How to Hire the Best Person

Businesses have the pick of the market right now when it comes to hiring an employee. The unemployment rate is high, and submissions for job applications provide a mountain of material to go through.

How do you decide whom to hire, when the qualifications are so similar? Your eyes begin to blur, and the task of interviewing is daunting.

These are some ideas to narrow the field.

Look at the job history of the applicant. Job seekers who have a history of frequent job change are a poor risk. Most applicants will submit the past 10 years. How long have they been at any one job? Everyone can have a “bad luck” job, but there should be one or two jobs that lasted more than 5 years.

Prepare of list of the 10 most desired qualifications for the open position. Use a highlighter and find those resumes that contain all 10. Your list may be larger, but look for those applicants will all the traits.

Read the cover letter again of the applicants chosen. Is it well written? Does it highlight and add value to the position you are trying to fill? If not, put those applicants to the side.

Again, review the resume for the experience of the applicant. How deep is the experience? Can the person “hit the job running”, or will they need to grow with the position? Since you are a busy professional, and your organization needs immediate direction, put aside those resumes with a less proven history of experience.

Review the salary history, if you have requested this. Compare these to the budget salary you have for the position. Ask yourself if you are willing to pay more to have a seasoned professional? Based on the value the candidate offers, will this offset the cost to your business?

Ignore enclosed letters of recommendations. These are easily obtained. Always perform your own verbal verification or email verification of the potential applicants experience.

Prepare a list of questions that directly relate to the position. Conduct a screening interview by phone. Use the answers to eliminate more of the applicants.

For example:

In analyzing the Income Statement, what issues have you come across that affected the organization.

Suggested answer: I found that the revenues for the month did not match what I expected based on the inventory levels. I investigated, and found that several sales had not been recorded.
Instead of: Well, I have never done an actual Income Statement analysis, but I am will to learn.

You get the picture. Structure your questions directly for the qualifications of the job. Personality assessments can be done at the face interview.

As a business professional, I know that it costs money to hire and train a new person. It takes time to build trust. Look for applicants the bring value and experience to the position. A seasoned person brings more than technical knowledge to the workplace. They bring wisdom. There are decisions and actions in daily business that more experienced workers have already plowed through. They have already learned to overcome business obstacles. They have dealt with all levels of employees, and all types of personalities. They actually are more productive in the sense that they have already been around the learning curve. They have a basis for their decisions, and they have already experienced the outcome.