Steve Jobs co-founder of Apple, in an interview published in the book ‘In the Company of Giants: Candid Conversations with the Visionaries of the Digital World’, stressed the importance of hiring the right talent. In 1997, shortly after returning to Apple following the sale of his company NeXT, Jobs revealed that he spent 20% of his time recruiting, an activity that involved interviewing and supervising candidates.
Jobs said, “I spend one day a week helping people get hired,” noting that it is one of the most important things you can do. With over 20 years of experience in the tech industry at the time, he also shared what impressed him about candidates and what might be holding them back from approval.
According to Jobs the hiring process was important because without the right people, it would be difficult to bring products to market quickly and effectively, regardless of the visionary ideas of leaders.
During the interview, Jobs revealed details about his approach to the selection process when facing candidates. accepted Deliberately challenging candidates during interview, often criticizing their past work. I would research and find out what they worked on and say, “Wow, that was a flop. That product was ridiculous. Why did you work on it?”
Steve Jobs
Elaborating on this revelation, Jobs noted: “I shouldn’t have said that in your book.” He explained that the worst thing a candidate can do during an interview is to agree and be too friendly., Jobs was looking for candidates who would stand up and defend against unfair attacks rather than trying to please him.
By talking about his priorities to convince them of his qualifications, Jobs wanted candidates State your side and present your arguments Rather than simply agreeing with their opinion, even under pressure.
In the early days of Apple, Jobs and his colleagues in Cupertino hired quickly, looking for people who knew more than they did. “We just wanted to hire a lot of people who were smarter than us,” he admitted, admitting that it was not difficult, as he himself did not know much.
However, they ran into a problem: While they were hiring talented people, many of them lacked the ability to adapt quickly to changing needs. Jobs explained: “In a company that’s just starting out and growing quickly, needs change every month as we learn more. People need to be able to change and adapt and see things from a new perspective.,
Based on this early experience, Jobs decided to invest more time in the hiring process, ensuring that new hires had the necessary adaptability and versatility.
