Help wanted!

To date, this has been my most popular blog – originally posted in August of 2011.  I’m re-running it in case you missed it.  Great tips for hiring managers in addition to those seeking a new job.  Let me know what you think!

I heard a tip from someone the other day.  Hire slow and fire fast!  My experience has been that many managers hire fast and are pretty slow to fire.

When you’re short staffed there’s a lot of pressure to get another body in to help.  What can happen, you hire someone who is not a fit, either they don’t have the skills or experience to do the job, or they don’t work well with other staff members.  Either way, that new hire ends up costing you time, money and patience!

Here’s some tips about hiring the right person.

Tip 1:  Job description.  When someone leaves a position, take the time to look at what they were actually doing and what you wanted them to do.  Compare that with the written job description.  Make sure what is written is exactly what you want done.  Job descriptions should be very specific about the skills and duties you want performed.  They get out of date quickly.  Take out the stuff that doesn’t apply anymore.

Tip 2:  Skills.  The advertisement you write will reflect the description.  Of all the skills you are looking for, think about which are most important – the ones you can’t live without.  The more specific you can be the better chance your perfect match will apply.

Tip 3:  Spaghetti.  People are throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what might stick.  It’s incredible how many resumes you’ll get that don’t have anything to do with what your looking for.  Read through the first 25% of a resume, if it doesn’t grab you, it’s in the “no” pile.

Tip 4:  Telephone.  Phone interviews save lots of time.  Prepare a worksheet for each candidate that has a list of 3 to 5 questions you’re going to ask.  These bring out those “must haves” in the candidate.  Make the call 15 to 30 minutes long – let the interviewee know that the phone will just be a quick interview with possibly more later.  Take notes as you talk or when you get off the phone – it will help you sort things out right away.

Tip 5:  Be picky.  If someone is just OK, that’s a no.  Bring in those that WOW you and are great.  Hiring people who are more talented than you, only makes you better.

Tip 6:  Numbers.  Ask others to interview the candidates.  Many opinions are better than just one.

Tip 7:  Pop quiz.  Create a test that brings out the skills you’re looking for.  One of my clients interviewed two candidates – one WOWed everyone and the other was pretty good.  The WOW candidate couldn’t write, spell or perform simple math – taking three hours to complete the test, the pretty good candidate completed the test in one hour with perfect grammar, spelling and math skills, she got the job.

Tip 8:  Liar, liar.  Verify everything that’s on the resume, schools, old jobs, etc.  I almost hired someone once who said they had a degree, but didn’t.  The sad thing was, they didn’t need a degree for the job and were otherwise a perfect candidate.

Tip 9:  Social media.  Check U-Tube, FaceBook and Twitter.  You can find out a lot about a person that way.  One candidate left an interview and twittered about how “lame” the interviewer was.  Not a great way to win friends!

Taking your time to find the right person will save you time and a headache later on.  What else has worked for you?  Any stories you’d like to share?  Leave a comment below!

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