Regardless if you’re about to hire your first employee or 100th, there will always be a sea of resumes that can blur your vision in selecting the candidate that will best fit your business. Here are a few tips to that will benefit you through the interview process.
Who is the candidate? Are they trainable or only have the key skills that you’re needing?
There are plenty of job candidates eager to learn new skills and develop themselves and help prospective businesses grow. Great candidates know that they have the opportunity to grow along with the business and treat it as a career rather than a job that’s going to cover the bills. If you’re looking to hire someone who simply has experience in desired programs, you may be hiring someone who is only looking for a paycheck and may jump ship as soon as they’re bored or another opportunity is presented.
What kind of person are they outside of the office?
There are millions of users in the US and Canada alone on social media platforms. Your candidate can be fairly easily Googled or searched on various social media platforms. You may want to evaluate or at least take into consideration their posts and profile. For example, if you’re hiring for a sales position, someone who has a very active social life may be of particular interest.
LinkedIn is great to view a candidate’s professional side, but if you can track them down on Instagram, Vine, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook or any other of the many social networks, you can take a peek at who this person is outside of their career past and path.
What does their resume physically look like (aside from the content, achievements, etc.)?
Are you interviewing a newly graduated marketing or graphic design guru and the resume is blocky and using a single font-size, serif typeface? There are subtle hints that you can pick up on the visual appearance. The resume content may state that they have extensive knowledge of Adobe CS, but if their resume looks like it was written on a typewriter, this may be a red flag.
Is the candidate the right fit for your corporate culture? What dynamic will they bring to your office?
If the candidate thrives in a carefree environment where they can get their work done remotely or make their own schedule, there may be a disconnect if your company doesn’t foster this environment. If your company’s work environment is strict, fast-paced with hard deadlines, regardless if this person is a quick adapter, they may be a poor fit and will ultimately lead to their leaving.
What are your expectations? Keep in mind that you won’t keep 100% of all your hires.
Life is life and it’s best to always expect the unexpected. When you hire someone, there’s always a chance that an unforeseen situation may arise or they may dislike a specific job duty. Maybe you will have immediate regrets and need to terminate the employee. It happens, but a good rule of thumb is to follow the mantra of “hire slow, fire fast”.
