Finding the perfect hire is a long, difficult process, and even if you think you follow all the right steps, sometimes what you think is a perfect fit turns out to be a bust that costs you time and money. While every company and human resources department chooses to hire differently, there are some key things to consider to help ensure the greatest amount of success in hiring your next major team member.
Set Expectations
The first thing you should always do before seeking out a new employee is to set your expectations and keep them in check. No matter how much we like to think there is, there’s no such thing as the “perfect employee.” Everyone comes with flaws and quirks that could, depending on the company, be seen as a detriment to the role for which they’re interviewing. There does exist, however, the possibility of a great employee that can be molded into the perfect type of employee for your particular set of needs. The trick is being able to identify the sorts of concerns that you, your team, and the position can help develop into positives, rather than simply viewing them as negatives.
Questions Are Key
Anyone can look at a resume and see the perfect candidate, but sometimes it takes a specific and tailored line of questioning to separate the good from the “bad.” Before you even begin looking at resumes, you should sit down with the key members of your hiring staff and team with which the potential candidate will be working. The questions should be written not just to get an idea of the interviewee’s personality, but to get a glimpse of how well they will fit in with the company culture, whether or not they can perform the various duties outlined in the job description, and how well they’ll get along with the rest of the team. While it’s certainly a learning process to determine the best questions for each individual scenario, you can refine your questions and the interview process by practicing on current employees, especially the most recent hires, as they will likely be able to provide the best possible feedback.
Social Media Offers Insight
Almost every new hire, regardless of the company, is subject to a background check before starting, but branching out and doing your own investigation can reveal a lot about a person. Beyond a simple Google search, you should do your best to seek out potential hires’ social media accounts and see what they’re like outside of work. It’s very possible the person you just interviewed put on a front, and while their qualifications and personality seem to mesh, forums like Facebook and Twitter can reveal a lot about a person.
Involve Others
One on one interviews can be eye-opening, but multiple perspectives from various individuals within the company can allow for things a single person might have missed. Beyond this, it also allows the candidate to get a good look at the company culture and see how team members work together. This can be accomplished through either individual interviews or group interviews, and you should let the job description and the company culture decide how you approach them.
Test Their Knowledge
People lie on their resumes. It’s not a secret, and every employer knows this. While tiny white lies or exaggerations might be no big deal, some things, such as inflating one’s skill level in a certain area (like Microsoft Excel) could result in a clueless new hire who winds up way in over their head. During the interview you should have some tests prepared to make sure the interviewee is well-versed in the major programs used during day to day operations or other skills necessary to succeed in the job. On the other end of the spectrum, you can tell a committed person from someone simply trying to find any job by asking them questions about the company to prove they did their research. Those who want the job the most will have spent time getting to know their potential new employers, and will likely use that knowledge to ask engaging questions during the interview process.
These five questions are merely a start to ensure the hiring of a successful candidate. Since every industry and every company has its own unique characteristics, it’s import to figure out what works for you, rather than relying on blanket statements. These universal questions, however, are industry agnostic and thus a great foundation for ensuring continued success.
