Job Case
Setting:
The three vice presidents of the company, Steve, Joe, and Sue, are meeting with you, the president, to discuss the three applicants for the open position of national sales manager. Each VP believes a different candidate should get the job.
You: We need to get this position filled quickly. Let’s talk about the top candidates for the job. This is a really important hire for us and we need to make a good choice. So I want us all to try to put any biases aside and pick the best person for the job.
Joe: I think I should go first. What do you think about Otis Watson? I really like this guy. He’s full of experience in this field. From his resume, you can see he has 18 years of experience. He knows everything in our field from being on a sales and planning staff for five years, being a sales assistant for 4 years, being a sales coordinator for 4 years and being a regional sales executive for 6 years. It’s so amazing! You see, he’s already had some experience in managing people. He must have excellent management ability and communication skills, so we won’t need to spend too much time training him. I think his experience really matches with the Sales Manager position.
Sue: I disagree, Joe. Look, Jessica Harter has perfect previous experiences. She is definitely the best choice for us. Her track record shows that she is excellent at sales and a potential manager in the future. As an assistant manager, she successfully benefited her company. They hired her and their sales increased by 60% during the time she was hired, so she must be a good worker! That’s not easy for a novice manager. I bet she loves her profession and is willing to devote herself completely to her career. We need an ambitious person to lead our sales force. Her experiences in different workforces can bring something new to us.
Steve: You both make good points. However, I think John Meyer should be our choice for the National Sales Manager position. He’s already doing this type of work at Arbor Shoe, and he doubled their sales in the last four years. Everyone knows Arbor Shoe only hires the best people, so he must be good. That’s exactly the kind of drive we need in a Sales Manager. Otis doesn’t sound aggressive enough. Look at how slow his promotions were. And Jessica seems to me like she might be too aggressive. Remember her interview. I was kind of put off when she was being interviewed by the three of us and she took charge of the interview and asked so many questions. That wasn’t how I think an interview should go and I feel like we didn’t get to ask as many questions as normal.
Sue: Well, Jessica might be a aggressive person, but this is exactly the kind of leader we need. Sales staff always follow the type of leader who is strong and commanding. I suspect that Jessica is good at persuading people, especially customers. It’s an important skill in business. Plus I was shocked that in his job interview John told us about unscrupulous and possibly illegal sales practices at Arbor Shoe. That’s one of the reasons he wants to leave, but he actually flat out told us he had done those things. That makes me question his ethics.
Joe: I don’t know how you can say that Otis isn’t aggressive, Steve. Look, all of his experience is in New York, and you know that’s a cutthroat place. Seems to me that if you aren’t assertive enough in that environment you wouldn’t last very long. But I agree that there’s something about the way Jessica presents herself that seems too aggressive to me.
Sue: We are in business, you know; we’re not a non-profit organization! We need someone who can gear up our team and increase our sales volume as soon as possible! We must recruit someone who is ready. I believe Jessica is the one.
Steve: I agree, Sue, that we need someone who is fairly aggressive and ready for the job. I think John meets these criteria as well. John has an excellent track record with a steady career path showing solid growth and progress. To top that off, he’s a military man. I think some military discipline might be just what our sales force needs.
Joe: Otis got his MBA at Columbia University! That’s an excellent university and has got to count far more than military experience. I mean, what does military experience have to do with sales? Plus, Otis impressed me when we were talking about his duties in the job. He immediately knew what was expected of him in this position. Of course the new hire has to be a man. We’ve always had a man in that position.
Sue: I agree, Joe, that military experience shouldn’t be a factor here. But if we’re going to talk about quality of education, Wellesley, where Jessica got her degree, is one of the top colleges in the nation. And, shame on you, Joe. I don’t see any reason why we have to have a man in that position just because it has been filled by a man in the past.
Joe: Maybe so, but Jessica has a gap in her work history. What’s that about? As for John, why are we even considering him? He doesn’t even have an MBA! We all know an MBA helps make a person a better manager, and John doesn’t have an MBA. So he can’t be a good manager.
Steve: I agree having an MBA makes Jessica and Otis better candidates than they would have been without an MBA. I even agree that John would be a better candidate if he had an MBA. But even though John may not have an MBA, he has a solid track record of performing. Besides, Jessica is from Chicago and Otis is from New York. Will they really fit in here? They’ll be like a fish out of water. Am I wrong, or do the rest of you agree with me on that? John’s resume and cover letter show that he takes an active interest in the community and has the kind of solid roots and values that make him a solid citizen. We’re not going to have to worry about him rocking the boat here.
Sue: Joe, Jessica’s “gap” is right after college. We didn’t ask her about it in the interview, but my guess is maybe she took time off to have children. Also, Steve, Chicago isn’t exactly that different from St. Louis, just bigger! New York style might be too different to fit in here, but someone with experience in bigger markets could be a better fit than someone who’s local anyway. After all, this is a national sales manager job. All of John’s experience is local and regional!
Steve: John will focus on producing and getting the sales force to produce and that’s really what we need. We don’t need someone trying to shake up the core fundamentals that make our company great. We need someone who will focus on fundamentals and motivate our sales force to get out there and sell. I think John Meyer is the right candidate to do that.
Joe: Neither of you have convinced me. I think the fact that Otis has an MBA from a top school and experience with such big name companies is important to consider. Furthermore, I just don’t trust John. There is something about the guy that gives me the creeps. Of the three candidates, only Otis makes any sense at all.
Sue: Well, I agree that the other candidates are both very strong, but I still believe that Jessica is the most qualified. She demonstrates a very goal-driven style that would really help bring some focus to our sales organization. I think that’s just what we need.
Steve: I wish we had better information to address some of these concerns. We really should have asked for letters of reference to get more honest assessments of these candidates. Just relying on their resumes places too much faith in their view of themselves.
You: Well, it looks like we’re not going to be able to come to a consensus on these candidates, so I guess I’m going to have to make the decision.