One of the hiring traps many companies fall into is letting HR hire salespeople. I apologize if this blog annoys HR practitioners but the simple truth is that most (not all) HR people are unqualified to hire salespeople. What they are extremely good at is managing the hiring process and understanding the legal aspects of hiring. This includes resume vetting, setting up interviews, monitoring interviews, first-level reference checks, etc.
HR is good at hiring ordinary people for ordinary jobs. Salespeople, like any specialized group of people, don’t fill ordinary jobs. Sales positions require someone who is intimately familiar with the job, not just the job requirements, to fill the position effectively.
As the old saying goes, it takes one to know one. That’s why, in the end, doctors should assess doctors, engineers should assess engineers, and sales managers should assess salespeople.
On a cautionary note, most sales managers make lousy HR practitioners. Where the HR professional can really make an impact is on helping the sales manager do a better job at interviewing candidates.
It may sound like an unholy alliance but they work really well.
