Finding the right employee can be tricky, whether it’s your first, 10th or 100th hire. It can be time-consuming to write the perfect job description, review resumes, conduct phone and in-person interviews, and field inquiries from prospective candidates. However, this lengthy process is worth it to avoid the hassle and expense of hiring the wrong person.
By following the right strategies, you can ensure you’re making the best choice, every time. Here are five helpful tips for identifying and hiring the right employees for your company.
Craft a candidate-focused job description
To recruit the best talent, you need to craft a great job description. It's just like marketing: You need to fully understand the type of person you want to attract, then write a job description designed to appeal directly to that individual. Otherwise, you'll attract unqualified candidates who aren't a good fit.
You should also steer away from the traditional bullet list of job duties and prerequisites. According to The Wall Street Journal, responsibility- and requirement-focused job descriptions can alienate candidates and prevent them from applying. Crafting job descriptions that focus on what the company can do for candidates have a higher response rate compared to those that focused on the company’s expectations for the candidate.
[Read: Looking to Hire Fresh Talent? The Key Is an Engaging Job Description]
Get creative with your recruitment marketing process
Once you’ve crafted your job description, don't just post on job board sites like Indeed or Glassdoor. Job seekers are frequently turning to social media platforms to find their next opportunities. Posting your job opening on Facebook, LinkedIn and even Instagram are great ways to reach the right candidates, especially millennials and Gen-Z candidates.
To find the best new hire to join your team, you might want to consider taking your interview out of the conference room to see how the candidates interact with your employees.
Shake up your interview process
The interview process is often a well-rehearsed dance, especially in larger companies. You and the candidate sit across a conference room table or desk, recapping their resume and asking generic questions about their experience and skills.
To find the best new hire to join your team, you might want to consider taking your interview out of the conference room to see how the candidates interact with your employees. Do they seem excited about joining the business? Do they ask your employees questions about their positions and show an interest in what they do? Do they treat everyone with respect, regardless of their titles?
In a New York Times article, Patty Stonesifer, chief executive of Martha’s Table and former top Microsoft executive says walking candidates through the office gives her a good sense of whether or not she’ll want to work with them.
“I’ll stop and introduce them to a half-dozen people, and see if it’s just a handshake or whether there’s some curiosity and interest,” she told The New York Times.
Look for candidates with the right personality for the job and your business
When reviewing candidates’ resumes, it’s common to use specific skill sets and education as benchmarks for finding the right candidates. However, it’s important to remember that hard skills can be acquired, but the right personality and people skills can’t.
You want to find candidates who will fit in with your current employees and your company’s culture. A willingness to dive in and a passion to join your company are especially important in new hires, so you’ll want to approach the interview process, including any initial phone screenings, through the lens of assessing that candidate’s soft skills and overall personality.
Don’t settle for the first available candidate
The most important thing to keep in mind when looking for the right candidate is to not settle. If your initial pool of applicants isn’t successful, go back to the candidate drawing board, so to speak, rather than hire someone who’s not a good match for the position.
If you’re still not finding the talent you need, you may want to look than within your own employee talent pool. Sometimes the best candidates for an open position are current employees who are looking for a new challenge.
[Read:Struggling to Hire? Good Recruiting Takes Creativity and Commitment]
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