What’s your story?

Hiring today is not what it was yesterday. Typically when looking for talent, we screen and then we screen some more for the perfect resume. We schedule our interviews, cross-examine the person sitting across from us, and if they pass the smell test, we hire them. This doesn’t work anymore.

You need to have a story. Your story must resonate with candidates – just as it does when you pitch prospective clients. What do you do better than the competition, and why do clients do business with you? How is your structure built for success? What are you doing to adapt to market pressures in order to fulfill your clients’ expectations? How are you addressing succession planning so your firm will be around for years to come? What is the path for growth for your new hires?

You may not focus on the answers to these questions, but the people you want to hire do. Demonstrate to candidates who you are, what you’re about, and most importantly why you need that candidate on your team to guarantee your company will move in the direction you want to go.

When you get the story right, you close on the people you want.