As a small business owner, how much time and effort do you put into hiring only the best of employees?
In some cases, you might hire the best of the best. In other instances, you end up making hires that in hindsight proved to be a mistake.
Either way you look at it, hiring anyone to come and work with you is always going to present somewhat of a risk.
You could end up hiring someone who will end up being with you for years. On the other hand, that individual may just be using you (purposefully or not) as a stepping stone to a better opportunity down the road.
When it comes to hiring the best candidates, don’t gloss over their resumes, feeling like you have more important things to do.
Although a resume does not say everything about an individual, it does give you a glimpse into their professional lives, a glimpse that could very well determine how successful or not they will be as part of your team.
That being the case, have you been hiring the best candidates?
Resumes and Their Importance
So that you can feel you are in fact hiring the best of the best, keep a few factors in mind:
- Resumes – As mentioned a moment ago, glossing over those resumes that come across your computer screen is not a wise move. Yes, you have a lot on your plate as a small business owner, but make the time to look at the resumes or have either your HR person onsite do it or work with a recruiting agency. In doing so, you can make sure time and effort is being put into reading each and every resume for each and every position advertised. In today’s job world, many candidates for positions know that their resumes can lead them to sink or swim, so they’re likely going to put the maximum time and effort into them. Whether they craft the resumes themselves or turn to professional resume writers Chicago or another such service, spend some time delving into those resumes. After doing such, you might find that perfect employee, one who will be a solid fit for your business;
- Social media – In today’s digital age, more and more employers are looking at the social media habits of prospective employees. As a result, they can search for red flags, those flags that tell them this individual (despite a stellar resume) may in fact not be the best individual to hire. Whether it was a suspect comment or image they posted on Facebook, Twitter or another social networking site, it was enough to cause them concern. No, you don’t have the time typically to review each and every candidate’s social media haunts, but you should do at least a general search of each name that comes across your desk or the desk of your recruiters, seeing what their social media activities look like;
- Personalities – Lastly, don’t take the personalities of each and every candidate you interview for granted. While you might have the most qualified candidate in terms of experience sitting across from you during an interview, is he or she necessarily a good fit for your team? Sure, that can be hard to tell in a 20-minute interview, but you can (and should) pick up on some basics. If they seem driven and also want to know as much as possible about your business, those are two good indicators right there. On the other hand, someone who is fairly disengaged and not asking questions about your company during the interview, he or she may be telling you in one way or another that they in fact are not the right choice for the position. Picking up on some of these signs is important, especially if you want to preserve (and in fact) improve your office chemistry.
As you look to hire new employees over time, be as diligent as possible to get the new hires right the first time around.
Along with the expenses of having to retrain employees over and over again, your company’s overall well-being is at stake whenever a new piece is added to the puzzle.
About the Author: Dave Thomas covers small business topics on the web.