Recently I posted an update on my LinkedIn profile saying “The Boedeker Group is growing and hiring new freelance market development, marketing and sales professionals” and linked to the job descriptions that listed in detail the kind of background and experience I am looking for (message me if you want more info).
From the time I launched TBG earlier this year, eight companies – across all areas of educational product & market development and marketing – have trusted me and my team to help them accomplish their goals and I’m extremely proud of the work we have delivered. Meeting their expectations and helping them achieve their goals is my top priority so I take *very* seriously only working with people who are knowledgeable, experienced and dedicated to the projects they take on. I wrote my job descriptions including these specific qualifications and expectations and pressed “post”.
That same afternoon I posted the job descriptions I had to make yet another mid-week run to the grocery store to supply a growing 2-year old with his daily (probably too high) milk quota — and saw… THIS.
arrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhh!!!
*Sigh* Every. Single. Time. I see shopping carts scattered all over the place I have this thought:
“What people do with their shopping cart says a lot about them.”
To me it means they are thinking about no one besides themselves; not the people who come after them who need to shop, not the people who have to navigate around these carts strewn all over the parking lot, not the inconvenience overall they are causing. They don’t see how their small action has a bigger, perhaps unintended, impact.
And since this was the day that I posted my job descriptions, it hit me — I don’t want to hire people who have this kind of attitude.
It also made me realize some things – probably the most important things – that I am looking for in people to join my team didn’t make it into the job descriptions.
So here they are:
- I want to work with people who are naturally curious, who have great questions (and a lot of them) and they don’t have all the answers but are hell-bent on figuring them out.
- I want to work with people who make other people feel good. You know who I’m talking about – those people where you can’t remember exactly what you talked about but you have good feelings about those conversations. Think of the impact that kind of person has on your customers. Your customers may not remember everything they told them about your product (hopefully they do), but they will remember they liked the interaction and leave with a favorable impression of your company.
- I want to build a team of people who recognize that their actions impact others – either for the good or bad – and choose the good.
- I want to work with people who have fun in the messy; who understand that clients hire us because they don’t always have the time to do the work themselves but still need the highest of quality that will help their products succeed. They need us to be flexible, adaptable to changes that may pop up, and need us to thrive in that kind of environment.
Ultimately, I just want to work with nice people who are good at their jobs and take pride in the work they produce. Those are the people I want to build a company with.
If that sounds like you – let’s talk. And if that sounds like the kind of company that you want to hire for your product & market development and marketing needs, let’s talk in more detail to see if The Boedeker Group is a good fit. I promise you, you’ll be working with people who put their damn shopping carts back where they belong (because it’s just the right thing to do and leaves everything better than it was before; which we aim to do as well).