The hiring process. Its fraught with potential landmines that can come back to haunt you. It’s tempting to try to create a foolproof process to avoid any potential hiring mistakes. But really, if you assemble too many hoops for candidates to jump through, you can lose someone with real potential – even to your competitor.
How Can You Keep the Process Simple While Avoiding Costly Hiring Mistakes?
Start with the job description. Distill it down to the essentials. Avoid creating a laundry list of competencies that describe the perfect candidate. Look at current employees who excel in a similar position and figure out why. Evaluate candidates against these benchmarks to increase your chance of finding similarly talented prospects.
Make it easy to apply. Request resumes or provide a brief online application. Use a high-quality ATS to ensure that resumes don’t drop into a black hole.
Communicate with applicants regularly. When you begin the hiring process, tell them how long you expect it to take, who is involved in the decision-making process and what steps are involved. Keep in touch with candidates via phone or email to let them know the status of the search.
If you offer the job to another candidate, make a courtesy call to the other finalists. Don’t leave people hanging indefinitely.
Choose the right interviewers. Some people are terrible at interviewing. Others have no idea what to look for in a candidate for a specific position. Find a balance and agree on metrics that each interviewer can use to judge the prospective employees. Don’t ask people who hate to interview to pitch in. Don’t put a candidate in the same room with an “interviewer” with no people skills.
Hire for fit, train for skill. There is no such thing as a perfect candidate. Someone who meets every one of your qualifications will be bored in the position within six months. Hire strong, talented individuals, even if you think the role may be a bit of a stretch.
Not only will they last longer with your company and in the position, but they will be so eager to prove themselves that they are likely to excel. And you know what your company culture is like. Don’t hire someone who will drive the current employees crazy. Choose the candidate who will fit seamlessly into your team.
At THE RIGHT STAFF, LLC, our experienced recruiters can help you simplify your hiring process. They can recruit, screen and interview candidates, narrowing your candidate pool to a select few. Contact us today to learn more!
