The prior post, 5 Questions Every Should Search Committee Should Ask, left off 2 other questions that are crucial.

1. Are the requirements your real requirements?

The most effective senior manager I ever met never went to college. He was the head of the Global Position System program, the Space Shuttle Program, and the B-1 Program simultaneously. He was a true guru of winning and running large systems programs. But he never would have applied for your position if it had a requirement for even one college course.

The real requirement is ability and willingness to do the job. It’s not about what college attended or what they studied. At least, if they have a couple of years of real experience.

2. What is this job worth?

You must determine, up front, what you are willing to pay for the functions listed above.

This is a single number, entirely internally derived. It not a function of the candidate’s education. It is not a function of of the candidate’s experience.  These are indicators that might cause you to select one candidate over another, but you should never pay more than the a priori number you choose, since that is what the job is worth.

And, you should never pay less. The workman is worthy of his hire.

Does this mean you cannot negotiate compensation? Absolutely not. Your best candidate may not be able to perform all the functions with the degree of supervision you plan. He or she may want to trade-off base salary for benefits or vice-versa. But if they do the job, they should get the pay.

It is certainly not a function of of the candidate’s prior salary. That is totally irrelevant to anything related to your business. It is a function of business conditions and negotiations that may have occurred decades ago.

Since the compensation number has been set, there is no reason that you should not publish it along with the job description. This will all be the subject of future posts.