« How to Hire a High Performance Sales Team - Geoff Hamm »

In Chapter 5 of 16 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, online media sales executive Geoff Hamm details his approach to interviewing, hiring, and building teams. After meeting the candidate, Hamm asks himself whether he could sit next to the person on a cross-country flight. Hamm continues by going through more traditional elements, including interest in the position, past accomplishments, and business networks or Rolodex. If a second interview occurs, Hamm applies lessons learned in sales and management training at previous companies to gauge strengths and personality using standardized tests, namely Gallup Strengthsfinder. This helps Hamm better understand fit between individual, the role, and the team. Hamm graduated from the University of Illinois - http://illinois.edu/ - and is now SVP of Sales at at Scribd http://www.scribd.com/ in Silicon Valley. Previously he held online sales management positions at Electronic Arts, Yahoo!, Orbitz, IAC, and Excite.