6 Steps for Hiring the Right Person
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Landing a great new hire is truly an art form. And an elusive one, at that. Whatโs the secret? Does anyone actually know? Thatโs up for debate, but we can at least offer you a few key tips to get you well on your way.
Call Bluffs ASAP
People tweak their resume, even lie on their resume, like itโs no big deal. So use their references, especially any previous management referrals, and always complete background checks. Run your candidates through a TransUnion pre-employment background check and you will know with total confidence where they actually stand. After your reference checks and background checks come through, use the information to weed out any candidates that donโt meet your standard qualifications, or donโt quite seem to be who they advertise. Quick and simple.
Seek Diversity
A common pitfall for hiring managers is that they always hire people like them, and it leads to having too many cooks in the kitchen. You need to distance yourself from the evolutionary phenomena that draw you to people similar to you; it used to mean โsafety,โ now it just means โclosed-minded.โ Once youโve taken diversity to heart, look for it in all ways: diversity of thought, opinion, looks, background, schooling, experience, everything. You will broaden the perspective of your company and therefore will be increasing the potential for new ideas and fresh outlooks.
Hire the Person, Not the Skills
Yes, they should be qualified, but youโre still going to train them on the exact skills you want them to have. You canโt train them to have the desired personality for the job, though. Thereโs a lot of research out there about how hiring a newbie with a strong work ethic and team mentality may be a better long-term choice than the perfectly qualified candidate with a sour attitude and a tendency to cut corners and clock out early.
Run Tests
On your end, youโre doing background and reference checks. But on their end, give them homework! Make them prove to you that they are the best for the job. Make your top candidates put their money where their resume is, and ask them to complete a skill test for hiring with eSkill. This will vary wildly depending on the job listing. Give them a realistic โtestโ to be completed and delivered to you prior to an in-person interview. Doing so will give you a standardized tool for you to compare all candidates evenly, on an even plane directly related to the job at hand.
Hire Unanimously
At the very least, get a second and third opinion on your choices, regardless of the overall leadership dynamic. If youโve got a whole team of people eager to hire the same person, you know thatโs a great sign. Chances are youโve successfully identified the perfect diverse applicant with a great balance of personality and experience. Your colleagues all agree, so go ahead and pull the trigger! However, if you get a bunch of mixed signals and different opinions, donโt be too quick to dismiss them. Take their concerns to heart. Is it so impossible that there might be some oversight? Have you missed something? Why is this specific candidate up for debate between you and your trusted colleagues, who are all on the same team?
Sweeten the Pot
All-star job candidates know exactly what theyโre worth, and they wonโt settle for anything less. Sure, youโll be able to secure a decent hire for decent pay (in job listings, this translates to โcompetitiveโ)โmake sure your pay rates are competitive with Salary.com. But if you want the perfect hire, that person is going to be looking for the perfect fit for themselves, too. It makes sense when you think about it: if youโre expecting nothing short of awesomeness from your employees, theyโre going to expect the same from their employer. Good employees will settle for โgoodโ pay. Amazing employees will not.
With these mindful fresh tips in your toolkit, thereโs no doubt that youโll be bringing in all-stars by the dozen. Trust your gut, trust your colleagues, do your homework, and make sure your offers are impossible for the right person to refuse.
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Newly middle-aged wife of 1, Mom of 3, Grandma of 2. A professional blogger who has lived in 3 places since losing her home to a house fire in October 2018 with her husband. Becky appreciates being self-employed which has allowed her to work from 'anywhere'. Life is better when you can laugh. As you can tell by her Facebook page where she keeps the humor memes going daily. Becky looks forward to the upcoming new year. It will be fun to see what 2020 holds.