Why Most Companies Never Hire the Perfect Person for the Job

Want to hire superstars?
Trying to find the “total package” is the last thing you should do.
Literally (and not in the teenage use of literally) the last thing.
Why? Think about the typical hiring process. You work hard to
find and select the right candidate. You evaluate skills and
experience and then ask interview questions to determine if the
candidate possesses qualities like attention to detail,
interpersonal skills, leadership ability, problem-solving skills....
Your process is exhaustive and, well, exhausting.
Still, while many of the people that get hired turn out to be good
employees, few of them turn out to be what every company really
needs: great employees.
Why? Those companies -- and the people making the decisions
-- took the job description approach to hiring.
Think about job descriptions . They list a wide variety of
qualifications the employee should possess. Typically attributes
like “self motivated,” “able to work with minimal supervision,”
“able to prioritize and handle multiple tasks,” and “able to work
well alone or as a member of a team,” are included.
So what happens? People evaluate candidates with those
requirements in mind. The candidate that ticks the most boxes
is usually selected—and the company winds up hiring good
when they really need great.
Now think about the truly great employees you know. Some are
well rounded, some are not, but all possess at least one
incredible skill. They all do at least one thing, one critical thing,
so well that people are willing—even happy—to overlook some of
their deficiencies.
Related: What Kinds of People Do You Hate to Work With?
(LinkedIn)
They may not “take a collaborative approach to problem
solving,” but wow do they make your fulfillment facility sing.
In short, a great employee has what you really need. All other
attributes on the job description, while important, pale in
comparison.
Next time you hire an employee , set the job description approach
aside and take this approach instead.
1. Determine what you really need.
Forget about finding a “well-rounded employee” (whatever that
is). If you could only pick one or two attributes, what are the
most important skills or qualities you need?
Keep in mind those attributes will often change depending on
your current needs and the skills your other employees possess.
So ignore the job description. Forget the position; think about
the job. Decide what you really need the new employee to do.
As Dharmesh Shah says, "You don't need a VP of anything... you
need a Doer of Things That Need to Get Done."
2. Decide what you really don’t need.
When you’re ticking off boxes on a list of qualifications it’s easy
to forget that you simply can’t live with some attributes,
regardless of how solid the candidate otherwise appears.
Complete this sentence about a theoretical employee: "I don't
care how great she is, I would still let her go because she
________."
Those are your no-go attributes. Never lose sight of them.
3. Do a first pass.
Set aside every candidate that doesn’t have what you really
need. Don’t be tempted by the, “Wow, she really has a wide
range of skills,” candidate. If she doesn’t bring the one or two
attributes you really need she may turn out to be a good
employee, but she’s not likely to be great.
Then set aside every candidate with an attribute on your "no way
in hell" list. She won't be great either.
Related: Does the Car You Drive Impact Your Career? (LinkedIn)
4. Conduct highly focused interviews.
Spend 10% of your time assessing general qualities and 90% of
your time ensuring the candidate truly has what you need. Dig
in. Ask for examples. Ask lots of follow-up questions. Write
everything down.
Then check references and use your notes to help you ask
specific questions. Sure, some companies won’t provide any
information, but many -- especially small businesses -- will.
Many will say they are not allowed to share information about
previous employees. When that happens, try saying, “I
understand. I’m just really worried I might a mistake. Can you
just say, if you were me, whether you would hire him?”
You'll be surprised by how many people will want to help you
out with a whispered "yes" or "no."
Then you can...
5. Assess the “total employee.”
If a few candidates seem relatively equal in terms of what you
really need, then decide which one best meets your more
subjective criteria. Conduct a second interview if necessary. Or
let other employees interview the remaining candidates.
At this point you can afford to evaluate “nice to have” qualities
because you’ve done everything possible to identify candidates
that have the attributes you truly need.
What do you think? Do you hire people who have that one skill
you most need, or do you try to hire candidates who appear to
be the total package?

LinkedIn Influencer, Jeff Haden , published this post
originally on LinkedIn .

7 Ways You're Shortening Your Life - Women's Health

If you're like many people you read about how to lengthen your life and
how to look younger. Maybe it's time to look at it in a different way.
Instead of what you should be doing to lengthen your life, try looking at
what you're doing that shortens your life, and stop doing it. Here are
seven things you may be doing right now that will shorten your life.
1. You Sit Too Much
Many if not most people have jobs that require all-day sitting. Add to
that couple of hours of sitting in the car while you commute, and then
getting home and sitting all evening and practically your entire day is
spent on your tush. Sitting even three hours per day has a life-
shortening effect, and sitting for 11 hours per day increases your risk of
death in the next three years by 40 percent. If you must sit for many
hours each day, get up at least once per hour for a short walk, a little
exercise and stretching. Try being more active in the rest of your life.
2. You Watch Too Much TV
A little TV is okay, but every hour per day of TV watching reduces your
life by 23 minutes. Two hours of TV watching per day can lead to
diabetes and heart disease, and statistically brings about earlier death.
Part of that is explained by the sitting that normally accompanies TV
watching, but only part. Sitting and watching TV reduces your lifespan
more than sitting on its own.
3. You Eat Red Meat
Your mortality risk increases directly with how much red meat you eat.
Red meat contains excessive saturated fat and cholesterol, and that
accounts for some of the increased mortality risk, but you have
increased mortality risk even eating very lean cuts of red meat. Stick to
a maximum of two servings per week of red meat. Replace it with fish
for your best health results.
4. You Don't Sleep Enough
Lack of sleep is associated with a large number of health problems.
Sleeping six hours per night or less increases your risk of diabetes, heart
disease and decreased mental capacity. Too little sleep also increase
your risk of mortality. This is definitely true over the long term, but is
even true with one day of reduced sleep. This is because your risk of
accident, vehicle, workplace and otherwise, increases with even one night
in which you do not get enough sleep.
5. You Don't Have Enough Enjoyable Sex
Men's risk of mortality increases if they go too long without having an
orgasm. Women's risk of mortality increases if they do not enjoy sex or
if they do not have sex frequently enough. Read a racy romance novel
and get yourself in the mood to improve your longevity.
6. You Smoke
You had to know this was coming. Smoking is so bad for you in so many
ways it has to shorten your prospective lifespan, and it does. Estimates
of shortened lifespan range from 11 minutes per cigarette smoked to
about half an hour per package smoked, but whatever the correct number
is, smoking definitely shortens your life.
7. You Drink Too Much Alcohol
One drink per day is fine, but for every drink over and above that one,
you shorten your life by 15 minutes. If you want to drink, stick to one per
day for the best health results and the longest life.
Picking up some good habits such as exercising regularly, eating more
fish and vegetables and reducing the stress in your life will all extend
your life expectancy. Now lose these seven bad habits and your life
expectancy will increase further still.

MEET The Real-Life Goddesses Whose Feet Don't Touch The Ground! [Photos]

Handpicked from birth, these pre-pubescent girls are known as
Kumaris and are believed to be incarnations of the Hindu Goddess
of Power, Kali - reported the DailyMail.
From the moment they are chosen for their role, and pass a
rigorous 32-stage test, these living goddesses are propelled to
immortal-like status, deemed to be protectors from evil by
thousands of adoring Hindus and Buddhists.
But for these girls, it is not just a name and status that they are
given - their whole life changes.
Kumaris - which means virgin in Nepalese - are forced to leave
their homes and are hidden away in temples as a living deity, only
able to leave when they are required at festivals and processions as
the subject of worship.
These Kumaris are even considered too special to walk, instead
being carried in chariots, thrones and other people's arms -
sometimes meaning they do not learn to walk until they retire.
And the girls are banned from going to school or taking part in day-
to-day society, only appearing outside their homes or temples up to
13 times a year.
But once they reach puberty, everything changes for these
Kumaris. After menstruation starts, the girls are put through a 12-
day 'Gufa' ritual, after which their life as a Kumari ends - and they
return to an ordinary life that they have never known.

Judge: Pistorius Did Not Intentionally Kill Steenkamp -CNN

Pretoria, South Africa (CNN) -- Oscar Pistorius cannot be found
guilty of intentionally killing Reeva Steenkamp, the judge in his trial
said Thursday. The judge has not issued a verdict, and the proceedings
continue. Pistorius faces other possible verdicts, including culpable
homicide. Under South African law, Pistorius will not be found guilty of
murder.
Os Pistorius today
Evidence suggests that Pistorius genuinely believed his girlfriend Reeva
Steenkamp was still in the bedroom, and that the person in the bathroom
was an intruder, although that is irrelevant to the case, she said.
Pistorius sat crying as the judge began reading the lengthy verdict.
The Olympian's trial in the death of his model girlfriend started six
months ago, transfixing the world with graphic details of how he fatally
shot Steenkamp.

OMG: Kanye West Hospitalised For Seizure!

Reports coming in says Kanye West was rushed to an hospital in
Melbourne, Australia just before his finale concert holds.
According to InTouch, he was admitted into Melbourne’s Epworth
Hospital in Richmond Wednesday, Sept. 10, where he received an
emergency MRI.
An eyewitness told Woman’s Day, an Australian publication, the
rapper had half of his face covered as he was escorted into the
hospital through a back entrance by his security team, while
patients and their family members were not allowed in the waiting
area so the rapper could be treated privately.
“My daughter was having an MRI. Shortly after it began, security
burst in and cleared the area,” Loraine Terry told the mag.
“Everyone was moved out of the waiting and consulting rooms. We
were the only ones left apart from doctors and nurses — we
couldn’t leave as the MRI wasn’t finished. Next thing we knew,
Kanye was stretchered [sic] in surrounded by security. He had one
side of his face covered with something white. We both knew it
was him because we had seen in his photo in the paper everyday
and we were shocked because it looked so serious.”
According to Ms. Terry, doctors observed Kanye had either suffered
a seizure or was on the verge of one—forcing the hospital to
perform an emergency MRI.
“Everyone was massively panicked,” she said. “And they were very
nervous about making sure the area was completely clear.”
Kim was said to be by his side all through the encounter
Kanye was later discharged around 4:30 PM local time, and was
seen performing on stage in front of a packed crowd later that
night.
Story developing.

Wow, this 6-year-old boy with TAIL growing from his back is worshipped as a god in his village (PICTURED)

Strange things do happen! A 6-year-old boy, Amar Singh, has grown a
tail and is now being worshipped as a god-like figure in his local village.
Singh’s 12-inch tail has been woven from a large patch of thick black
hair growing on his lower back.
According to Mirror, villagers in Nijmapur, in the state of nothern India,
have hailed it as a sign that he is connected to the Hindu god, Hanuman,
a monkey-like diety.
His family claim that he was born with an anomalous patch of hair about
one inch in length – which then grew over the years until he was able to
plait it.
Proud father, Ajmer Singh said his son is a “very loving child” and
otherwise a “healthy and normal boy who does well at his studies”.
He said that although Amar’s hairs could easily be cut, the family don’t
want to because they consider them to be a gift from God.
Amar – the youngest in the family with four sisters and one brother –
also enjoys spending time playing with cows in the village.
Locals have also come up with the theory that his condition means that
he bears some similarity to a cow, an animal which is considered holy in
Hindu culture.

18 Resources to Help You Become Amazing at Acquiring New Customers

An effective user acquisition strategy is the holy grail
for many marketers, whether it be a mix of channels that
generate a constant flow of new users at a sustainable cost or a
clever tactic that gives a new product a boost in users in a short
period of time.
If you’re looking for ideas for your product launch strategy or
need some inspiration as you test new user acquisition
channels, this post will make things a lot easier for you. I’ve
compiled the best resources from across the web on user
acquisition into one place so that you don’t have to spend hours
digging through content.
Now start reading!
Stories From The Trenches: How Successful Startups
Acquired Users & Customers
1. How Mint Grew to 1.5 Million Users and Sold for $170 Million
in Just 2 Years
Mint, the darling of personal finance apps, launched in
September 2007 and quickly experienced exponential growth. By
2009, when Intuit acquired Mint, the application had over 1
million users and was adding a few thousand new users each
day. Four years later, by the end of 2013, Mint had over 10
million users.
How did they do it?
This post offers a detailed breakdown of the growth strategy that
catapulted Mint to success. The company did a lot of things
right, but there are a few tactics that stand out to me: their focus
on SEO via Mint Answers and blogging, which accounted for 20%
of total new users; their production of educational infographics;
and their clever use of incentives .
2. How We Acquired 100K Early Bird Signups with Zero Marketing
Budget
I’ve probably read this article at least 10 times. When I was
researching and strategizing for my first product launch, this
post by Realtime Board served as a springboard for planning our
overall marketing and user acquisition strategy. I adapted many
of the tactics described here to fit our product and saw great
results, particularly from focusing on our existing network and
earning reviews and blog posts from users. Don’t miss this
gem!
3. User Acquisition, from the trenches
Sendwithus co-founder Matt Harris describes the startup’s user
acquisition strategy in this post on his blog. They had great
success early-on by partnering with more established
companies like SendGrid and MailChimp and then posting on
their partners’ support forums in order to add even more value.
Matt points out that cold emails can be effective, but only when
they are highly-targeted. Don’t just send them to anyone you
think might be interested in your product––Sendwithus focused
on companies whose product they had used and noticed that
their transactional emails could be better.
4. How I used Quora for User Acquisition
I love Quora because it’s good for so many different things: first,
finding answers to your questions (duh); second, customer
research ; and third, user acquisition, among others.
Kamil Rextin of Organini says they’ve had a 20% conversion rate
from page-view to signup via Quora, simply because he took the
time to write an insightful and helpful answer to a question
relevant to his product.
5. How Guest Posting Propelled One Site From 0 to 100,000
Customers
Everyone knows Buffer––it’s the tool that makes sharing great
content across your social networks super easy (personally, I
can’t imagine life without it!). They’ve also created one of the
best blogs on social media marketing and productivity on the
web, and it’s played a huge role in putting their tool on the map
and acquiring customers.
But publishing content on their own blog wasn’t the thing that
boosted Buffer’s initial growth: In this interview Buffer co-
founder Leo Widrich talks about how he used an aggressive
guest-blogging strategy to get 100,000 users within the first nine
months of launching.
During the time that Leo focused almost solely on guest
blogging he wrote up to four articles a day, or 150 in nine
months. As a fellow guest blogger this kind of blows my mind!
6. How We (Unexpectedly) Got 60K Users in 60 Hours
If user acquisition is your top priority, why wouldn’t you want to
know how a new tool got 60k users in less than three days?
Patrick Ambron, CEO of BrandYourself, shows which channels
and features brought the most growth for their tool, and how
one of their features caused (unexpected) viral growth.
This Slideshare walks you through how to pitch news outlets,
how to create a top-performing landing page and how to identify
exactly what parts of your product can go viral.
Articles & Guides On User Acquisition Strategy &
Tactics
7. Becoming Twitter: A Beginner’s Guide To User Acquisition
Nate Desmond’s guide takes you through the key steps to follow
if you want to excel at user acquisition, from finding product/
market fit to running quant analyses. Real-life examples of
effective user-acquisition strategies from startups and large
companies make his tips tangible and actionable.
Nate emphasizes the importance of keeping things lean: “If you
don’t establish the definition of success before running user
acquisition efforts, you won’t know whether you’re desperately
failing or single-handedly making your company succeed.”
8. The B2B Referral Sales System – The Magical Outbound
Growth Engine Most Startups Never Use
The referral sales system works like this: upon closing a
customer you ask them to refer you to at least one other person
who would benefit from your product. There are ways to
automate this from within your product, but asking in-person or
via email each time you make a sale is also (maybe more)
effective.
This article includes scripts you can use to ask for referrals and
reveals the optimal time to make the ask (it’s not when I
thought!).
9. Places to Start Acquiring Users
You’ve gotta admit that marketers today are incredibly lucky:
there are numerous online communities already full of people
who fit our target markets, like SlideShare, Quora, Hacker News
and Meetup. All we have to do is know how to leverage these
communities to connect with potential users.
GrowHack explains that the key to successfully attracting
attention to your company within these communities is to create
content that is relevant and useful for each platform (in other
words, native content). Also, be sure to engage with members in
a way that is helpful and authentic (rather than salesy and
phony).
10. The Ultimate Guide to Customer Acquisition
It can be tempting to try to get as many users as possible as
quickly as possible, but that’s not always the best strategy. In
fact, it’s essential to make sure that your product is ready for
users before you go out and promote it.
This article tells you what questions to ask in order to make sure
you’re ready to execute a user acquisition strategy. You’ll also
learn what to do once you’re ready––like how to estimate your
CAC, how to create demand and what to measure.
11. Pre-Launch Email List Building With Directories
Want to build a solid email list prior to launch so that you can
announce your new product to people who are likely to become
users? This article provides a long list of directories where you
can list your app in order to get the attention of your target
market.
12. Content Marketing Growth Hacks [with Infographic]
Technically, this article isn’t about user acquisition, but great
content marketing can be one of the most powerful drivers for
conversion, so it deserves a place on this list. Garrett Moon of
CoSchedule shows you how to optimize your content to drive
growth with tactics like gamifying your blog and testing share
button positions.
13. 4 Viral Sharing Tactics For Your Product Launch Strategy
In this article I talk about four tactics used by businesses to get
people to share their product and increase visibility. When done
correctly these can have a viral effect, resulting in people
clamoring to get access to your application.
14. Beginner’s Guide to User Acquisition for Mobile Apps and
Games
This Slideshare is perfect for companies looking to acquire
users for a mobile app or game. It tells you which metrics to
track, which ad networks to test and which app discovery
platforms to use. You’ll also learn what it takes to break into the
iPhone app store Top 50.
15. What are key strategies to acquire first 100K users with zero
marketing budget?
This Quora thread is a goldmine of battle-tested tactics for user
acquisition, with answers from experts like Noah Kagan and
Ryan Holiday. The title focuses on the first 100K users, but the
answers on this thread are also relevant to companies who
already have their initial user base and are looking to scale.
User Acquisition With Social Media
16. The Hacker’s Guide to Twitter User Acquisition
In this post Austen Allred, co-founder of Grasswire, shares his
system for using Twitter to acquire users. He says that
Grasswire gets at least 50 sign-ups from Twitter plus 150 new
followers a day, so listen up!
Austen recommends increasing visibility of your Twitter account
by following people who are likely to be interested in your
product. He also gives tips on how to connect with people on
Twitter and how to use Twitter Cards for conversions.
17. How to Master Social Customer Acquisition
“Social customer acquisition isn’t about being on every platform
possible, it’s about choosing the right platform(s) for your
demographic and building a strong community,” says Shanelle
Mullin, Director of Marketing at Onboardly.
Once you’ve figured out which platforms you should be on, how
do you excel at utilizing those platforms for customer
acquisition? In this article Shanelle gives battle-tested tips for
succeeding on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and explains how
to measure and optimize results.
18. Facebook Targeting: User Acquisition
One of the main reasons Facebook ads are so appealing is that
they allow you to create highly-targeted campaigns. You can be
sure you’re reaching exactly the kind of people who would be
interested in your product, making Facebook Ads ideal for a
smart user acquisition strategy.
This Slideshare explains how to use Facebook for user
acquisition, starting with a few case studies of brands who had
great success with the platform––one saw a 60% higher CTR
using Facebook lookalike audiences over other display media.

Alaafin Of Oyo &His 4 Wives Visit Queen Of England Palace!

Oba Lamidi Adeyemi and 4 of his wives recently travelled to
London for his 76th birthday celebration.
They were spotted as they went shopping at a popular shopping
mall in London.
The Oyo Royal father and his beautiful wives also visited
Buckingham Palace, the official residence of the Queen of England.
The five are seen posing at the entrance of the Palace.

Why Some Smart Business Moguls Still Use 'Dumb Phones'

When it comes to consumer technology, many people
are used to coveting the newest and shiniest gadget. So it may
come as a surprise that a number of top executives and
dealmakers are still clinging to ancient mobile phones.
Of these outmoded mobiles, one stands out as the clear favorite.
By all appearances, it's the Nokia 6310, a model that was
discontinued more than six years ago. Among its devotees,
according to the Financial Times , are Martin Schulz, the
president of the European Union's parliament; retail mogul Philip
Green; and Julian Dunkerton, chief executive of clothing
company SuperGroup, which is publicly traded on the London
Stock Exchange and has a market capitalization of more than
$1.6 billion.
Why would global leaders hang on to obsolete technology,
especially in the high-flying, status-conscious set they move in?
For one thing, old Nokias were built to last: They are hard to
damage (no touchscreen to worry about) and have a long
battery life. Also, being less connected can actually be an
advantage, improving your focus on what's important. With the
Nokia 6310, "I'm not bombarded with emails every minute,
allowing me to deal with the crucial stuff," Dunkerton told the FT .
And it turns out, an old "dumb phone" can actually serve as a
status symbol. It signals to associates that you can't be
bothered to check email every 10 minutes. Other people actually
like the retro aesthetics.
If you feel the urge to go back to the future, you would do well to
check online marketplaces. A search of eBay turns up a number
of Nokia 6310 phones for sale, with "buy it now" prices ranging
from $44 to $64. Not a bad price for a decent phone -- and a
little bit of history.
BRIAN PATRICK EHA