To avoid mismatches, specifically define the job you are looking to fill, recruitment companies advise.To avoid mismatches, specifically define the job you are looking to fill, recruitment companies advise. (iStock)

When Joanna Pineda, CEO of Matrix Group International, a 42-person Web site-development shop, recently looked for a new network administrator, she was pleasantly surprised. Finding the right person for any key role usually involved a grueling four-month search; this time, she filled the job in less than half the time. "We had better candidates right off the bat," chirps Pineda.

With unemployment closing in on 10 per cent in the U.S., a lot of talented people are on the street these days. The tricky part: figuring out which of those left behind were victims of the economy, and which deserved to go.

Pineda went fishing for experience, even if the candidates had been sent packing. The person she ended up choosing in December had worked for seven and a half years as a network administrator for Upper Marlboro, Md.-based Mattress Discounters before getting laid off. (The company filed for bankruptcy last September.) Since then Pineda has brought on another pink-slipper as a social media consultant. Both hires have worked out well.

Still, she warns, there are plenty of job seekers who can't blame their misfortunes entirely on the bad economy: "For some folks, yeah, it was a layoff, but they weren't so good."

Hiring misfires are no surprise to Barry Deutsch, chief executive of Impact Hiring Solutions, which advises small companies on how to snag top executive talent. Deutsch has been in the business for 15 years. When he asks small business owners how often they get it right when it comes to hiring new people, "a lot tell us their success rate is 20 per cent or 30 per cent," he says.

How to avoid all those mismatches? As with most things, some smart work up front does the trick.

First, specifically define the job you are looking to fill — generic titles are useless, says Deutsch — and quantify your expectations. Say you need a marketing director. You might require that she, within the first 30 days, assess the division, identify gaps and come up with a personal development plan for each team member; within 60 days, come up with a detailed list of potential product extensions; and within 120 days, execute a new product launch. The power of defining goals up front is that it serves as a road map for the interview, making it easier to predict whether a candidate has relevant experience and the chances she'll thrive in the new environment.

Use classifieds to weed out poor candidates

Once you know what you're looking for, you have to let the world know you're looking for it. There's an art to want ads. One that lists a dry set of qualifications — five years of this skill, 10 years of that skill —won't cut it, says Deutsch.

Instead, use the ad to weed out poor candidates, even those with the requisite experience. Include a compelling title ("Innovation Director"); a challenging question that will entice the kind of person you are looking for ("Do you like to take risks?"); a vision of where your company is trying to go ("Do you want to work for one of the most cutting-edge consumer-products companies in the world?"); and the candidate's role in helping you with that ("We need someone with the kind of vision that can help us double our market share in three years.") Finally, include some of those defined expectations and stick them in the ad. The very best candidates want to know what kind impact they will have in their new gig.

Next step: "Make sure you fish in the right pond," says Deutsch. The Internet has made this a whole lot easier. Of course, some of the best candidates may have spent a lot of time doing laps in pools you wouldn't expect.

Vet candidates in the specific context of the challenges facing your company. If you need an operations manager to firm up flabby margins, ask him how he accomplished the same task at other firms.

In the interview stage, forget about the 20 standard questions: Why are you interested in this job? What are your weaknesses? Can you describe a situation where you successfully worked in a team? Those will lead you down the same rabbit holes as all the companies who only get hiring right 30 per cent of the time.

Instead, vet candidates in the specific context of the challenges facing your company. If you need an operations manager to firm up flabby margins, ask him how he accomplished the same task at other firms. How much came from pushing through aggressive pricing, how much from new products and how much from squeezing pennies? Some folks are great at moving more product but not at keeping costs in check.

Recessions cough up serious talent on the cheap, so shop wisely. Happy hunting.