course, no one can gauge whether the guy will perform or not, but what matters is not the absolute level of a competency or skill, but the right level and fit of that competency or skill for your specific job.
 
So, forget the perfect “catch” and find your perfect “match”.