Consultant Matches People With Right Jobs

by Teresa Anicola, Courier-Post Staff

If you're looking for a new way to hire employees, C. Wesley Middleton may be just the person to help.

President and founder of Tried and True Evaluations in Cherry Hill, he is a hiring consultant and sales trainer.

Middleton has more than 30 years' experience in sales and management. Although he focuses his practice mainly on the automobile, insurance and real estate industries, he said his hiring methods can be utilized in any profession.

"My belief is that if you hire the right person and manage them properly, you're not going to have turnover," said Middleton. "A lot of times people are in the wrong jobs."

Evaluating Potential Hires

One of the first steps Middleton takes with a new client is to hold a recruitment session. A one-man operation, he writes the advertisements and conducts the sessions.

As people arrive, he interviews and evaluates them with an exercise that can be completed in about 10 minutes. He said this exercise is key to a successful hire. It indicates two patterns: how a person really is and how someone adapts to his or her job.

The exercise indicators include whether they are detail-oriented, if they have dominant or leadership abilities or if they have good people skills.

"In sales, you need a real aggressive nature, but one of the things the exercise shows is how people use these behaviors," said Middleton, who also conducts training seminars. "A lot of people have the right behaviors, but don't know how to adapt to the job. If someone has a terrific profile and wasn't excelling, then they're not using their strengths properly."

A Growing Field

Geoffrey Day is owner of The Consulting Exchange, a 20-year-old firm in Cambridge, Mass., that helps individuals and businesses find quality consultants from its base of 5,000 members. He said the consulting field is a growing one in varying areas, the most common being computer consulting.

"There is always more supply than demand, but it's becoming even more so in the past two to three years," said Day. "Success depends on your credibility, who you know, your ability to turn an opportunity into a paying relationship and your desk-side manner."

Middleton said he has been successful as a hiring and training consultant by using strategies that he knows are effective. He has also given lectures for universities and professional organizations. He charges per evaluation and $750 to $1,000 a day for training sessions.

Scott Eckenhoff, owner of Eckenhoff Buick in Cherry Hill, is one of his clients. He is pleased with the hiring results Middleton has produced.

"Some of the best people I employ have come from his tests. From the body shop to service and sales, he's made some great recommendations," said Eckenhoff. "It's remarkable how accurate the test is. It has also helped me move people around to places they should be. Sometimes they're good employees, but they're not in the right spot."