Though the act of hiring employees to fill vacancies in your staff may seem like child’s play compared to the larger decisions you face each day as a manager, supervisor, or CEO, chances are you are greatly underestimating how crucial your choices can be. In fact, a mere one out of four employees that you hire will actually make the cut long term, and your odds can even get worse if you make some of the more common mistakes. However, there are key indicators and little nuances you can look at that will help you choose the right person for any job, and one you get the science down you can start eliminating the poor candidates before they ever receive a paycheck.
Create job descriptions based on an actual set of expectations rather than vague concepts that can lead to a misunderstanding of what the job entails.
If at all possible, recruit from within your own company or network because you can access a track record of their performance more accurately.
Though it’s easy to overlook an out-of-work candidate who has recently been laid off, consider taking advantage of a “trial” period if their skill-set is in line with the job description.
Besides looking at just their resume or college degree, dig deeper into their accomplishments and past performance evaluations to narrow down great candidates.
Have your candidates setup phone references or interviews for you with their previous supervisors. Be aware of those supervisors’ actual qualifications using a research company or services such as LinkedIn.
Ask “competency” questions like “How did you improve your last organization, and how could you do that for us?”
For the most accurate results, always interview potential employees in groups of two interviewers. Once the candidate leaves, you can share your thoughts to come to better conclusions.
Always use a scientific way of scoring and evaluating potential employees to quantify their capabilities into a number. This eliminates the “gut feeling” errors that are commonly made when a potential employee happens to be a great interviewee.
By being as prepared as possible with a scientific way of interviewing your potential employees, you can ensure the best results when hiring to fill vacancies in your staff. Though no method of hiring is 100% perfect, setting yourself up with a repeatable program and refining it as you find success and failure will give you the best odds of finding the right person every time.
