3 Tips For Hiring

Ask yourself, how many times you’ve hired someone that looked great on paper, the interview went well and you later came to find this new hire “just doesn’t quite get it” or isn’t what you thought they’d be?

I have spoken to many business owners who complain about their staff or a new hire. These complaints validate they’re somewhat lacking when choosing personnel!

Here are 3 effective tips I have used and found worthwhile:

1)     Ask the applicant, “Is this position a stepping stone to something else, or are they looking for a career with you?”  I then ask, what do they really want to be doing in life?  If the reply is something like, “I want to be an actor”, I then ask if they are studying, taking classes, and/or performing.

This can go a couple of ways informing you quite a bit about the person.

a)    “No, not really.  I’ve taken some in the past but it’s so hard to get work”…

b)    “I‘m doing 4 classes / week, study, and perform on the weekend.”

If they have a goal and are doing nothing much about it, one could deduce that setting and accomplishing goals is not their forte.  (This is an important detail and one would surely miss out if not paying close attention.)  This portrays a tendency to agree with presented barriers and not having the push-through toward goals.

On the other hand, if an applicant were passionately pursuing a dream, and continuously doing something toward its attainment, regardless if they were successful to date or not, tells you they have a somewhat strong drive toward accomplishments.  This is quite an important trait to have in an employee!

Suggestion – List down some questions that may help draw out whether the prospective employee’s ability to overcome barriers exists or not.

2)     Here’s another one:  Once you have established good communication with the prospect and you repeatedly hear “I was this” (head of sales), or “I was “that” (in charge of the front desk), – in other words, no mention of actual production but only “what they were”; BEWARE!  This shows status, not worth.  You need someone competent to get things done and one who’d achieve production at high levels.  Always ask what they accomplished or produced, or if they considered themselves an asset to the past company, and how so?  Pay little attention to what positions they held.

If this is their first job, find out how they did in school, their favorite subjects, etc. and why?  Did they diligently work to learn something?

3)     Another one to watch for:  The applicant who has too many complaints about previous employers.  Some may be true, but if it seems to be a pattern during the interview, it will most likely continue with you, the management, etc.

You could ask further on this – how / what they did to attempt to rectify the situation.  Their reply will tell you loads.  “Oh management would not listen”; “They really didn’t know how to run a company”…  OR, did they report it properly and take effective or standard measures?

It does happen that a group exists here and there that doesn’t fully know what they’re doing. It’s also fine the employee left, but to carry on complaining is not a good attribute.

Additional Note:  An applicant is expectedly dressed well and usually being their “Best” for an interview.  Take note if their “Best” is really not so good.  You’d be correct to conclude that their “Normal” would be less again, and during more challenging moments usually much worse!

There’s a load of technology for choosing the correct personnel.  I hope this has been helpful to you.