On Fri, 2011-05-06 at 12:54 -0600, Jared W. Robinson wrote: > As I read through job descriptions here on PLUG, I notice that companies > rarely advertise for "average" talent. No, they want the exception to > the rule. They want exceptional talent, whether it be Java ninjas or rock > stars.
There are many companies that say this, yet will hire anyone with average talent and settle. There are only a handle full of companies that "raise the bar" (to use a phrase used commonly here at Amazon). > > The thing is, most of us aren't all that exceptional. Sure, we can > employ all the positive thinking we want, but the things that make an > employee valuable and worth hiring aren't the exceptional talents, but > the average, normal things -- the things we expect of every productive > employee, like... > > doing the work > focus > creativity -- to solve problems > reliability -- so others to know what to expect > honesty > ability to learn > ability to work with others > applying one's talents to do the work If someone has all these, I would probably say they are exceptional. Of the number of companies I have worked for, most employees aren't up to this standard. At different times in my career, I haven't been to this standard. Amazon is a great example of a company that has turned away average people. They have a person as part of the interview called a bar raiser. This is someone that isn't part of the hiring team. He gets to veto any decision by the group if he fills the person doesn't meet the hiring bar or won't be a good fit for Amazon. Of my three years at Amazon, I can honestly say that there has been only a handful of people that I have worked with at the company that haven't been exceptional. I know that Amazon is not the norm. There are other companies out there that have similar hiring ideals. BTW, we are hiring if people are interested. We have all types of positions open. Nathan
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