1. For those who hire people: Rely on instinct (if you have it) rather than resumes. I have hired assistants for my books over decades, using an interview technique designed to learn about the person, not just their work history. Three times I hired people who, by resume, were...
2...completely unqualified for the job. Two of them weren't because they needed to help in the family blue collar business. They had neither the money nor the time to take fancy, unpaid internships, to line up connections, to create a standard "you're hired" resume. What I saw...
3...in them was something that couldn't be taught: Gumption, eagerness, no fear of what they didn't know and a willingness to learn. Once, the guy I wanted to hire had as his background only working for his dad's lawn company. Another one had a sparkling resume, recommendations..
4...from colleagues I know and respect, the whole nine yards. Uncertain, i hired them both. The one who worked for a lawn company was once of the smartest, hardest working, and best researchers I ever hired. The one with the sparkling resume was fired after two months for...
5...doing lousy work. What was the difference between the two? The smart, eager one with the lousy resume did not come from a family with money. He couldn't buy a resume with free internships etc. He depended on himself to succeed. The one with the good resume came from money...
6...*without fail* the ones I have hired with lousy resumes but good attitudes have succeeded in the years that followed - one became a New York Times reporter, one obtained a doctorate and is now a professor, one was just accepted at one of the top law schools in the country....
7...so, why am I saying this? When you are hiring, DONT fall into the trap of hiring people for their family's money. When you see free internships, etc, that is what you are hiring. If they, AS PEOPLE, deserve the job, have the right attitude, then hired them. But be on the...
8...lookout for those diamonds without wealthy families, the ones who succeed based on their own conviction and drive, but could never afford the glittery resume. Hire people, not resumes. Every person I have hired based on gut feel, not resume, has been fantastic. It makes me...
9...sad to realize there must be thousands of these kinds of people, who never had the financial ability to get a pretty resume, but are infinitely more talented than the ones who could. Remember when you look at a resume: You might only be looking at family wealth. Not talent.
