How to check if you have the RIGHT Designer!?
Afternoon, wolves of the Economy and welcome to another day of mine :)
Today was another exciting day! After the rather sad meeting with my (ex)partner another meeting was around the corner: Meeting John, the Designer ;).
The story of John started with a party at a friend’s place. I went there with no intention to meet anybody else and just have a good time. However, as faith wants it you always find something when you least expect it. This way I met John. The same evening, I found out that John was a working with Tom Tailor and he was creating the designs for some of their retail clothes. What struck me most though was that he seemed like an eager guy PLUS at the time I was really naïve so I though he might be a good candidate to be a good designer for LinQfish.
Today was another exciting day! After the rather sad meeting with my (ex)partner another meeting was around the corner: Meeting John, the Designer ;).
The story of John started with a party at a friend’s place. I went there with no intention to meet anybody else and just have a good time. However, as faith wants it you always find something when you least expect it. This way I met John. The same evening, I found out that John was a working with Tom Tailor and he was creating the designs for some of their retail clothes. What struck me most though was that he seemed like an eager guy PLUS at the time I was really naïve so I though he might be a good candidate to be a good designer for LinQfish.
It seemed like a good idea...
so some days after we invited him for a chat and see if he would be suitable as a designer. It was really funny because I never had to hold a real job interview. Not that I was nervous but really unprepared! Don’t worry, I know how to get out of situations where I only have little time to pull something off… how do you think I made it through University? :P
Anyway, after the interview I asked John to create logo for the name LinQfish and present it to us on this day. This was not only to see how good he was but also to see if he would enjoy working with logos and website designs. Unfortunately, we weren’t really pleased with his designs he presented (although the idea itself was not bad). It looked a bit done in a couple of minutes though.
At the end of the meeting we (or mostly I, as Chris was now no longer a part of it at that point) decided that John should have another go at it. At the same time, I knew through my previous mistakes to make it clear to John that he also needs to evaluate clearly for himself if he wants to join this risky venture because I could not make the decision for him!
Anyway, after the interview I asked John to create logo for the name LinQfish and present it to us on this day. This was not only to see how good he was but also to see if he would enjoy working with logos and website designs. Unfortunately, we weren’t really pleased with his designs he presented (although the idea itself was not bad). It looked a bit done in a couple of minutes though.
At the end of the meeting we (or mostly I, as Chris was now no longer a part of it at that point) decided that John should have another go at it. At the same time, I knew through my previous mistakes to make it clear to John that he also needs to evaluate clearly for himself if he wants to join this risky venture because I could not make the decision for him!
Edited: | A few days before the deadline of John handing in the results I talked to Chris and understood that John (other than I had understood) needed more guidance of what I wanted to get done. It was from that point that I knew, John will unfortunately jump of he rolling train. Not that I even made the decision, I just felt it! |
The Lesson:
Find ways to try out new products, recruits or anything new you bring into the company (or your life for that matter) to decrease the risk of hiring or buying the wrong thing.
In my opinion it is perfectly fine to ask someone to try something out before they join you or your company, make clear though that you do not want to exploit them, no one wants to be exploited! Either offer to pay him/her some money anyway for the efforts (they might not even want it) or think of something else so they don’t feel you are just going to use them! Making a practice run with a potential employee and ESPECIALLY co-founder is a crucial to the future prospect not only your cooperation but also the success of the business. IF something does not fit and you just blindly take someone onboard with an idea you most likely run into AVOIDABLE issues!
Be kind, be cheerful and give them all a Chance.
In my opinion it is perfectly fine to ask someone to try something out before they join you or your company, make clear though that you do not want to exploit them, no one wants to be exploited! Either offer to pay him/her some money anyway for the efforts (they might not even want it) or think of something else so they don’t feel you are just going to use them! Making a practice run with a potential employee and ESPECIALLY co-founder is a crucial to the future prospect not only your cooperation but also the success of the business. IF something does not fit and you just blindly take someone onboard with an idea you most likely run into AVOIDABLE issues!
Be kind, be cheerful and give them all a Chance.