MBA155: Hiring BAs and PMs

Are you a hiring manager looking for great BA and PM candidates? Find out how to find the best candidates for your organization. Job seekers will discover how to best prepare for a job search.  After listening to this episode, you'll understand: What to do before you open a job requisition The benefits behind the different types of interviews Red flags to watch out for during interviews How job seekers can best prepare for interviews SHOW NOTES Hiring the right people is the most important task for people managers. If you don’t hire great people, you’ll pay for recruiting mistakes with lower productivity and you’ll need to spend more time coaching and managing them. The task of finding and hiring the right people comes in two phases: attracting talent and interviewing. Attracting Talent: Current State and Future Needs Before you can attract the right candidates, you need to understand what type of people you need. To do that, first think about your company culture, the strengths of your current BAs and PMs, and future skills that you’ll need, This will lead you to identifying the skills and competencies you need. From there, you can build the job requirements. When you do this, set a high bar. Be a Talent Magnet In addition to understanding the strengths and opportunities within your team, set up a referral program. Referrals are your best source for finding talent because great BAs and PMs know other great BAs and PMs. As a hiring manager, you should also be on social media building a network and attend meetups and industry events. The connections you make could be a good source of candidates for a future opening. Job seekers should also attend local meetups, professional organization meetings (IIBA and PMI chapters), and industry events. Doing so not only allows you to grow your network, it will expand your knowledge and provides an opportunity to improve your personal brand through volunteering or speaking. Hiring managers should also be on the lookout for disruptive events such as layoffs and site closures in competing or related organizations. This may be an excellent opportunity to find new talent. All of this can be done before you have an opening to fill. If you invest time in attracting great talent to your organization, finding the right candidate will be much easier. Interviewing Candidates Listen to the full episode to tips and advice on interviewing and selecting the right candidates as well as how to best prepare for an interview. http://traffic.libsyn.com/masteringbusinessanalysis/MBA155.mp3 YOUR HOMEWORK Hiring Managers: Start thinking about your organization, its culture, and the current strengths and capabilities of existing Business Analysts and Project Managers. This will help you to understand what you need from future candidates. Start joining local meetups and professional organizations to build your company’s brand (as well as your own). Job Seekers: Be active on social media (act professionally) and join local meetups and professional organizations. This will build your network and expand your knowledge. Links mentioned in this episode: WIBADD: The Wisconsin Business Analysis Development Day Thank you for listening to the program To get more valuable content to enhance your skills and advance your career, you can subscribe on iTunes and other podcatchers. Also, reviews on iTunes are highly appreciated! I read each review and it helps keep me motivated to continue to bring you valuable content each week. . The post MBA155: Hiring BAs and PMs appeared first on Mastering Business Analysis.