Dear Jewish Fairy Godmother:

I need to hire a replacement for our office manager and sales
assistant, who is leaving after fifteen years. I know we can train the
right person, but finding that right one from a hundred resumes of
wide-ranging quality is an overwhelming task. I can weed out people
who are clearly unqualified, fulfilling a requirement to apply, and
others without relevant experience. But I have a job to do beyond
spending tons of time with wannabes. I am sure they are sincere but I
need someone who knows the job, as well as being smart and hard
working.

Boss Lady

 
Dear Boss Lady:

Sort them into four piles: No Way; How Desperate Am I?; Second Tier;
Worth 5 Minutes. Then spent five minutes on the phone with everyone
in the last group. You can spend more time if you find yourself
interested and engaged, but say upfront it is a brief screening call.
You’ll get more facile as you practice, so save the best looking folks for
later in the process. If the first answers are engaging, dig deeper.
Start here with questions: Can summarize of what you think we do? (If
they haven’t looked at your website it’ll start to show here) What’s is
your biggest question about the company? (ditto) Have you had to
answer phones and multi-task at the same time? How do you track
and follow up ongoing tasks? Are you familiar with [specific software
position uses]? Anyone who keeps you interested with his/her answers
deserves consideration for an in-person interview. Only you can know
how much time you have for those. I do suggest doing the first one
alone, and involving other key players only after you have it down to
the last, best, few applicants. You’ll learn more each time you see
them.