My interview today is with Josh Sugar, whom I met through my work on the board of EO (Entrepreneurs’ Organization). A funny “small world” story is that he also happens to play basketball with my business partner, Jamie Schneiderman, on Tuesday nights. Despite this, I swear, Toronto is a big city!
Josh’s 12-person company, Infinity Asset Solutions Inc., focuses on the disposition of assets for private and public companies, insolvency and financial institutions, as well as leasing companies. It’s a fascinating business that really does well when times are tough (like during the recession that just hit). Their services include: auctions, liquidations, appraisals, financing, and machinery trading.
1) What’s the best advice you’ve ever received regarding finding employees? Why was it the best hiring advice?
- Hire Slowly, Fire Quickly.
- It’s important to do as much due diligence at the onset before hiring someone because it’s a huge financial and time investment for both sides. If the person isn’t right, it’ll cost even more to delay the firing.
2) What’s the most effective job interview question you’ve ever used in employee hiring … and what was the outcome from using it?
- What do you do for fun?
- It often catches people off guard and gives you insight into who they are as a person, not just a future employee.
3) When it comes to finding employees, what is the best time/money-saving tip you know? Can you quantify your savings?
- Use ClearFit!
- I also used an outside recruiter to help me distill the ClearFit candidates, check references etc. It saved me a huge amount of time and improved efficiency in the hiring process.
- Hard to quantify – but I saved at least $5,000.
4) What’s your best advice for avoiding hiring mistakes? Why?
- I just hired someone who was over-qualified for a position, and despite his reassurances that he wasn’t going to start looking for another job, his attitude changed soon after being hired and indeed was looking for another job. I fired him within a month.
5) Which source of job candidates has proven the best for you to find employees? Why is it the best source?
- ClearFit and recruiters connected to the school job posting boards.
6) What question do you think I’m missing from this list, and what’s your answer to it?
- How many people interview the candidate you are looking to hire?
- I like to have at least 1 if not 2 other people interview the candidate.
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