Jeff Bezos told execs to consider 3 things before hiring someone

Jeff Bezos told execs to consider 3 things before hiring someoneJeff Bezos told execs to consider 3 things before hiring someoneAmazon is always looking to fill a ton of jobs.But before you can land a corporate role with the online retail behemoth, you have to tick three particular boxes in the minds of the hiring managers and executives vetting you.At least, thats the process CEO Jeff Bezos recommended to his team 20 years ago. In a 1998 letter to shareholders, customers, and employees, Bezos described his 2,100 employees as smart, hard-working, passionate folks who put customers first and credited setting the bar high in ur approach to hiring for the teams strength.He added that hiring policies and practices would be the single most important element in ensuring Amazons continued success.To identify standout candidates, Bezos told executives to mull over three questions before extending a job offer1. Will you admire this partie?Bezos wrote that life is definitely too short to work with colleagues you dont admire.For myself, Ive always tried hard to work only with people I admire, and I encourage folks zu siche to be just as demanding, Bezos wrote.Before founding Amazon, Bezos worked at the startup Fitel, the former banking institution Bankers Trust, and the hedge fund D.E. Shaw Co. (Business Insiders Shana Lebowitz reported that Bezos actually based Amazons hiring process on his experience at D.E. Shaw.)In 1998, he encouraged his team to compare candidates to people they admired in their own lives.2. Will this person raise the average level of effectiveness of the group theyre entering?Bezos didnt want candidates who were just good enough.We want to fight entropy, Bezos wrote. The bar has to continuously go up.Bezos asked his employees to visualize the company in five years.At that point, each of us should look around and say, The standards are so high now - boy, Im glad I got in when I did he wrote.Five years later, in 2003, the company posted its first ev er full-year profit, The New York Times reported.3. Along what dimension might this person be a superstar?Bezos has a penchant for enjoying unique meals hes partaken in the occasional sliver of iguana and has even ordered octopus for breakfast.In 1998, he revealed that he also likes to work with unique people, writing that its important to hire candidates with unique skills, interests, and perspectives that enrich the work environment for all of us, regardless of whether those traits are related to their jobs.Bezos gave a shoutout to an unnamed Amazon employee who he said was once a National Spelling Bee champion.He speculated that the person won the 1978 championship, but it was most likely Barrie Trinkle, who won the 1973 competition and worked for Amazon from 1996 to 2001.I suspect it doesnt help her in her everyday work, but it does make working here more fun if you can occasionally snag her in the hall with a quick challenge onomatopoeia Bezos wrote.This article first appeared on Business Insider.