We asked Justin Oberman to provide some Getting to Market wisdom on Recuiting in the Mobile industry.  With his vast knowledge and network within the wireless industry, Justin offers a refreshingly therapeutic approach to the sector's workforce needs. Here are some of his thoughts on how to optimize your investment in human capital. 

Hiring talent in the mobile/telecom space is a tricky endeavor.  Sure, there are various sources you can use to identify potential candidates - ranging from employee referrals and in-house candidates, to recruiting ads and search firms.  Throw in online job postings, social networks and information aggregators, and the result is usually an avalanche of names.  But how do you identify who is truly right for you?
 
The wireless industry is still developing and feeds off a mishmash of other disciplines (i.e. entertainment, marketing, finance) that give it functionality and potential.  And what typically breaks down in the hiring process is that companies look for skills that are so hard to define that they almost don't exist. What is needed in our industry are professionals who have:

 - Experiences in diverse disciplines
 - The potential to leverage what they know to transition into something new
 
Taking the conventional, linear approach to recruiting, by attempting to match job requirements and skills, will yield underwhelming results.  Rather, hiring managers must re-orient their thinking and approach the evaluation talent from a different angle.  Instead of focusing on skills, hiring managers should focus on personal attributes.  Why? Because attributes more accurately reflect how people do their work and what drives them to achieve results.
 
For example, an attribute that is important for many roles in the wireless industry is courage.    What is courage?  It is an eagerness to participate.  In other words, someone who is brave enough to step into the outer boundaries of the fragmented, new media industry.   Here are a few questions to ask candidates to determine their level of courage:
 
1.      How have you reached beyond your comfort zone?
2.      What are some situations in which you had to explore the unknown? 
3.      When have you demonstrated a fearless commitment to achieve an objective?
4.      Have you risked failure in the quest for novel solutions?
 
By penetrating into a candidate's inner professional psyche, you can paint a picture in your mind about his/her ability to not only deliver value to your enterprise, but also fit into your organizational culture.