When your small business grows, hiring can be an exciting and daunting task. Shuffling through resumes, setting up interviews, and making your final decision takes up a lot of time, but it’s worth it to find the right candidate.
Where do you start with such an important endeavor? We’ve rounded up our best tips for finding and interviewing candidates, evaluating if they’re the right fit, and deciding if skill assessment tests could improve your hiring process. Make sure to write a clear job description so you know exactly what you’re hiring for, and then seek out the best match for what your business needs.
Resources to find the best candidates
Gone are the days of “help wanted” signs in shop windows. To find candidates today, online job boards are the norm for getting word out that you’re hiring. The most popular are Indeed, Monster.com, and CareerBuilder, but there are a dime a dozen you can find.
Typically, posting on a job board is free unless you choose to “sponsor” your listing to reach more people. To get responses from qualified candidates, it’s recommended to include as much information as possible about the job requirements, qualifications needed, company benefits, and salary expectations.
LinkedIn also hosts a job board within its platform, and job seekers can turn on a feature to show recruiters that they’re #OpenToWork, making it easier on you to start conversations with candidates.
You can also utilize your own social media channels to share that you’re hiring, communicate internally that there’s an open position, or hire a staffing agency. Staffing agencies put in the legwork of finding and screening candidates and earn commission when they place the right one with you. Sometimes you’ll find the right person from a referral, so let your friends, family, and network know what you’re looking for, too.
Helpful questions to include during interview
Once you’ve reviewed resumes and chosen some promising candidates, it’s time for interviews! You’ll want to ask the same questions to each candidate so you can objectively review who brings the most experience, and is a good fit for your company. Here are a handful of helpful questions so you can get to know candidates, but what you ask will depend most on what information you need to gather.
- What type of environment do you enjoy working in? Fast-paced, slow, routine, or a variety. etc.
- What skills and strengths can you bring to this role?
- Do you work better on a team or independently?
- Can you tell me about a time when you overcame a challenge, and what you learned?
- What do you look for in a company or boss to ensure you succeed?
- Can you tell me about a time you disagreed with a boss or colleague, and how did you handle it?
- What do you consider success and growth in your career?
- How do you adapt to deadline pressure or a change in plans?
- What do you enjoy outside of work?
- Why are you interested in this role and company?
- What was your favorite project in a past position?
- Do you have any questions for me?
Remember the golden rule to treat them as you want to be treated, especially if they ask you tough questions. As much as you want them to be honest about their strengths and weaknesses, give them the same consideration in discussing room for growth, cultural fit, and the expectations of the role.
How to evaluate candidates against one another
After each interview, set time on your calendar to reflect and write a short summary of the candidates answers and your first impressions. The focus here should be on their skillset, experience, achievements, and education that would make them a good fit for the role or bring concern. While we’re all unconsciously biased to judge things like handshakes or specific mannerisms, it shouldn’t sway choosing the best candidate based on how they can fulfill the role’s responsibilities. Of course, there should be no discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or veteran status in your decision.
If someone’s soft skills or salary expectations aren’t a good match, you may reconsider hiring the most qualified candidate for someone who can grow in their experience, but is a better fit for the company budget and environment. Checking references can sometimes bring clarity to the best candidate to hire, but if you’re still stuck, consider having candidates complete skill assessment tests to help you decide.
When to use skills assessment tests
Skills assessment tests can provide another layer of measuring competency in the hiring process. For this article, we’re focused on skills assessments rather than personality tests, although personality tests are growing in popularity for making hiring decisions.
Skills assessment tests can provide proven data in regard to technical skills, and combat inflated or exaggerated resume experience. However, they’re not always the best investment for every role.
A good rule of thumb is to consider if skills assessment tests will slow down or speed up your hiring process, or be absolutely vital to the success of the person in the role. If you receive several inquiries for job postings, a skills assessment up front could weed out unqualified candidates and save you time from interviewing candidates who don’t really have experience. They can also help you make a final decision if you have several qualified candidates – but again, it really depends on the role.
On the other hand, they can be unnecessary if you already have a small pool of candidates and need to hire quickly, or the role requires easy tasks that can be learned on the job. Some companies choose to implement skills assessments throughout their entire organization to enhance professional development, but it’s up to your capacity to do so. When choosing a skills assessment test, research what’s popular in your industry, what hiring managers say about it, and if it fits within your budget.
Making the final decision
As we said in the beginning, hiring can be a daunting task. With these tips, you’re on your way to narrowing down your choices, and ultimately deciding who to bring onto your team. Once you’ve decided who to hire, your next step is sending an offer letter and crossing your fingers. Should they accept, it’s time to celebrate, take down your job postings, and begin onboarding your newest hire. Congratulations!
The hiring process can be difficult – what have you done to help optimize your process? What are your thoughts on new hiring trends including removing the requirement for a degree and posting salaries on job listings? Let us know in the comments!