Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/822777
14 The PCB Design Magazine • May 2017 THE HIRING GAME ally fired for cause. Many employers try to avoid friction at the end by filling out the papers as though an employee were laid off, which covers up the truth when there is a problem employ- ee. This is essentially kicking the can down the road, causing a very expensive, painful problem for every subsequent employer who is duped into hiring this person only to experience the truth first-hand. When all else fails, we'll post the job open- ing on our website. If we are seeking a new soft- ware developer, we usually call Georgia Tech University, down the road from us, to see who might like a senior internship that can become a salaried position right out of school, or find a developer who is graduating in the upcoming semester who might like to interview. When it comes to software developers, new talent is al- ways nice to mix into our mid- and senior-level experienced teams. Over time, we have found that, due to the specialized nature of our industry, posting to job sites isn't helpful. It just creates a tidal wave of resumes, most of which are for candidates who are not relevant, qualified, or even fluent in English. Since Intercept is a smaller company, we don't require a recruitment team, but that also means we don't have a lot of time to wade through useless resumes. For us, it's a good bet that putting something on our careers page will snag someone we'd like to talk to, because any- one looking for a job in EDA will seek us out as opposed to the other way around. Selecting the Right Person Whether hiring an account manager or a new software developer, they are always put through our standard software training for both our Mozaix schematic software as well as our Pantheon PCB/hybrid/RF layout software. We do this because they absolutely must have working knowledge of the products that Inter- cept thrives on. You can't sell something you know nothing about, nor can you write code within an application without knowing how it needs to come out for the person using that ap- plication. Even marketing a product that you've never used is an impossible expectation in this market space. There are plenty of work places where a job is black and white: Make a sales quota, finish coding a project according to the specification, and make hard line release dates. But Intercept expects more. Our staff members need to really understand what they are doing, and have in- telligent dialogue with account managers, mar- keting managers and product managers. We ex- pect collaboration, engaged thought processes, and detailed analysis from all sides. So, this trial phase of asking a new hire to conduct himself on his own through the train- ing manuals really brings out the personality we will be working with down the road. When a new hire is constantly getting up to ask a ques- tion about this or that, we know things are pro- gressing well. Alternatively, when another new hire rips through the manuals without ever get- ting stuck or asking any questions, that's a red flag. Running advanced electrical engineering and PCB layout software is not simple. Every- one gets stuck at some point, and everyone has at least one question to ask. Everyone.