Last week we spoke with Julie Mitchell of Parcel Design about her best hiring tips. This week, we’re connecting with my friend Jeff Lem, CEO of qdata and President of Entrepreneurs’ Organization Toronto (EO/YPO). Jeff is an incredible leader and technology visionary who is not afraid of growth, nor sharing his views on employee hiring.
Jeff’s company, qdata Inc., has grown to forty employees and specializes in IT services and systems integration around bar coding, wireless, and RFID technologies.
1) What’s the best hiring advice/hiring tip you’ve ever received regarding employee hiring? Why was it the best?
- If you find somebody with talent make a seat for them.
- Hired our VP operations that way – we created a role for him.
2) What’s the most effective job interview question you’ve ever used … and what was the outcome from using it?
- What do you know about us and why do you think you’re a good fit?
- Tells me if that person is really interested in the role, understands our business, and comes prepared. And it shows what his expectations are from a culture viewpoint.
3) When it comes to hiring employees, what is the best time/money-saving tip you know? Can you quantify your savings?
- Get referrals from employees and create a bench of talent.
- Likely in the thousands saved in time and money (head hunter fees)
4) What’s your best advice for avoiding a hiring mistake? Why?
- Understand what skills are really needed for the job and search for it in their experience – have them tell stories.
5) Where (from what source) do you tend to find your best job candidates? Why is it the best source for you?
- From suppliers and employees.
- People know our industry and understand our business.
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