How to master recruiting | Mads Faurholt-Jorgensen | TEDxWarwick

For a leader to succeed, they have to be able to hire the right people for their team. In fact nothing is more important. And while leaders are told to recruit the right people, they have never been taught how to recruit the right people. That is why most leaders spend 10% of their time recruiting, 90% of their time making up for recruiting mistakes.
The result of this is huge inefficiencies, unhappy people and results below what is possible for leaders to achieve, not to mention very expensive and disruptive processes for the organisation when the wrong people are hired.
Billionaire John Caldwell once said, “If I’m lucky, I only get recruiting wrong 70% of the time”. But how is it that we accept being wrong so much of the time?
In this video, Mads Faurholt shares based on science and research, as well as having hired and managed thousands of people; frameworks, processes, and tools for how you can become a world-class recruiter today, and immediately start hiring the right people, that will enable you and your organisation to reach its potential.
Mads Faurholt is a successful serial entrepreneur, bestselling author and keynote speaker, having founded and run companies across various sectors including technology, financial services, marketing, HR, food and education, with thousands of employees, and done several exits at valuations of up to over hundreds of million USD. Mads is a former Management Consultant at McKinsey & Company, and received his bachelor from Copenhagen Business School and his MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@rajniranjan]

As a recruiter myself, I focus more on job seekers personality and attitude than skills. Giving everyone a chance is important. I tend to learn a lot from them during my interaction and it helps a lot.

[@bluezy710]

I find it a very unfair way to gauge talent. People look for jobs to be able to function as human beings in a society. They offer you something they're good at that will benefit the bottom line of your company in exchange for money to live. If you hire for personality instead of skills, you're either forcing people to create a false personality to make you happy, which will make them utterly unhappy in your environment and, therefore, less productive or not long lasting, or you're creating an non-inclusive, myopic environment. Even with conflicting personalities, people learn to adapt to one another in order to live peacefully with one another. A good company with good recruiters will know how to accomplish that.

[@daniawania]

​@bluezy710 this makes zero sense.

[@lindaa6243]

Personality comes after ensuring the job seeker meets the minimum requirements of a role or has strong comprehension/ quick learner that could be trained in the tech stack or the one odd skill he/she lacks. Hiring entirely on personality would fly for front line jobs or junior positions otherwise pretty bad strategy

[@rajniranjan]

@@lindaa6243 Both skills and personalities matter. Some roles can be learnt on the job with average skills, but needs someone who is willing to learn and prove themselves.

[@clairejuliarossbrown]

Great talk Mads. 👏And you do “walk the talk” and have always done things outside the box. 😊 This will for sure inspire others. 😊

[@fullonlove-2237]

This was so GOOD! As an HR professional of 15+ years, I do not look for candidates to come in and give me perfect answers to questions that they have googled based on methods such as STAR. I am also NOT a fan of keywords, or the lack there of, cancelling out resumes. I resonate with the speaker saying that they strive to give everyone a fair chance at a job...and also not wanting to miss out on a candidates because the piece of paper doesn't convey them fully. People are HUMAN - we are not automated, systematic robots. and no matter how well one incorporates the STAR method, it may get them in the door, but i guarantee it will have them on their way right back out once they start to work and their true character and personality start to come out.

[@RahulKumar-cy7cp]

😊😊

[@gregpichardo517]

I am learning. Thank you for sharing your experience.

[@krisb-travel]

STAR is for robots. Have you ever tried hiring Filipinos for remote positions? ive hired probably about 20 staff in UK and US and after we decided to cut costs and hire remotely ive hired 3 Indians on upwork and then 4 Filipinos on Manpower Genius, i would say the output from Filipinos is probably 50% higher so far than indian and much higher than UK plus im paying 80% less per employee.

[@lavishgarg1128]

Wonderful, Thoughtful and Inspiring.

[@gauravpiyush7681]

Summary please add if I miss something (Which I know I must have many) : 1. Recruitment is the most Important skill of leader (The band example was awesome) 2. Most leaders spend 10% of their time recruiting, 90% of their time making up for recruiting mistake 3. “If I’m lucky, I only get recruiting wrong 70% of the time” 4. Bad hires not just time but makes you sad too 5. Accessing Candidates - His Brain, Heart and Tools

[@AlignacademyTV]

Thanks for the summary

[@AdrianGarcia-vh6fn]

Loved this talk. A company that has talent acquisition personnel who doesn't necessarily interact with the employee once they get hired, the feedback is a lot harder to get. I agree that getting that feedback is crucial to improve your recruiting process. Thank you for the insight!

[@EverythingHR]

This is great, these observations are good starting points for the HR department.

[@dhairya_gala]

this was the exact epiphony i had earlier today, i am in the business of hiring the right team more than the product or service we sell. thats the key to success as much as anything else if not the most important! great video!

[@FinalMiro]

Feels good coming back 1 year later at this video. I remember watching this for the first time, knowing that I'll have to build a team in the future. At the start I recruited people could do the job, but not great. If it was not the right person, it was hard to replace them. Now, process is fast, easy to find people, but easier to find the RIGHT person. Most of the things this video says, I applied it at-least once. Glad to hear it again.

[@miyabera9103]

How is your business going right now? Would love to hear about you and your team, what you do etc. No business offer or anything, I'm just in the position you were a year ago. Building a team right now just like you did. I would be really excited to her your story over that year.

[@krisb-travel]

@@miyabera9103 all i can say is hire remotely from countries like Philippines, i've got 4 Filipinos working remotely full time from Manpower Genius and all 4 staff cost me less than 1 single employee in the US.

[@plottwist2681]

It starts at 6:37. He spends the first 6.5 minutes talking about how bad people are at recruiting, Well thank you for figuring it out. It's a TED talk though. You're already there. You don't need to be promoting yourself.

[@lynnpham]

thanks

[@madsfj]

I appreciate your input. And you are right. People are though at different stages - so while for some you need to go 6 min in, others are 10 min, and others are 0 min. Ps; you are asked at TED to tell your story

[@ComputerSolutionsNJ]

Very insightful. Our company is setting up an HR campaign for 2024 and this was very helpful!

[@nurahfosu9731]

It’s not that they select the wrong people. Most manager lack the skills to manage people. Most candidates have the skills to do the job but most teams don’t have strong processes strategies or growth kpi’s

[@GaryLamb2020]

Agreed! So much potential us wasted due to a weak leader.

[@mjl22]

Really excellent. I spend weeks each year interviewing medical students for residency positions and residents for potential faculty jobs. I've thought a lot about how to do this "better." I've made many of the same observations albeit with significantly less eloquence and thoughtfulness.

[@tourinojacks5844]

Love it!! Game changer and confirmation that I am on the right path with my graduate school studies and plan.

[@vicentehernandez1979]

I agree with so much of what you are saying. However, I am on the fence about applicants “have to fit into the culture”. Some of theses leading organizations need to change their culture.

[@madsfj]

I agree. It should be “fit the culture you want to have”. Now it’s important to say that there is for 100 people, 100 opinions of the “right culture”, and it’s the leader though job, to select the right one and try to implement it.

[@michelletereki1310]

I agree 100%. We have gone so long looking at “culture fit” that we’’re beginning to miss out on “culture add”. How do we become dynamic if we all likely think the same....

[@loadright]

Yes that's true but that is a whole different topic.

[@shannonteague8063]

I don't mean to cause offence but you could not be more wrong in what you have said. How can a company adapt to every single person they intend to hire? They will be changing their business model every single day if that's the case. You need to hire people that align with your vision, the culture accommodates your vision, not create a vision around people "to be" that you have not even hired yet. Are you a business owner? Your statement could not be further from the reality of running a successful business.

[@NetiNeti25920]

@@shannonteague8063 what companies want is 🐑 that will put their head down and work without questioning. These days we have cults, led by psychopaths/narcissists. Companies, nations, what have you...

[@gregmangos8670]

Great points however I don't rely or believe in those algorithms but the heart and willingness factors that were shared herein. While, Mads Faurholt-Jorgensen ill agree with all your points especially the fact that we all make mistakes and should learn from them (as no one is perfect including C-level execs.) by reverting back in time (through our notes) to analyse, interpret and overcome such repetitions/obstacles in the future. However id like to hear your opinion on how leaders manage to sustain their people for an elongated period under the same umbrella to overachieve and succeed.....

[@krisb-travel]

I've been hiring Filipinos for remote jobs now for about 10 years from sites like Manpower Genius & upwork and all i can say its been so much easier hiring remote workers in the Philippines vs employees in the US or UK. Harder workers, less ego and the cost is about 80% cheaper, just makes recruiting so much easier.

[@lillyd2246]

Good reading : The structured interview:Enhancing staff selection by N.Pettersen , A.Durivage

[@respeezy]

Going to read it, this better be good Lilly.

[@dating_life350]

I wish all companies looked at the things like u do. That is pretty rare thing nowerdays

[@estheramazing2619]

I actually used it for my project at school and it was dope😊

[@kylenpillay70]

Really interesting presentation. Its amazing how vertical & horizontal alignment coupled with strong action in HRM using data, can produce such great results in recruiting the right people for the right job.

[@MartinHandfield]

If a CEO is essentially a Recruiter, then I am CEO material indeed 😎

[@shravansuthar5124]

good video explaining importance of recruiting.

[@sarshaarthebandsarshaarsha3233]

It's all about team building and how you keep your employees.

[@kenratriiswari1551]

It's relatable, esp. on "leaders spend 10% of their time recruiting and 90% of their time making up for recruiting mistakes". Let me know once you already built the algorithm :) would love to try out!

[@madsfj]

Hi Ken, I appreciate it. Sure. I made you an intro on LinkedIn to FirstMind

[@rennydatoy7638]

Well said

[@Michael-jq1hl]

Everyone knows that extroverted, agreeable, tall, good looking people have an easy time on interviews. Try not to recruit those. There's your algorithm.

[@PraiseGodandJesus528]

@@Michael-jq1hl I just got hired for a job above my experience level and I fit that exact extrovert mold however I'm an extreme introvert that's forced myself to be an extrovert in certain situations which is extremely uneasy

[@homodeus8713]

I love Benjamin Sander and love watching his master classes

[@recruitcrm]

Eagerness and interest go a long way in favour of the candidates. But, recruiters must keep evolving as well🙌

[@recruitrrichard9530]

The greatest challenge that I see around recruiting is the recruitment process having no bearing on the role. And, being over complicated to try and "assess" suitable and interest. Moreover, most interview processes assume the output ahead of any input e.g. a Job Description made for someone who is currently unknown

[@yassinali.]

I run a event staffing company, thank you for this video.

[@michaelmillerdaniau151]

This was really good and yet so hard to find ! Ray alio also has amazing stuff on hiring the best possible team.

[@majedothman5643]

Recruitment, to me, it is the best area in the HR field. So inspiring words and a great thoughts about how does it work. Not every manager knows that we took all these into consideration. I almost made 3500 interviews, some of them for real jobs and some for me to train but i ended up telling candidate what are thier issues and i have noticed. Thanks

[@NetiNeti25920]

Thanks for confirming what we are beginning to find out. Half or even more jobs are fake - to get PR or social traction for the company. Or as in your case, training for newbies. Can't wait for AI and ML to make recruiters obsolete.

[@user-pj8gq4br2t]

wha t are?...

[@naholabs]

That was amazing, thank you !

[@tawonamagede6637]

I agree with this 100%. Having the right team behind you is necessary for success.

[@tawonamagede6637]

Taking time to assess the right attitude and mindset for your team , is probably the first thing you need before trying to call people in.

[@JaySmurkzTV]

Very good video.

[@ryanfrizzell736]

Great. Now I know more information about employment.

[@jormaliikamaa8759]

Inspiring!

[@patriciakiteke1033]

Brilliant and easily digestible information!

[@marcebinger]

Love this!

[@Trigy100]

Very Good one, I loved it

[@prabhakaran1833]

Great one 🔥💯

[@ushanijayawardhana4689]

Valuable information

[@Panacea9]

This is for Funz This is the process in which I specifically and enjoyingly burned people. People would come up, say they want me to let them in for them to get a better job and dunk on my friends. They asked me to burn and trick my friends all the time. I had a lot of conflict recruiting for this already as I had ideals and beliefs that kept me safe and show my line. Most people were awful applying anyway..really really bad... They would ask me in real life where to go and I would tell them my nick so they could do it and ...they shouldnt have been asking me anyway..if you need an explaination on how to do it you shouldnt be applying at that level first. I thought "managers" were bad at doing it in the first place, And this is where I was still learning... If your leading line is "ok I will pay you to trick your friends" or "I will throw you in jail" or "This will make my career I have kids to feed" Say the last one after you built up a relationship and proved yourself first.

[@lee0399]

great talk. thanks

[@Candycanecoup]

This helped me sooooo much

[@shariwa]

so sharp !

[@madsfj]

shariwa I appreciate it ❤️🙏

[@tearsandteeth]

Mr. Carlisle from Twilight ?

[@nicholascrawford1154]

What a strange comment. Grow up

[@frankaester3594]

if you look closely you can see him sparkling 😂😂

[@motivation6969]

Dead!! 😫🤣

[@tafdirty]

I can’t unsee that now!! 🤣😂🤣😂

[@46foryounger]

I'm halfway through this and I can't speak for others but I can speak for myself. No I don't want to hire myself and yes I want someone who specializes in specifics. I'm baffled that anyone would think this way.

[@richarddzurek6147]

You can give a task like to present pitch something or use assesment tools OR just let them do the task IF you really want to get it try the job yourself EVEN executives do it to get a feel for the company KEEP YOUR NOTES TO ASSES YOUR DECISION MAKE INTUITIVE READINGS AND KEEP EM what did i interpret wrong Did i used the right tools? Did I asked the right questions?

[@Xbox360Barbados]

Thank you Mads, this is a very interesting and enlighting presentation. You mentioned the program with the algorithm but didn't say what its called. What program would you recommend for recruiting in sales?

[@madsfaurholt1558]

You can use a lot of different tools. We use Raven for IQ and FirstMind for personality

[@gregpichardo517]

Great question! Culture.

[@richarddzurek6147]

what are the right questions and specifics you need for the position ?

[@barraiser_]

This is really excellent video .

[@howardrough8296]

Dead on discussion!

[@kennethkwinje3541]

Love this. How do i join your organization

[@Gorboduc]

Doesn't this assume that employers will be flooded with competent applicants to choose from? And isn't this somewhat... unlikely?

[@madsfj]

Making better decisions isnt about being flooded or not, but comes from 2 things 1) if you have more than 1 applicant for 1 open position you have to make a choice 2) competent depends on the eyes; for most these are only "shouting talents", which means you miss out on "whispering talents"

[@thallurimoses]

Where can I learn more about that algorithm he was talking about?

[@malihehm.rasekh1405]

Thank you very much. But "Watching a new employee for three days or a week and then coming to the conclusion that he or she is the right candidate or not? You may make a big mistake and miss many other reasons that may help you to improve a lot of things and point of view" .

[@margo7638]

Thanks for video. This is actual topic. I also have a problem with looking for the best candidates. I'm waste a loooong time. Colleagues, how you decide this problem? Which do you use a site or platforms? Tell me yours lifehack)

[@chasedavis7943]

What was that intro song?

[@razzda]

His work culture / work ethic is currently under scrutiny by the Danish press.

[@MrGentlebutfirm]

This guy is a typical psychopath..

[@NetiNeti25920]

Something was off about this talk right off the bat. Thanks for confirming my hunch.

[@snorttroll4379]

What do they say?

[@rathinakumar4073]

Cool

[@shantanu_kumar]

Kept waiting for that magical algorithm, but did not get it!

[@user-ir4nd8xp1l]

I asked on interview to do job for 2 day and he says it's hard and i heard it first time and he left the meeting?? Any one help

[@joseruiz-xq1px]

I just started working for a good company and i have to recruit high profiles , what advice can you give me people?

[@dansmith498]

all comes down to being prepared. understand the job req and read the applicants resume beyond just the keywords. if you have any confusion on their duties, tools/software used, etc, don't pretend to know something you dont. don't be afraid to be honest about what you do and don't know and ask questions beyond that, its just a conversation. from min wage laborers to senior executives, we all put our pants on the same way every morning

[@larger20]

Finding that diamond in the rough can make or break you...ask those who have done this...What you missed here is that this is no avenue for a start up...For you to do what this guy is talking about, you need to have a lot of cushion and solid company foundation with clear goal set, profitable or almost there and should never be negotiated..You need to have a tested approach with proven results before you go playing with fire......its either they have that basics or not they dont, once you figure this out..then you can move into finding that diamond in the rough....

[@madsfj]

It’s a good point, though we find you don’t need to. Instead the whole idea is that the more you rely on every recruiting being right, the more important it becomes. Recommend you to check out FirstMind, which is our foundation for these decisions.

[@snorttroll4379]

I am planning to go around town and asking people what they would be good at doing and enjoy. What would they be doing by themselces automatically etc. And then subsequently connecting them to opportunities that git rather than havimg them standing under a blue light if I need someone with a blue dress. Any tops on the questions that should be asked?

[@arthurnatella4921]

I don't think the person in the photo is Ben Zander.

[@rafajero-8904]

Ive been hiring people for a while. Around 5 years for some highly technical jobs (I hire Phds in Physics, Mathematics, and so on) and some less technical jobs too. I take some time: usually around 1h30m . I like to have the person explain to me anything that they are good at or that they are passionate about. I also like to hear about previous experiences, about the hardest problems and challenges they have faced and how they dealt with it. This stage is full of subtleties: is our communication efficient ? Does he understands what Im asking ? Are his answers clear ? Are they objective ? Do I think he is being honest ? Does he look respectful ? Arrogant ? Trustworthy ? I also like to apply some logic questions : 1 to 3 questions is enough. I have one easy, one medium and a hard one. For the less technical jobs the simplest one suffices. I also take in consideration I try to have people with different profiles in each Team. One person may be smarter while the other may be more organized , for example. Training well is also something that should not be taken for granted !

[@EricoFTW]

Hi Rafa, do you mind sharing your questions with me? I’m really intrigued

[@NetiNeti25920]

If I gave an interview (as a candidate) or took one (as a recruiter) like this guy conducted his TED talk, I'd be without a job, or fired right away.

[@richarddzurek6147]

Who do we look for personality / background Iq and comprehension TOOLBOX SO SKILLS AND PREVIOUS EXPIRIENCES

[@ahmadfarhan4433]

ahh i see alot of the recruiters in comments made decision solely on "they like me"

[@adrianyankov2209]

I stopped it at some point. Only after the 7th minute he starts talking about a Framework. Furthermore, he says he hires people based on an algorithm. In my opinion, this is a process that should not be automated.

[@loadright]

In one of the think tanks they held when they were deciding the roll of computers in our society a few of the participants said that there should be some kind of law about computers being given jobs that people can do. They decided that this approach wouldn't work. It would take most of the advantages you gain from having a computer. I think you might be right. This job should be left to people

[@MartinHandfield]

Yup. Algorithms are anathema to Recruiting.

[@recruitrrichard9530]

An algorithm, or technology, in recruitment assumes recruitment is a complicated system. It is not. Recruitment is a complex system that needs constant management and assessment. Selling organisations tech for their recruitment is misleading, its going back to the boss making someone a manager with no training. Tech must be lead my people, not people led by tech in recruitment IMO.

[@dominos6681]

"Recruiting not taught" how about HR courses and degrees? I am literally reading 100s of pages on recruiting backed up by peer-reviewed research.

[@SF-ce1qn]

Hi, could you share your resources? As a new career for me I would greatly appreciate this TIA

[@joshsteve9155]

I bet that you’ve never recruited at thing in your life. Good odds .

[@John83118]

This is a thought-provoking creation. I read a comparable book that was a revelation. "The Hidden Empire: Inside the Private Worlds of Elite CEOs" by Adam Skylight

[@user-bp8hx3ci1e]

the video is beautifull. is good video.

[@paketikk8353]

Привет всем студентам из России

[@MeridiusMaximus]

how about companies fitting people's humanity, instead of people fitting companies inhumanity? Nothing new what you say in here...

[@Grievas85]

Oh my god... this is the first time that I'm interested in a TED Talk. Are they all so rhetorical and and philosophical? Is he just advertising a course or what? Because he goes on for 10 minutes with saying NOTHING...

[@user-dn9vd9xg9p]

Hiring the best team is difficult when incentives will be offered for hiring based on "equity". We have been through this before thru affirmative action and it was a huge failure. What's the difference between the new agenda of "equity" in hiring and "affirmative action" (which was a proven failure) . Goal should be to Hire the most Qualified folks and that should be the agenda regardless of race/ethnicity/gender,etc..

[@ktboltsman8706]

Info GYPSY

[@relaxinggospelmusic2421]

😘

[@bluezy710]

I'm laughing so hard at this man's posture as if he's some big time tech CEO lol I disagree with quite of bit of his perspective and the fact so many recruiters agree with him shows why there are so many bad companies to work for in this day and age. I don't find his mindset effective in the long-term at all. A recruiter's life isn't easy when you "select the right person." Selecting is one thing, keeping them is a whole other skill set. Also, affecting culture shouldn't be a major priority of a company in hiring. People adapt to cultures if they value either the culture they're inserted in or what they're gaining from it, and the person's culture can contribute to making your company culture better and less myopic. A lot of great talent is wasted because companies learn to become obsessed about culture. Some people are perfectly happy just coming to work and being proud at doing their job well instead of having to fit in a culture. If you hire for culture, you hire personalities, not talent. More importantly, recruiters are terrible at putting themselves in the candidate's shoes and figuring out what the job will help fulfill in the life of that candidate. That's the most important piece if you want to keep them for a long time.

[@Kyyda]

Blue lock disagrees

[@grv_agni]

omg big problem -> look i made an app

[@brijmohanbohra6740]

13 minutes

[@sterlingpless9280]

People don't hire the best workers or give good workers a chance instead they hire and value laziness

[@sanyamjain9952]

1st comment. Ye................

[@madsfj]

Sanyam Jain yeah you made it 🔥

[@sibbyjay9955]

Lame

[@nizarelsarout7763]

This job is joke compared to engineering

[@petershaw1744]

I did not hear anything practical

[@michaelwardfood5489]

Hmm this guy sounds a bit obnoxious.

[@evgeny7039]

There is so much bs in this talk on so many levels...

[@brad265]

This guy has spent the whole time saying nothing

[@mba2ceo]

This all lies. My opinion