How to Hire—and Get Hired—in a Recession

The founder of Silicon Alley Reporter and Mahalo.com offers advice to employers trying to make the right hire and candidates struggling to land a job

By Jason Calacanis

Editor's note: This column is adapted from a recent e-mail Calacanis sent to his e-mail subscriber list.

Unemployment in the U.S. is going to race past 10% in the coming months and probably peak at 11% or 12%, according to the smart folks with whom I'm privileged enough to spend some time. There's an outside chance (call it 20%) that we might have a "disastrous event" that causes it to hit 15% to 20%. Sounds impossible, I know, but there are many regions in the U.S. already in the mid-teens.

The smarter folks whom I speak with think the recent market rally is "dead cat bounce" in nature and that we're "testing the top" before a return to the bottom. Who the heck knows what's going to happen with the stock market? What I want to talk about today is your employment—or employee—market. The stock market is the 10,000-foot view, but butts in chairs working? That's the 10-foot view. Let's stay micro in this essay, shall we?

Witness: We just put out a job for an entry-level researcher and had 200 résumés from highly qualified candidates in under 24 hours. We posted the gig at $10 an hour. Recent searches for a director of product and various sales positions at my company, Mahalo, resulted in 400-plus applications per position in a week. My In-box is flooded with really great folks desperate for a lead on a gig ("Hey, Jason, we've met a couple of times. I've been working in the Internet since 1997 and I was laid off in October…") My heart goes out to everyone who is stuck, or up against it, right now. I've been there; it sucks.

Anyway, let's cut the small talk get to the big pink (slip) elephant in the room: who gets laid off—and who gets hired—in a down market.

Some Background

Over the past 15 years, as a CEO and entrepreneur, I've hired well over 500 people, laid off over 50, fired a couple dozen bad apples (many of whom are on my e-mail subscriber list!), and actually helped make a handful of people millionaires. Before I ran my own company, and even while running my companies, I've received countless job offers.

Bottom line: I've been around the block, and I know exactly why people get hired and fired.

Before the recession hit, I was actually convinced that my techniques for hiring could land almost any willing candidate a job. In this current mess, I can't make any guarantees, but I can definitely tell candidates that if they follow my advice, they'll have a much stronger chance at landing their dream job. For employers, I promise you that these tests and techniques will land you more killers then duds.

In each of my points below, I'm going to start with an overview and then move on to a "For Candidates" section and a "For Employers" section. I'm really blending two essays into one here so that each party can understand the other's perspective. I hope this isn't too confusing, but you guys understand that sometimes I ramble before getting to something worthwhile.

For Candidates: People Who Work Harder Win

Wait, don't give up on me yet! I'm well aware that this first point is absurdly obvious, but for some reason, many folks overlook or discount this basic fact. The truth is, hard work pays off in almost all things: sports, education, relationships, and work.

The more you put into something, the better it tends to work out. (Brilliant observation, I know.)

If you're looking for a job, you want to send out as many signals as possible that show that not only are you not afraid of hard work, but you're actually turned on by it. You must understand that, right now, there are too many candidates fighting for each position. The leverage that led to bidding wars between employers two to three years ago is gone—just like the bidding wars over houses are over.