Brad Wolff, Director Business Development, Jumpvine, Inc.
contributed the following article:
Key steps to avoid hiring errors and hiring the right
people
"Begin with the end in mind" when you
hire. You need to know just what you want this
person to do and accomplish (the end result of his/her efforts) in
this role and write this down. This allows you to write a
quality job description so that you can attract the best
people. This also helps you determine what credentials you
desire the candidates to have on paper (their resume).
- Create a "model candidate" and write down these
characteristics. Use the information you
gathered from step one to help you determine the skills,
personality and other characteristics you would like this person to
possess. Write down these specific characteristics so
that you can develop questions to evaluate each candidate's fit
with respect to these traits.
- Determine what type of manager you are and factor that
in: Being honest with yourself about your own
personal style and your available time to train and manage can be
critical to hiring people that work out well for you. For
example, if you are the type of manager that likes to be closely
involved in on a day to day basis, then focus on candidates who
prefer a manager that gives a lot of direction and
feedback.
- Plan ahead to determine when to begin the hiring
process. A rule of thumb to go by is that the
process will usually take longer than you expect. If you have
a specific start date in mind, you need to allow time to receive
qualified candidates' resumes, interview the candidates, make
offer and allow a few days to get a final decision and 2-3 weeks
from resignation until start date.
- Consider candidates with more future potential and less
experience as well as those that can do the job
immediately: Companies often narrow their choices
too much and would benefit from considering both candidates who
have the experience to come in and do the current job right away
and those who will need to learn and grow into the current job but
have the potential to do a lot more once they master the current
duties.
- Make sure your vacation, benefits and pay match up with
the people you are hiring: The type of pay and
benefits a company offers is often related to the industry they are
in and the type of people that they usually hire. Be prepared
to find ways to flex if needed to minimize the gap between the
market for the people you seek and your company
offerings.
- Have a hiring process developed prior to starting the
search and stick with it while remaining flexible when
needed. If you do not have a well thought out
process in place, you are likely to make hiring mistakes that could
have been prevented. When you meet a candidate you like, it
is easy to be influenced by emotion and impulse. This can
cause you to avoid taking this person through all of the important
steps in a good hiring process.
- Develop your process for initially sourcing/finding
candidates prior to actually sourcing your candidates:
This may seem obvious yet it is a very challenging area that is
often not planned for in advance. There are many methods of
finding good quality employees. This includes the following:
Internal employee referrals, internet ads, candidate resume
postings on career sites, industry and professional associations,
personal affiliations and recruiting firms.
- Be very aware of the message you send by how you
interact with the candidates during the hiring process.
The best candidates are usually in the highest demand by your
competitors in the employment market and typically receive multiple
offers. As a result, in addition to considering money,
location, job duties and other factors, they will usually take into
account how they feel about working for you. Remember to do
what you tell them you will do. If you say you will call on
Monday, then be sure to do this.
- Be flexible on number of people you need to interview
on a position. If someone is an excellent fit based on
what you have already decided you are looking for in the previous
steps, don't hold off on this person simply because you did not
interview a specific number of candidates yet.