In 2002, bass player Jason Newsted left the heavy rock band Metallica and the band were left out there figuring out who his replacement would be.
One of the most popular music bands ever, a high performance team under a different light, lost one of its key members.
They faced a Talent Acquisition situation and engaged a Search and Selection process. 7 Finalists [1] made it past the “headhunter” and were put in front of the Client – Star-band Metallica.
All the finalists had great technical skills, impressive career tracks, but only one would get the “we offer you 1 million dollars to join our band right now” line from Lars Ulrich.
What made the difference? A single word: Passion
On the DVD “Some kind of Monster”, there are 8 minutes of the interviewing process. It is quite similar to the usual talent acquisition process that you would find at a common company. It can be very interesting to watch in full.
One of the candidates, the amazing bass player Danny Lohner, struggles with some songs [2] (heavy rock listeners only!) and they even have to tell him how the songs go. How would he think that he would get the job if he didn’t know his part? He was just not ready to get beyond the technicalities and make the connection on a different level. The level that the band needed someone at: trust, communication, friendship … to help make the band better.
Another candidate, Robert Trujillo, was also on the list. In different passages of the video [3] you can see that Rob goes beyond the technical skills and takes it into a whole new level, one of his own that he CREATES, while distancing him from the rest of the candidates.
On the recap meetings show in the DVD, not only “He was the first guy that really looked like he was not struggling with it” – sound technical skills – but “you make us play better man. You make the band sound so much better.” He was able to connect on a different level.
No wonder why he was chosen.
Conclusion: Deliver Passion
Your technical skills are a GIVEN. Otherwise you would not be there at the interview. Demonstrate passion to Get the Job. Be prepared, know the company in advance, anticipate the questions, do the homework, anticipate scenarios. Anticipate action plans. The interview is FOR REAL, demonstrate how you would perform TODAY if you would be given the job. Don’t act as “I’ll learn …”, but “SEE HOW I DO IT …”
- Be the “Master of Puppets”
[1] Scott Reeder (Kyuss), Twiggy Ramirez (Marilyn Manson), Pepper Keenan (Corrosion of Conformity), Robert Trujillo (Ozzy Osbourne, Suicidal Tendencies), Chris Wyse (The Cult), Eric Avery (Jane’s Addiction), Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails)
[2] minute 5:10
[3] from minute 3:03 to 3:24, minute 4:06, from minute 5:18 to 5:20
Hey Jordi,
Very interesting article, thanks for using BranchOut! My name is
Alison Hillman, I’m BranchOut’s Community Manager.
BranchOut leverages Facebook to help professionals improve their careers and assist companies to hire the best candidates. Facebook is significant for 4 main reasons:
Facebook is the largest social network – with 800 million monthly active users. LinkedIn only has 40 million monthly active users, meaning that Facebook is more than 15 times larger than LinkedIn.
Facebook is more diverse thank LinkedIn. LinkedIn focuses on the top 10% of the workforce: upper-level, white collar managers. BranchOut, like Facebook, has this demographic, as well as the other 90% of the workforce. Companies can hire the full spectrum of their workforce – not just top managers – on BranchOut because it reflects Facebook’s global diversity.
Facebook has the highest level of engagement. People visit Facebook and spend more time on it than any other site. 50% of all users visit Facebook every day. People share more information on Facebook than any other site.
Facebook is where you connect with your real relationships – your family, friends, and closest colleagues, not someone you met at a conference for 5 minutes.
BranchOut is more powerful than other professional networks because it leverages the scale, diversity, engagement, and strengths of relationships on Facebook. Happy to be a resource if you have additional questions.
Cheers,
Ali
I just found a great article on the Wall Street Journal that actually confirms our vision of the current situation
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/business/branchout-and-beknown-vie-for-linkedins-reach.html?scp=1&sq=branchout&st=cse