If you’re in technology commercialization, you may worry you won’t be able to find the right job candidate, but the larger concern here is hiring the wrong one.
Hiring the wrong candidate can lower morale on your team and erode your reputation in the industry and with commercialization prospects. Before hiring anyone, keep these things in mind:
Personality. Make small talk before the interview and assess if the candidate’s personality fits your culture. Are they sarcastic? Have a great sense of humor? Are they inquisitive? These traits can be good or bad depending on the team assembled around them.
Natural Bias. Let’s be honest, in hiring we all have our biases. Sometimes certain buzz words on a resume intrigue us, and some turn us off. This is not about racism or sexism. Things like a particular school listed in education may catch your eye or living in a certain state may make you feel an affinity for the candidate. These are things that have nothing to do with the candidate’s abilities but bias you towards them for the negative or the positive. Be honest about what yours are. Make a list. Once you recognize them, it’s easier to see past them.
Look to Your Team Super Stars. Think about what commonalities your star team members have shared. If those shared skills are indicative of success, look for them in every potential new hire. Data is not likely to be swayed by natural bias.
Making a bad hire costs you more than just the right fit. Since technology commercialization professionals are out negotiating intellectual property licenses, a bad hire becomes the outward-facing representation of your university to the corporate world. A bad representation can negatively alter your reputation and companies may be hesitant to work with you in the future.
Don’t risk a bad hire, work with the Vortechs Group. Not only can we find your ideal candidate and fit for your team, we can do it in a fraction of the time it would take you. Try us.
