The hiring process can be very long and complicated, and sometimes have you second-guessing if you’ve made the right decision. Is this candidate the right fit? Do they have the skillsets needed for this position?
If you find yourself asking these questions and aren’t sure the answers, here’s some advice:
Know the credentials for the job, and keep this as your guideline. If you’ve reviewed what skills are needed for the job at hand, it will help make a seamless evaluation process. A huge mistake hiring managers make is becoming captivated by a single candidate. And by doing this, their skills become the job requirements, instead of what is actually needed for the position.
If you find yourself in a position where the candidate is truly a dream, but their skills don’t match criteria, scout around for other positions that are more suitable for this candidate. The last thing you want is to put a great employee in a wrong position.
The take away? Stay aware of candidate influences and keep your guidelines within reach so you can always resort back to them. This will help if you ever find yourself accommodating a candidate that might not be qualified.
Come up with a strategy for the hiring process. If you have a tight deadline, or are urgently hiring, you may do something called a “panic hire”. Hiring someone because you’re time is running out, could cause someone to join the team who isn’t the most suitable choice. On top of that, you may end up having to let them go down the road because of the misalignment, which could be very disruptive for the team.
If you find yourself in this position, you could always try training a candidate who may not have the skills needed. You must first make sure you have the resources available before relying on that. Another option is hiring a recruiting agency, who will take hiring off your plate completely. You could also bring in a temporary hire, who could help keep things rolling while you continue the process of finding someone who is suitable and long term.
Use multiple references, but not multiple opinions. Relying on one piece of a candidates application, is not reliable. Having a broader pictures about a candidate by using multiple references such as a cover letter, resume, and doing an interview, gets a better understanding of the candidate. This also will help make sure they are consistent with no discrepancies.
Also having too many people screen the candidate can sometimes be time-consuming and cause you to lose a desirable candidate to other companies.
If you follow these guidelines and stick to a strategy, you should be able to find a candidate that is successful for the job. Remember that hiring is a process, and each step is extremely valuable for the end game. If you are still having trouble, reach out to our team at Global Staffing, and we can do the hard stuff for you.