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Jobless claims may have dropped last week , but another the US economy still managed to shed another 565,000 jobs last week. There are few, if any, silver linings in the climbing unemployment statistics, but it does mean that small businesses that do have the resources to hire have a lot of choices and leverage. Mirela Iverac writes in Forbes that the trick is "figuring out which of those left behind were victims of the economy, and which deserved to go." Iverac cites advice from Barry Deutsch , CEO of Impact Hiring Solution s, who says that small businesses frequently hire what he calls "mismatches." How to avoid all those mismatches? As with most things, some smart work up front does the trick. First, specifically define the job you are looking to fill--generic titles are useless, says Deutsch--and quantify your expectations. Say you need a marketing director. You might require that she, within the first 30 days, assess the division, identify gaps and come up with a personal development plan for each team member; within 60 days, come up with a detailed list of potential product extensions; and within 120 days, execute a new product launch. The power of defining goals up front is that it serves as a road map for the interview, making it easier to predict whether a candidate has relevant experience and the chances she'll thrive in the new environment. Once you know what you're looking for, you have to let the world know you're looking for it. There's an art to Want Ads. One that lists a dry set of qualifications--five years of this skill, 10 years of that skill--won't cut it, says Deutsch. Read Hiring The Best Of The Left-Behind here .

With unemployment high and a lot of businesses cutting back on pay for those employees left, this would seem a good time for companies looking to hire. But as Seth Godin says, "if you need cheap bodies, this is your moment. But if you need amazing people, be prepared to work hard to find them." Godin points us to a compelling piece on hiring by Auren Hoffman , CEO of RapLeaf . Hoffman writes that economic downturns can make it more difficult to hire the right people, simply because there are more people looking for work. Hoffman believes in always hiring "A-players." And in the clutter of additional applicants, there are a lot of C-players available who might not look all that different from A-players on paper. So hiring the A-players take extra work. Essentially, Hoffman believes the number of A-players available remains somewhat constant. During big rounds of layoffs, companies shed C-players and B-players in greater proportion (see chart at right). So what's the answer? Hiring managers need to dedicate additional time to screening and testing applicants, or take your chances with B and C-players. Hoffman also says companies that are innovating in times when everyone seems to be playing it safe have an advantage. Some A-players are less likely to be looking to jump ship during tough times due to a risk adverse profile, security, financial reasons, or other reasons. They are happy where they are and more likely to hunker-down in tough times. On the flipside there are A-players that are MORE likely to leave. Tough times often paint companies into a corner and force them into maintenance mode rather than continuing to innovate. Great players love to innovate and usually NEED to innovate. It’s usually very hard to keep these type of A-players caged-up and thus this presents a big opportunity for recruiting. For instance, in the past it was really hard to hire great software engineers out of financial behemoths like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JP Morgan Chase. These companies have outstanding people and pay these people really well (often 50% above the salary at a tech company). Nowadays, even if these people have not been laid off, the great people are going to be leaving in droves. Why? Because in the next two years, it is really doubtful they will be doing anything remotely innovative. Instead they will be maintaining current systems due to the understaffed and underfunded technology departments. No fun there so expect a big exodus out of these companies. Read Hoffman's full post here .

Management guru Jim Collins --he of such bestsellers Built to Last , and Good to Great --certainly knows how to turn crisis into opportunity. He's been working on a book on how successful companies manage turbulent times. He told Fortune some of what he has found in his research. His big takeaway, it appears, is that it is all about people. In downturns and recessions, companies have an opportunity to bring in talent. The businesses that bite the bullet and acquired the key ingredient to success--the right people--will reap the benefits. The right people don't need to be managed. The moment you feel the need to tightly manage someone, you've made a hiring mistake. The right people don't think they have a job: They have responsibilities. If I'm a climber, my job is not [just] to belay. My responsibility is that if we get in trouble, I don't let my partner down. The right people do what they say they will do, which means being really careful about what they say they will do. It's key in difficult times. In difficult environments our results are our responsibility. People who take credit in good times and blame external forces in bad times do not deserve to lead. End of story. You can read the full article here , or watch a short video with Jim Collins here .