Employment Spot

Hiring Resources: Employers

If you are an employer who is considering hiring some new faces, you will want to consult hiring resources in order to ensure that you get the most out of the hiring process. After all, many people say that it is the employees who have the biggest impact on a company’s success. Employers hiring for jobs should be well-informed about the hiring process, with knowledge on topics such as how to begin approaching the topic of hiring for jobs, how to attract qualified applicants, what to consider in interviews and how to select the right person. Employers should consider the following four things when hiring for jobs:

1. Why do you need to hire someone? Before you can begin the hiring process to find the perfect person for your company, you first need to spend some time thinking about why you are hiring. Analyze your company’s current successes and downfalls. What do you see in your company’s future? What additional resources do you need in order to reach your goals? Bringing an additional person into the company involves a large financial commitment, so you will want to be sure that hiring is the right decision. Ask yourself if you are you fully utilizing your current employees’ skills. You might realize that a few changes and restructuring may solve your problems, or you may find that your company is still in desperate need of extra help.

2. What will the new position entail? Once you have decided that you are in fact going to hire a new employee, you must determine exactly what that employee will be doing. If you are filling an newly open position, reflect on the previous employee’s job duties. Is there anything you want to add to this position? Do you want the position to switch focus to a different task? If you are hiring for a brand new position, you should spend a good deal of time analyzing your company’s needs in order to develop a proper job description. Some key components of a good job description include:

• • summary of the position
  • list of job duties – tasks the employee will actually perform
  • list of minimum requirements and skills – what the employee needs to successfully complete the job duties

Flexibility is one of the most important aspects of a job description because it shows the employee that he or she has options and room for growth within that job. It is also important to be as specific as possible, without losing any flexibility. For example, there is a big difference between technical writing, good phone etiquette and customer presentations, so if the applicant needs good communication skills, be specific as to what sort of communication is required. You can keep the description flexible by stating that the employee decides the best way to approach the customer presentations and communication. Remember that a good job description will attract the applicants best qualified for the job, thus saving you time and money. For a great hiring resource on job descriptions, check out the article Writing Effective Job Descriptions.

3. What kind of person do you want to hire? This question is both practical and abstract. For example, will your new employee be full time, part time, an intern, or temporary? Will he or she be a recent college grad or an experienced professional? Do you place more value on education or experience? These are all very practical questions, and you should have a general idea of what your answer is for each. However, one of the biggest mistakes in interviewing is being too quick to judge and placing limitations on your hiring process. It is important to remember that each individual is different. For example, in general you might prefer to have an employee with a degree from a highly-respected institution. But what about the exceptions to the rule? You don’t want to overlook an outstanding candidate with an extensive list of relevant experience just because they did not attend college or majored in something other than what you had in mind.

4. How are you going to find the right person? This is probably the most difficult part of hiring for jobs. First of all, how will you inform potential employees that this job is on the market? Maybe you want to hire from within or you already have someone in mind. However, if you want to choose from a large applicant pool offering a wide range of talent, you might want to consider posting your job descriptions online. Advertising your job openings on web sites like this one give you access to millions of people who you could not otherwise reach through word-of-mouth or local newspapers. Once you have received and reviewed resumes and job applications, you will want to begin interviewing those candidates with the best prospects. Here are some hiring resources to help you with interviewing:

• • Make sure you are asking the right questions. Just as job candidates prepare for interviews, you need to prepare too. Study their resume ahead of time and have some specific questions in mind. It is a good idea to ask behavioral questions such as those that begin with “Tell me about a time when…” While it is easy for an applicant to say that she has leadership qualities, behavioral questions will help you figure out if she really is a leader. For more hiring resources and advice on interviews, check out 5 Steps to Giving Quality Interviews.
  • Pick an interview style. According to the article Top 4 Strategic Interview Styles, the four main interview styles are Relaxed, Intimidating, “Friend,” and Panel. The best interview style will depend on the job, the type of employee you want, the sort of information and observations you want to receive from the interview, and the company culture.
  • When interviewing a number of different candidates, try to keep the interview process as consistent as possible. If the same person conducts the interview and asks the same set of core questions each time, it will be easier and more fair when comparing one candidate against another.

CareerBuilder.com offer some more great hiring resources, providing help with hiring the right people, training your work force and legal issues associated with job hiring.

It may also be beneficial for employers to look at the hiring process from the job-seeker’s perspective. If a candidate is interviewing at multiple companies and you really want him/her to work for you, you will need to sell the job and your company. Knowing what a job seeker is looking for will help you in doing this. Check out “Hiring Resources: Job-Seekers” or Employer Hot Buttons – What Employers Look For for more hiring resources.