Hiring is a pivotal part of any thriving company. Businesses need competent and skilled employees, so going through the hiring process is necessary. Unfortunately, despite its importance, hiring is one of the most challenging tasks any business has to carry out. As an employer, as much as you want competent employees on your team, it’s hard to sort through hundreds of candidates to match with the right ones. That’s because, as an employer, numerous factors may make you reconsider hiring a potential candidate, including failing to articulate. According to a report published by the blog, ‘Monster’ about 50% of employers said that candidates need to get better at talking and describing their skills.
While it may seem trivial, it is not. Any business cannot risk the future by making the wrong hiring choice. So, how do you improve this process and ensure only the right talent finds you? Read below to find out:
1. Use Hiring Companies to Shortlist Candidates Fast
There was a time when companies had to create advertisements to attract potential recruits and then filter through their resumes. But it’s a long and severely slow process which may take months before the hiring process gets concluded. While this way of hiring may have been effective back in the day, you can’t use this practice now.
Organizations don’t have time to wait months for the right candidate. So, instead of using traditional methods to look for an employee, why not consult employment agencies that specialize in picking out candidates for any business? All you need to do is inform them what you’re looking for, and these hiring companies will ensure the most appropriate candidates apply to your business.
As a result, you save your company time from looking for the most suitable candidate and can focus on selecting your preferred employees from the pool of workers presented to you.
2. Be Precise
If you’re vague and ambiguous about the kind of workers you are looking for, you will confuse potential applicants, too. A job description must be clear and detailed enough to inform candidates what you expect of them. Start by talking about the job itself, once hired, what the employee has to do, whether there will be any departments under them, and the type of work you expect them to do.
While talking about the skills a prospective candidate has to possess, be specific. Don’t just say, “needs to be able to multitask,” but specify, “The applicant must be good at multitasking, such as talking to various clients at one time through email.” If the job position requires formal education like a bachelor’s or a master’s, you must inform applicants that without these educational credentials, you will not consider them. Try not to keep the job description free for all. Limit the kind of people you want to apply.
3. Use social media
You can also use social media to look for recruits. Platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram are hubs for gathering potential employees. As you navigate through LinkedIn, use the right hashtags, and post in groups having potential candidates you’re looking for. While engaging on other social media platforms, share posts about your company, inspiring stories, pictures of the workspace, and consumer testimonials to build an impression of your brand.
Try showcasing the content your business produces attractively. People are biased about the place they want to work for; if they like your brand, they will most certainly apply.
4. Have a Questionnaire
Having a questionnaire ready allows you to conduct a structured interview. If you want specific questions answered and to test the candidate by posing certain questions, prepare beforehand. Your questions can range from the candidate’s education to how they would handle a crisis. It’s best if you keep a range. Start slowly by getting to know the candidate, ask them questions about their interest in this field, then slowly start posing challenging questions that will prompt the potential recruit to think carefully before answering. Through this method, you can see how well the potential employee can perform under pressure, how charming they are in presenting their characteristics, and how critically they think.
5. Set Up a Comfortable Interview Room
Create a comfortable and inviting interview room, as it’ll put the candidate at ease and make it easier for you to talk to them. Since interviews can be long, ensure you are seated in a good chair to discuss easily. Likewise, the room you choose needs to be free of distractions, offer you privacy, and let you focus on the candidate entirely.
Suppose you decide to interview in the middle of the office. Not only will you not understand what the candidate is saying, but employees may also come and go distracting you from the task at hand, and there may be far too much noise pollution, making it hard for you to think.
6. Do a Background Check
Before you finalize any candidates, run a background check on them. As an enterprise, you have a legal obligation to protect your company; this means you can’t risk letting anyone with a troubled past into your business. Find out why this applicant left their previous company and if they have a criminal record such as a DUI or petty theft. You can also contact their last workplace and talk to their manager to better understand your candidate. However, ensure you follow the rules set out by the Fair Credit Reporting Act; this policy will only allow you to look into the candidate’s past once the subject grants it. So, if your potential recruit is okay with a background check, you will get a clearance to look into their lives.
But there are certain limitations; you can verify if your candidate attended school and get an idea about their social security. And some states may not allow you to dig far too deep. For instance, you cannot carry out a credit assessment on an employee across eleven states and some areas, including California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, and Nevada.
Additionally, as an employer, within the US, you cannot look into a candidate’s school records, that is, what grades they earned compared to where they went to school, medical records, military records, and criminal history, which is different from a criminal record. It’s best to educate yourself on state laws and regulations to avoid doing something that isn’t allowed and can get you into legal trouble.
Conclusion
Hiring a potential employee is a daunting process. You must carefully screen out the candidate you wish to work with to ensure they fit your enterprise perfectly. Most importantly, approach consulting agencies that can catalyze the process by providing specific recommendations, having a clear job description, and running background checks. The bottom line is to take your time getting to know a candidate, extensively interviewing them, and then ponder your decision. As eager as you may be to get over the hiring process, you can’t rush it since your choice of employee can hurt your company’s reputation.