"Hiring Hacks" Course Pilot
At Amazon, my teams and I hired over 1000 people, including many executive roles.
I built a class on how to do this well, called "Hiring Hacks" that has been viewed by more than 15,000+ Amazonians over the years.
The class teaches hiring managers and leaders how to find talent and how to choose from candidates at any level and under any circumstance.
A few of the top lessons:
You cannot outsource finding great talent to a recruiting team; you must own it yourself (and partner with recruiting). My course has a section on how to vet candidates well and how to partner well with recruiters.
There are always secret pools of candidates that no one else is reaching; if you can find them you can hire without competition.
A great hire helps you so much more than just a good one.
For the first time, I will pilot an updated public version of my "Hiring Hacks" presentation outside of Amazon.
The pilot session is my last feedback and development step before this becomes a paid course offering ($299+).
On February 29 (Thursday) from 11 AM to 1 PM US PST I will do a live version of the class exclusive to our Level Up Career Community (newsletter paid subscribers).
You'll get a chance to give me feedback to improve the class for future students.
So, you can get access to an early version of the $299 class for the $17 paid newsletter price (plus sending me some feedback after the class).
The event will not be recorded, so you must attend live if you want to see it.
What current and former Amazonians who have watched my “Hiring Hacks” class say:
Level Up Career Community membership has many benefits, including full access to my Newsletter and future class pilots like this one. I have plans to create classes on how to “Think Big and Invent” and how to “Create and Protect Work / Life Balance” and more.
For existing members, register for the event here.
To become a member, read and join here.
Audience Insights
Additional ideas worth considering from my LinkedIn audience:
Delegate hiring at your peril. In the end, the people you hire will work for you (not the recruiting team), so you have to own it like it's your job (because it is).
An "Ethan" quote I have used throughout my career with stakeholders is- "Taking the time and effort to make great hires is the best legacy I can leave at [insert company/team/org] - PERIOD." When this is the mindset of leaders, it makes ALL the difference.
Many have shared of experiences where managers handwave hiring as a “recruiter task” and get a nasty surprise when the hire is not the right fit.
First Round Capital created a comprehensive guide on how to add more rigor to your reference calls with 25 questions. It includes my operating partner, Jason Yoong, advice where he puts a peculiar twist to the common question "On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest), how do you rate XYZ on [specific trait or ability]?" with two intentional follow-ups:
“What is the reason you did not rate XYZ (insert a number that is 1-2 points higher)?”
»» This allows you to dive deep into the why as people share interesting reasons or past experiences, along with areas of improvement.
“What is the reason you did not rate XYZ (insert a number that is 1-2 points lower)?”
»» This gets to the candidate’s superpower.
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Level Up is a newsletter from retired Amazon Vice President Ethan Evans that breaks down how he succeeded and how you can get to the next level.