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> I don't believe this great myth about how much it costs to hire the wrong
> person. All the articles about how much it costs seem to be sponsored by
> recruiting firms. If it ends up costing more than two weeks pay, then the
> employer is to blame for allowing a bad situation to continue.
I hired a guy about 2 years ago who lied through his teeth on his resume and
even faked some references. This was a sales guy.
I can't give you exact numbers, but suffice to say, I lost a lot of money on
that guy. Tens of thousands. You might not think that's a lot of money, but it
is when its your own money.
And firing people isn't as easy as you think. A lot of people in the US are
insane and think they have all these entitlements. So they sue for every slight
or mistake. As an employer, you need a well documented trail of reasoning
behind firing a person. A lawsuit for firing an employee, especially at a small
company, can strangle the company in legal fees and wasted time.
These days, I've stopped hiring on skill and experience as much. I hire mostly
based on personality, ambition, and character. I look for people who are
ambitious, creative, and hard-workers. As such, I often turn away
highly-skilled people, because I don't want their baggage or feelings of
entitlement.
> Or if the employer is concerned about getting entangled with benefits, labor
> laws, etc, why not just hire contractors instead of chasing dodgy FTEs?
Contractors cost more and are harder to manage. Also, independent contractors
can get messy on complex jobs. There is a trade off between contractors and
FTEs. I use both in my business, but I have very hard and fast rules about
each.
Andrew Plato
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