Ten issues of The Hire-archy! And the response has been amazing!

So for Issue #10 I want to do something different. No framework. No trend report. Just ten things I know for certain after ten years of doing this work every single day.

Over the last decade I have placed over 10,000 people inside scaling businesses. Tens of thousands of interviews. Tens of thousands of moments that shaped the futures of the companies bold enough to get hiring right.

Some of these will confirm what you already believe. Some will challenge it. All of them are true.

What someone has actually done will always beat what they say they can do.

Every interview question should be about real things. Not hypotheticals. Not theory. Reality.

Your new favorite phrase is “Tell me about a time….”

When they answer, dig in!
What was the situation? What did you specifically do? What were the outcomes?

If they cannot give you specifics, names, numbers, dates, it did not happen.

The difference between a weak answer and a strong one sounds like this.

Details equal truth.

Vagueness equals something else entirely.

I do not care as much about where someone is today. I care about where they are heading.

Is their career climbing or flattening? Are they learning or coasting?

I uncover this with one question.
“What is the hardest thing you have learned in the last 90 days?”

A strong answer comes with energy behind it.

Something they are actively working through, a skill they are building, a challenge that is stretching them. If the answer takes a long time to find, that is a signal worth exploring further.

Where someone is heading tells me far more than where they currently are.

After ten years and ten thousand hires, failure almost always comes down to one of three things.

Competence. Can they actually do the job? Not on paper. In reality.

Character. Henry Ford said quality means doing it right when no one is looking. That is the integrity to maintain your standards without supervision.

Chemistry. Will your team actually want to work with them? Not tolerate them. Want to collaborate with them.

If any one of these three is missing it almost always leads to failure.

For a hire to work you need all three.

There is a saying in sales that time kills all deals. In recruiting it works the same way.

This is not about rushing. Being thorough matters. But there is a difference between being deliberate and dragging your feet. Every day that passes without clear communication or a defined next step gives a candidate a reason to look elsewhere.

Move with intention. Communicate consistently.

The candidates worth having are almost always talking to someone else. Your pace and attentiveness are part of the pitch.

A professional reference done well is one of the most valuable tools in your process. In industries where reputation is everything, finance, legal, VC, executive leadership; who vouches for someone and how they do it carries enormous weight.

Do not rely only on the references a candidate provides.

Find your own. Reach out to former managers, colleagues and clients who were not prepped for your call. That is where the real picture emerges.

Ask questions that open a conversation. What environment does this person thrive in? What do they need to be at their best? Then stop talking and listen. What gets said matters. What gets skipped matters just as much.

The first thirty days are not a verdict. They are a launchpad.

The candidates who hit the ground running, asking questions early, building relationships before anyone asks them to, tend to carry that momentum into their first two or three years.

But even the strongest candidates cannot build a fast start without a clear onboarding and ramp-up process. If a new hire does not know what winning looks like inside your company in the first thirty days, the system failed them. Set them up for the fast start. The first thirty days are your slingshot into everything that comes after.

People can fake interviews. They cannot fake who they are.

Pick one assessment and use it consistently. DISC, Predictive Index, 16 Personalities, StrengthsFinder. These tools reveal how people behave under pressure, not when they are performing for an interview.

I have hired people who crushed the interview but the assessment flagged a concern. I ignored it. I regretted it every single time.

Find the personality markers of your top performers. Hire more people who match them. Everything else is just hoping.

The best time to recruit is when you do not need anyone.

When you are desperate you make bad decisions. When you have options you make good ones.

Every week I connect with at least two potential future hires. Not to pitch them. Just to build a relationship. When a role opens up months later I am not starting from zero. I have people who already know me, trust me and are already warm.

Your next great hire should not be surprised when you call. They should be expecting it.

After ten thousand hires I trust my instincts. But here is the nuance most people miss.

Gut feel should confirm the data. It should never replace it.

If something feels off, something is off.

That slight hesitation, the story that does not quite add up. Your subconscious is processing signals your conscious mind cannot articulate.

If you are not sure, you are sure. The answer is no.

When it is right both sides know it. No convincing required.

This one is controversial. I stand by it.

The best talent is rarely on the open market. A-players get recruited while working. They move from one role to the next without a gap.

Go find great people inside companies you admire. Do not wait for them to come to you.

The one exception is a fresh layoff from a reputable company. In that case you have a one-week window before everyone else moves in. Act fast or move on.

Pick one of these ten lessons and start there this week.

Not because the others do not matter. They all do. But real change starts with one deliberate action, not ten good intentions.
Get one principle working in your process, then build from there. That is how a system grows.

Hiring is not about finding perfect people. It’s about finding the right fit for right now.

The person who solves today's problem with today's team in today's culture.

Every hire is a bet on someone's potential. One great hire can transform an entire business. One bad hire can set it back years.

The difference is usually just paying attention to these ten things.

See you next Tuesday.

Jared
Founder, The Hire-archy

P.S. Which of these ten lessons hit hardest for you?

Hit reply and tell me. The ones that resonate most will shape what we cover in the next ten issues. I read every one.

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