But it is only the beginning of the problem. Imagine that you succeed here and really hire the 100% best candidate as you SEO guy. And he/she is the best in what he does, in his little niche of SEO. Imagine he is your ‘Link Ninja’ as you call him up there.

12 months pass by, and he is up for review. What are his goals for the next 12 months that you are going to base his performance bonus? To achieve 20% more inbound links than last year? And a year after again the same?!

The salary growth is not really exceed 10 to 15% ,… so your PERFECT Link Ninja has absolutely no career path. The only possible one is to stop him generating links but managing junior team members in doing that or managing a vendor SEO company in link building. Since he is the 100% best Link Ninja, he is not going to be happy with anyone’s performance – inferior to his. This results in him not doing the job he is good at – link building, but having to manage inferior link builders. This will give him the feeling his staff is mediocre and that his employer does not invest enough in the SEO Link Building Team.

Here is the point where you lose your Link Ninja – most likely to your competitor – who will use his experience in your industry…

A bit of a Human Resource perspective here, but I could not help myself! 🙂

Ivan | http://www.JobsBlog.ie

This is actually one of the things I kept in mind when I was job-hunting.

It seems to me there are two mindsets among employers (and interviewers):

1- How can I make this person fit into this job? (even if they are a square peg and the position is a round hole)

vs.

2- How can I make this person work to his strengths? (maybe create a new position for the person in accordance with the needs of the company)

Some job descriptions are very rigid and strict, so in my mind they fit into number one. Others are very loose, sometimes to the point of vague, and they fit into number two.

Ege

I have plans to come down to TO this year and shake up the shop there… you have been warned.. hee hee

Dave

ah, ha! that explains a lot. pity that so many fall for it.

“The best way to ensure that you’ve got a Rock Star is to let people work to their strengths. When you allow for loose job descriptions and new ways of thinking, you’ll be surprised at how people can shine.”

that’s awesome advice! it worked for me.

That being said, tell Jeff to send a limo filled with cash ( maybe some red smarties) and have my corner office at the ready (padded walls of course). I shall be waiting :0)

Thanks for the post…

Dave