Smart Hiring Shouldn’t Feel Like Gambling: Tips to Stack the Deck in Your Favor 16 Feb 2018

Definition of Smart Hiring: smart hiring is an act of giving someone a job while implementing techniques such as running a background check and assessing the potential employee.

Recruiting and hiring a new employee can be a lengthy and costly process. Too often, decisions rely on instinct, and you never want to be at the losing end of a new-hire gamble. Poor hiring decisions aren’t just frustrating, they can be expensive. In fact, losing a new hire can cost your organization anywhere from 30 to 150 percent of that employee’s salary. In order not to make these fatal mistakes, read our 5 Techniques to Make a Great Hire article to pick up some smart hiring tips!

Smart hiring means you have solid, well-grounded reasons for making a job offer. Here are some tips to consider to stack the deck in your favor, so when you lay your cards down, you’ve got the best shot at winning.

Smart Hiring Technique – Maintain Talent Pools

The best recruiters are constantly recruiting. You should always have a pipeline of candidates available, even if it’s a mix of active and inactive candidates. Consider it akin to the old-fashioned Rolodex found years ago on many executives’ desks. For example, maintain a list of people you interviewed in the past that you liked, but didn’t necessarily fit the job opening at the time. These folks could be tapped for future job opportunities. Current employees are also a wonderful resource for recruiting; their networks are invaluable.

Update the Job Description

The first step to smart hiring is to make sure you have the perfect job listing. Of course you want to list requirements and skills needed to do the job, but consider diving deeper. What do you want this person to accomplish in the first 6-12 months on the job? Consider revising your copy with this in mind. The better your job listing, the better candidates you’ll find.

Effective and Efficient Interviews

Once your ATS has filtered your results and you have gone through them yourself, reach out and schedule interviews to get to know candidates better. Just like applicants should prepare before an interview, so should you. Create a list of important questions. Make an itinerary for the visit, perhaps including an office tour. Stay organized and on schedule. Don’t forget to build in time for the candidate’s questions also. Make sure to answer them. In case you don’t have a response at the ready, note you’ll get back to them later that day — and follow through.

Cultural Fit

Experience is essential to finding the right candidate, but it’s only one chunk of a much bigger story. It’s one thing to get the right fit for the job, but another to get the right fit for the company. You can hire the most seasoned professional available, but if they don’t mesh with the culture, it’s not going to work out. Incorporate cultural questions into your interview. Some companies have even started giving personality assessments as part of the hiring process. Whatever path you choose, make sure to prioritize cultural fit so you don’t regret it later.

Background Checks

The resume is superb and the interview was incredible. Time to extend an offer? Not so fast. To ensure that everything goes smooth, always conduct a background check that includes credential verification. With Trusted Employees, you can customize your background check for your exact needs, including criminal history, reference checks, education and credential verification, and so much more. Remember, the person you met with is at their best during the interview. A background check provides you peace of mind that you’re making the right decision, and that the person you interviewed is who will be represented while working the job.