Construction Marketing Ideas

The choices to make

Today, we ended a three week evaluation of a prospective salesperson for our organization. The process took many twists and turns; we have a fairly structured system, but adapt things to reflect individual circumstances. In the end, I decided we could not guarantee him a salary without further evidence of his effectiveness, and he could not wait any longer to establish a reliable income.

We certainly need a second full time salesperson to build the business base and begin growing again, but I know rushing the decision and hiring the wrong person will cost more than it benefits both the business and the candidate. So we've posted the opportunity again, in Ottawa, North Bay, and Toronto (where the market is, but where we've found we can often serve effectively from a distance).

The resumes are beginning to arrive in the 'in' box. Next week, we'll sort them and if they are reasonably suited for the work, we'll send a questionnaire and job description. Most of the people who send in resumes won't bother completing the questionnaire, and of those that do, most will fail at an important but subtle test. It is vitally important that candidate communicate with us BEFORE completing the questionnaire. We make it easy for them to do this -- it is important because after all, this is a sales opportunity and sales are built on creating relationships rather than filling in forms and questionnaires.

There are other stages to the process, of course. I've just given away one of our screening 'secrets'. Fortunately, the person looking for work with us who actually finds and reads this blog is showing he or she knows how to do some research -- and that is another sign of competency for this opportunity.

If you want to see the job posting, here it is:

http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/ShowJob_en.aspx?OrderNum=2650629&Source=JobPosting&ProvId=06&Keyword=+2650629&Sources=JobBank,%20Government&Student=No