Before working at GEICO, I was employed by a Bethesda, Maryland-based association that served the finance profession. While there, I wore several hats: compensation analyst, employee relations, HR training and recruiter. Of all the aspects that I was responsible for, I loved recruiting best!

The association was made up of a lean team of 60 professionals and at any given time there were about 10 open positions. It was a very unique culture; we put in a lot of hours, worked extremely hard, wanted everyone to be a high achiever, and expected employees to read, study and continuously self-develop.

People burned out rather quickly which meant we were usually — always — hiring. We had a simple, yet effective recruitment strategy that came directly from the CEO. The goal was to hire SWANs.

How to Spot a SWAN

Whether we were hiring a member services representative, a marketing specialist or an IT pro, we always looked for candidates who were Smart, Worked hard, Ambitious and Nice. This philosophy still resonates with me today.

SMART

Obviously, companies need to hire people who have the skills and expertise to do specific jobs. Skills assessment is key to making good hires. But, at this association, it was much more than that. Candidates who did well as employees also had intellectual curiosity and actively sought out learning opportunities.

WORKS HARD

Herb Brooks, 1980 coach of the U.S. ice hockey team said, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” It’s great to have a team of smart people, but you’re not going to get things done if they don’t apply themselves. If hard work is part of your corporate culture, then assessing work ethic will be important during the hiring process.

AMBITIOUS

Goals, business objectives, action plans … whatever you call them, all companies are trying to accomplish something. At this job, it was about increasing membership numbers. We hired people who were highly-motivated, goal-oriented and had proven track records. This helped us achieve significant milestones and crank out a lot of work.

One “issue” that I recall was career advancement. We hired ambitious people, but were a relatively small employer. Therefore, when an ambitious employee perceived that there was no “next step,” we’d often lose great people.

NICE

If someone is smart, hard working, ambitious and an arrogant jerk … are you likely to hire them? Probably not. Nice brings it all together: the ideal candidate … a SWAN.

Well, there you have it everyone … the secret to making great hires is to hire SWANs! (Whew! I feel like I just let out a huge secret.) In all seriousness, I hope this mnemonic device will assist you in developing or redefining your interviews and making solid hires. A big part of recruiting is knowing who it is that you are looking for and then putting together a plan to find them. This little trick has guided me for more than a decade.

What’s your secret sauce?

Do you have any secrets to making good hires? What’s your simplified hiring philosophy? Share your insights below.