When you’re in charge of hiring new people to a business, whether you own the business or you’re working on behalf of the company executive, you must remember the importance of hiring the right people to the business. Of course, you need to hire people who know how to do the job properly, but you also need to consider other factors, such as how well they can work with other people, if they are trustworthy and if they are reliable people. In order to do this, there are certain things you can do during their application and interview process which will help you to discover who these people are.
Ask specific questions
This will depend on the job description and the role which they will play in the business, but it’s definitely a good idea to ask them specific questions about the job when they have their interview. Even if they’re starting off in the lowest job position available in the company, it’s important to make sure that they have a passion, to some extent, for what they will be working with. Give them scenario questions and see how quickly and how sensibly they can respond to the questions. Remember to be open-minded; just because somebody answers differently to how you might answer doesn’t mean it’s the wrong answer altogether!
Carry out background checks
Certain types of jobs, for example, working with children, disabled or elderly people, require you to conduct background checks on the potential candidates by law. However, in other places of employment, you might still need to do a quick background check on the candidates just to make sure that they don’t have a criminal record and that they are the type of person you would like to have working in the business. In most cases, it is not necessary to carry out an extended background check, but it’s certainly very common and very wise to carry out a basic one. Many people have hired people too quickly and without carrying out proper checks, and have soon discovered that the staff members are involved in fraudulent practices, which could potentially ruin the business completely.
Give the interviewee the chance to ask questions
Remember that while most of the interview will be taken up with you asking the candidate questions, you should make sure that the interviewee has the opportunity to ask questions. Not only will this provide a more relaxed and comfortable atmosphere, but it’ll ensure that both you and the other person understand exactly what is involved in the job. As an added bonus, it gives you the chance to learn more about the other person, since you can often tell a lot about somebody by the type of questions they ask and how well they communicate their thoughts and queries.
Check their experience
This is particularly important in a job where it could be detrimental if an inexperienced person took the position. It’s important not to take their word for it though! You should ask for references from their previous places of employment and anywhere where they have had experience in this field. For example, you might like to contact university or college professors about a candidate who has spent five years studying medicine and had a one year work placement. They may be perfectly qualified in terms of certificates and also experience, but it’s better if you can speak to somebody who has seen them in action first-hand and knows how they work and perform in that type of environment.
Carry out a team-based assessment
During the interview process, many employers tend to conduct a team-based assessment to see how well the candidates work when they are in teams. This is normally the case if the employees are going to be working together a lot, and where team work is very important if the tasks are going to get done quickly and effectively. When you see the candidates working together on a task which you’ve set, you will be able to see the different personalities. Some people may be too involved, others may be scared of getting too involved and others might not know what to do. While it’s not important that they all succeed and do it perfectly, it’s important that you see who you think will work best in a team and with other people.
