Hiring New Employees: Four Tips to Improve Your Hiring Process
Posted on Mon, Aug 22, 2011 @ 01:58 PM
Finding the right candidate makes all the difference in today’s economy. A new employee can increase productivity, cultivate new ideas, improve processes and boost company morale. However, connecting with the perfect candidate is challenging with the vast number of people in today’s applicant pool. Here are four tips to help you find that ‘needle in the haystack’:
1. Be clear from the start – To prevent under-qualified people applying for your open position, avoid giving a vague job description. List specific requirements that demonstrate you’re looking for a particular type of candidate. Use strong language such as “mandatory” or “required” to emphasize your pre-requisites aren’t negotiable.
2. Don’t Limit Your Search – With high unemployment levels, there are a lot of active job seekers applying for open positions. While this will increase the number of resumes in the applicant pile, it’s also important to look through the currently employed pool to search for potential candidates. Technology and social networking sites has made this more possible.
3. Core Values – When you reach the interview phase, don’t overlook the importance of a candidate’s character. While expertise is important to succeed in today’s business environment, you can always teach someone a new skill… you can’t teach an individual good values.
4. Outsource - Small Business Specialist Katie Ford once said, “The time that you invest in searching for the perfect candidate is much better time spent than having to manage through a bad hire.” However, many businesses do not have the time to invest in their own search or their managers aren’t experienced in qualifying and hiring. Outsourcing the hiring process to a staffing firm experienced in identifying qualified candidates will help you filter the applicant pool and find the right fit.
Hiring a new employee is a difficult, yet necessary process to helping your business grow. Utilize available resources to improve the efficiency of the process and find your all-star employee.