Insider thinks you need to be careful before you hire an outdoor advertising employee away from a large outdoor company to work for your small outdoor company.  Employees at large companies are used to lots of resources and sometimes flounder when they join an entrepreneurial company.  Here’s an example.

A small outdoor company I know recently hired a sales rep from a large outdoor company.

The company and the new sales rep mutually parted ways after four weeks and no new sales.

When asked to take sign pictures and to make cold calls on local businesses the sales rep said “that’s an intern’s work”.

When asked “what did you do all day at your last job” the rep said “I called on agencies and responded to proposals and took people to lunch”.

The story has a happy ending.  The company’s owner decided to resume cold calling and rented 15 signs in April and another 12 signs in May.

If you consider hiring an employee from a large outdoor company you should make sure they are comfortable with a roll-up-the-sleeves-and-do-it-yourself environment.  You also need to make sure that their conception of the job matches your conception of the job.  “What do you think a typical day will be once you’re here?” is a good question to make sure visions align.

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