Smart hiring practices are a foundation of any company’s wellbeing. Whether a company needs to hire its first employee or 51st, the process should be carefully measured by these essential factors.
1. Job Description.
The job description is a written announcement of specific experience and/or educational requirements, job responsibilities, and other qualifications as well as position performance expectations/standards that potential applicants must meet to perform the job well. Also, you can include a description of your business, as well as a mission and vision statement. Answer these questions:
- Who would be an ideal candidate and what competency levels are needed to fill the position?
- What kind of a personality is best suited for your company atmosphere?
The detailed job description attracts the right people for the job and enables the new employee to possess a good understanding of the expectations and how it will affect his or her performance evaluation. A well-written job description is also part of your company’s lawsuit-fighting arsenal.
2. Vacancy Announcement.
Our contemporary world has many ways to get the word out and find the right person – from the old fashioned to the very modern platforms. Newspaper ads – are a very passé way to find job candidates but there are individuals that go to the newspaper to look for jobs even though newspapers are trying to eliminate their “Help Wanted” sections; word of mouth is old fashioned, but can still work; online recruitment sites – such as ZipRecruiter, Indeed, Glassdoor, CareerBuilder, Monster, and many others are excellent places for eVacancy Announcements; Social Media – LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are equally good tools to help find the right job candidates.
3. Filter Job Candidates.
Weeding out and screening candidate resumes are very time consuming but at the same time – very important. You need to eliminate anyone who doesn’t meet the requirements in terms of precise experience or/and educational necessities.
4. Recognize Your Candidates.
This step requires looking into candidates’ work history.
- Where has the person worked before, what kind of jobs and from what industries do the candidates come?
- Does she or he have experiences applicable to your business?
- What are their accomplishments in prior positions?
- What is the duration of employment at other positions?
- Is there a pattern of shifting jobs every few months?
- If significant education is essential for the position – what is the candidate’s educational background?
Examine how the information in a resume is structured and if there are any inaccuracies or mistakes especially if you are looking for someone who will work at a higher level.
5. The Initial Selection.
To make the hiring process for this position a bit easier, invite each candidate, whose resume looks good, for a five-minute phone interview. These few minutes will give you an opportunity to eliminate candidates who don’t have “must-have” skills for the job. Here are some phone interview questions to ask candidates:
- Why are you leaving your present role?
- What made you apply for this position?
- What is significant to you from a job?
- How would you illustrate your approach to work?
It’s important to ask the same questions of each candidate and take notations on their answers as it will allow you to note any red flags. A good tip is always listen to your intuition; if something doesn’t feel right about a candidate, it most likely isn’t.
6. In-person Interviews.
After initial phone interviews you should have a short list of at least five potential candidates and organize the next level interview; have an in-person conversation with them that lasts about 30 minutes. For this step you need to develop a list of questions you will ask all candidates. Please keep in mind that some questions are illegal to ask, such as candidates’ religion, age, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, marital status or number of children.
Ask questions related to their previous professional experience and education (if it is applicable) and request that they review each of their previous jobs and describe their job responsibilities. You may also ask:
- What one talent makes you the most skilled for this position?
- What excites you most about this job?
- What career accomplishments are you most proud of?
- What were challenges in your career? How did you deal with the situation and what did you learn from it?
Also, ask each of them to say something about themselves that other people may be surprised to know about them. Additionally, ask about hobbies they may have; it’s always good to know. Moreover, it is important to permit the candidates to talk, to express themselves, and allow them to ask you any questions they may have. Don’t forget to take notes about the conversation and record your impressions.
7. Verify Top-Pick Candidate’s Information.
After the hard work, you have identified the person you believe would be the best fit for the position. Now it’s time to do final checks before making a job offer. It’s crucial to perform a background check (education, employment, criminal records, and motor vehicle and license records), reference checks, and drug tests. Keep in mind that just because something is written down doesn’t automatically mean it’s true. For reference checks, call at least three references – a candidate’s direct supervisors – not friends. Please ask each of them if they would hire the candidate again. Don’t let your feelings drive the conclusion as some persons are better conversationalists than others and many people know how to sell themselves, which sometimes means overstating actual proficiency.
8. Job Offer.
Before you call your finalist, put together a compensation package which should include the salary and benefits (health, insurance, retirement benefits and other perks you offer). You must mention what the entire benefit package costs the company as this gives the candidate the total cost that the company will be paying to hire her or him. Once you’ve made a conclusion and prepared the compensation package, call your top choice and make an offer. Giving the person a list of reasons why she or he was the top pick will make the person feel good about being selected for the position.
Please remember, that there is no perfect method for hiring great employees. However, practicing a thoughtful and careful hiring process for your small business will go a long way towards not hiring today – what could be next week’s problem. This way you will achieve your goals and grow your business. Good luck!
