Recruiting, onboarding, and training are costly endeavors that must be undertaken in order to craft a winning team. There is nothing worse than going through the whole process of hiring a new employee, only to find out that you made a poor hiring decision when the employee fails to meet expectations or quits shortly after onboarding. Taking the following tips into consideration during the hiring process can help you hire the right people, making the time spent on recruiting count and adding value to your team.
Review Applications and Resumes Carefully
Applications and resumes may not be the end-all when making hiring decisions, but they can give you valuable insights into an employee’s experience and qualifications. HRIS may be used to quickly sift through applications, selecting only those that meet the requirements of the position being hired for. Carefully sorting through applications can save you time from interviewing unqualified employees and ensure that you only spend time with the best and brightest of the bunch.
Call References before Scheduling Interviews
Many organizations make the mistake of calling references after they have met with an employee candidate. Speaking with references first and comparing what they have to say with the information on the application or resume can help you to filter out employees that are difficult to work with or have falsified information. Beware of sterling references that do not jive with your other impressions of the employee candidate, as some employees may give names and phone numbers of personal friends and pass these off as references.
Check Social Media Profiles
You can really learn a lot about a person from their social media profile. While you should keep in mind that great profiles may not tell the whole story, you may be able to spot the constant complainer or egomaniac before you ask them to sit down for an interview. You may also find out a little bit about the employee candidate’s interests that can help you to place them for the best fit within your organization.
Ask the Right Interview Questions
Going into an interview without guidelines is a bad idea, as an interview can really help you to gauge many different things about an employee candidate-but only if the right questions are asked. With the proper questions, you may be able to tell whether an employee candidate will fit into the company culture, whether they will be able to do the job, and whether they will be likely to last. You may also be able to assess motivations, which can help to foster engagement later.
Questions that may help you to evaluate an employee candidate’s personality, work ethic, culture fit, and motivation include:
- Why do you want to work here? Ask them for specifics, find out what they know about the company
- Why do you work? Money isn’t always everything, some people work for more varied reasons
- (The ever popular) Where do you see yourself in ten years?
- What do you enjoy doing on your days off?
- What would your ideal work environment look like?
- What would your ideal schedule look like?
- Who do you see as your mentor and why?
