An interview with Scott Pielsticker, CEO, ContactMonkey
So, it’s time to hire that promising new employee to jumpstart your business; after all, most good hiring advice dictates that it’s good to change things up at the office now and again. But who enjoys spending all their time hiring — time that otherwise could be spent actually working at what needs doing, not to mention free time away from it all?
Enter Scott Pielsticker, CEO of ContactMonkey, a thriving online business that makes it easy to grab the contact information from someone’s email signature and put it into your address book — 100 percent accurate every time (think vCards version 2.0). Scott answers our questions on the hiring process and gives his unique viewpoint and experience below:
1) What’s the best advice you’ve ever received regarding finding employees? Why was it the best hiring advice?
Never settle for second best; continue the hiring process until you’ve found the right person. The time you take to find the right person will easily outweigh any benefits of filling the role quickly.
2) What’s the most effective job interview question you’ve ever used … and what was the outcome from using it?
How much do you want to make?
This is a great way to understand someone’s ambitions and what they intend to bring to the position.
3) When it comes to finding employees, what is the best time/money-saving tip you know? Can you quantify your savings?
Start with your current employees — do they know someone who can fill the role? Give them a financial incentive to encourage them to inform friends/colleagues of the job opening.
4) What’s your best advice for avoiding hiring mistakes? Why?
Always check references. This goes without saying!
5) Which source of job candidates has proven the best for you to find employees? Why do you think it’s the best source?
For our programmers, we use free job sites geared towards startups. We’ve also tried Craigslist, where the quantity of applicants is high, but the quality very low.
6) What question about hiring employees are we missing from this list, and what’s your answer to it?
Can’t think of one right now!
