The interview process is notoriously difficult for employers. There’s a looming fear of hiring the wrong person, and rightfully so. People present their best selves in interviews, so how can you really know what you’ll end up with when that person becomes your employee? Here are some things to keep in mind as you’re looking for your next staff member:
Don’t be in a rush to hire someone.
When you’re short staffed, it can be counterintuitive to take your time with the hiring process. But slowing down and making deliberate choices is much better than the alternative: making a snap judgment in an interview, bringing someone on board, training them, then realizing you’re not happy with them and ending up back at square one. Take the time to schedule multiple interviews and dig into your candidates’ backgrounds before you make someone an offer.
Make sure you hire someone who knows what they want.
Too often, people are in search of a job. Any job. They haven’t put a lot of thought into what kind of company they’d like to work for, what kind of environment they would do best in, or even what skills they would enjoy using on a daily basis. If you hire someone like this, they will discover the answer to all of these questions as they go. Maybe their new job will be exactly what they wanted and everything will be fine. But if not, they’re likely to leave, and your investment of time and effort in training them was a waste.
Make a concrete assessment of your candidates.
Once you’ve narrowed the running down to people who are genuinely interested in your position, it’s time to put them to the test. If it’s a technical job–for example, one that involves computer programming–gauge their level of competency with a skills test. If it’s a more general position, consider having your candidates complete personality inventories. Interviewing is helpful, but it’s nice to have some kind of analysis to go along with your verbal assessment.
Do you need more help with your hiring process? At Burnett’s Staffing, we assess job candidates for you, and can even find a temp-to-hire candidate so you can see your new hire in action before you fully commit. Contact one of our staffing specialists today!