We are hiring for a Director of Franchise Sales role. It is a key role as we expand our home care franchise system into and across the United States. Because of its importance,  I decided to take on the recruiting aspect myself.

Now, a few things to know about how I like to recruit before I get started.

1. I don’t need everyone to apply. I am really looking for the right people to apply. Although we typically get a lot (sometimes 100′s) of applicants for a role, I would rather have a few of the right applicants vs. a lot  of the wrong applicants apply. Hence, I start to build filters immediately into the process so that we attract the right, and repel the wrong person. (Btw: Core values are awesome for getting this done!)

2. I don’t want to spend a lot of time sifting through candidates to determine who is the right fit. We spend enough time as it is interviewing the final candidate, so any time that I can cut out sifting through applicants is a good thing.

I have a few tricks that I use to accomplish the above objectives, with one of them being the detail of the copy of the advertisement of the role.

So often we overlook this crucial detail in recruiting.  Most companies send out some generic copy that  usually looks something like this “Looking for a Sales Director for high growth company, permanent position, great salary and incentives.”  

Do you think this attracts the person you are looking for? Do you think it weeds out the person that you are NOT looking for? Do you think that it makes your company look like an attractive place to work?  Absolutely not. It makes you and the job you are posting for look dull, ordinary and just like every other company and job in America today.

So here is how I do it. I envision the perfect hire for the role. What they look like, how they act, how they speak, what their energy is like, how they would interact with our franchise prospects, and so on.  I paint the picture of our perfect hire.  I do this so that I know who my hire will be when they walk in the door.  (I can tell you this: it sure makes it easy to “cut” people from the process when you do this.)

And then I start to write.  I craft the copy to look for the specific person that I envisioned for the role. And I don’t write generic stuff that you will find for any role in any company. I craft it to describe my ideal hire. I craft it so that the “wrong” person will look at it and say “that isn’t for me”, and I craft it so that the right person will say “wow, this is me!”

(I also craft it so that the person who isn’t even looking for a job reads it and says “wow, I think I need to apply.”  Geoff Smart, co founder of Top grading, always says the best people for the job aren’t looking for jobs)

Here is what I wrote:

Help us make Nurse Next Door a household name across North America!

Purpose. Core Values. Culture. These are the foundational pieces of a world-class organization. Is there purpose behind what your company does? Do you jump out of bed each morning full of ]\excitement and ready to take on any challenge that comes your way? Imagine if you could answer “YES!” to these questions.

Nurse Next Door is expanding into the USA and looking for the A-player who can serve as our Director of Franchise Sales and answer “YES!” to the following questions:

• Do you have enough energy to drive our growth at an ultra fast pace across North America?
• Do you have a heart as BIG as the Mississippi, yet a spirit that is as competitive as a professional athlete?
• Do you live to talk to people?
• Are you seeking purpose and meaning in what you do – do you really want to make a difference in the world?
• Do you exceed people’s expectations on a regular basis?
• Are you professional and results driven, yet lighthearted and fun?
  Do you play to win?
• Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit?

As our Director of Franchise Sales you will be responsible for spreading our caring talent by driving and awarding new franchise locations across North America.

Do we have your attention? Email your resume to johndehart@nursenextdoor.ca

We Make Lives Better – so let’s start with yours!

Does this work? I can tell you that we are part way through our process, and we have attracted some incredible candidates. I have had people come to me and say “I wasn’t even looking for a job until I saw this. I had to come meet you.” I had another say ” you just described me to a “t”. (and it was bang on).

And I don’t have to meet everyone. Just the ones who fit this description.

And an added benefit? The “good” applicants, in their cover letter, wrote “why” they could answer “yes” to each of the  questions. Sure made it easy for me. 

I have shown this recruiting tactic to our franchise partners and many of the entrepreneurs I have helped coach in building their own cultures, and I constantly receive feedback on how well this works. Who would have known that such a simple tweak to your job postings could have such a powerful effect?

Be different. Be unique. And learn how to communicate it!

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Posted in Culture Hiring by admin 1 Comment