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last update: April 2007

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Hire People Others May Overlook


Student interns can become great employees

Transcript for this Segment

HATTIE: Judi Jacobsen hires people others may overlook.

JUDI JACOBSEN: I really feel one of the best things you can do for people is giving them meaningful work, and I saw that. We had people working for us that probably wouldn't be working for anybody else.

HATTIE: What do you mean?

JUDI: We had refugees from Cambodia that didn't speak English, but they could package cards. We had a Down's syndrome young man. Now we have deaf people. (To employee, speaking and using sign) Do you know if it's gonna be a boy or a girl?

Unidentified Employee: I won't know until the baby arrives.

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Key Idea #3 of this episode

1.		Hire Attitude Not Skill
2.		Hire People Who Can Read People
3.		Hire People Others May Overlook
4.		Hire Nice People With Energy
5.		Offer A Career Track With Good Pay and Benefits
6.		Create An Intern Program
7.		Promote From Within
8.		Put What You Want In Writing
9.		Interview and Audition
10.		Teach, Preach, Coach and Counsel
11.		Provide real Training
12.		Train Everyone, Not Just Sales
13.		Listen To All Ideas
14.		Offer A Job For Life

The Case Study Guide

Key Idea #3: Hire People Others May Overlook

Judi Jacobsen started hiring "displaced homemakers" several years ago. She has a group of deaf employees and she has a number of Cambodian and Korean immigrants working for her.

Topic for discussion: What are the advantages of hiring the disadvantaged?

Answer: From a business point of view, they tend to be very loyal. Because they haven't been given much opportunity, they appreciate the job they have, they show up on time every day and they don't complain. From a personal point of view, Judi experiences great satisfaction from hiring people that others avoid.

The only disadvantages are around the issues of training and communication. In Judi's case, she learned American Sign Language so she could communicate with the deaf employees and she offers English classes to the immigrants. A "displaced homemaker" is a woman who raised her children and now finds herself in the workforce for the first time in over a decade. Judi is careful to give them extra words of encouragement which comes naturally for her.

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