[Hopefully my XTML worked!]

The first question I’d ask myself is, “What kind of talent?” and “In what capacity (as in what level) in the company would they be working?”

I think the traditional thinking, as it may have been mentioned in other articles here, is to go after the high achiever, preferably straight out if college. In the parent article above, people who have proven themselves in a business are being snatched from other companies.

I saw a quote in another blog attributed to Jerry Wald: “There’s no shortage of talent. There’s only a shortage of talent that can recognize talent.” Hmmm… Could be something to that.

But getting back to my earlier question, “What kind of talent?” maybe that is something overlooked by companies. Do they differentiate between the various types? There could be a hotshot engineer, vice president, or other management ‘material’ who are considered hot commodities.

Personally, I wonder about the little guy at the lower echelons of the company who, if given a chance, could make a difference. Maybe he has already been noticed by his hard work ethic and ideas presented. There may be no way up for him, mostly because there is no higher level job (not to mention better a paying one) that fits him — it would have to be created from scratch. That’s surely something, seldom done, especially if the person in question is not interested in management, engineering, sales, and etc.

I’m afraid I’ve barely scratched the surface. I’d have to put more thought into that, maybe a bit of reading in order to get an idea about how to answer your question. But, I’d be willing to bet I wouldn’t guess what might’ve been said at that meeting.I think sometimes you have to walk in another pair of shoes before you can getmore insight into the question, “How do you know/spot talent?”

Thanks