Your best assets go home every evening…

and your hiring mistakes re-appear every morning!

In this article CNI Recruiting shares some tips to help Managers hire the right Candidates.

Job Requirements.  Prepare a list of job requirements including skills, personality, cultural fit, years of experience in specific market segments, past performance, etc. Ensure that your requirement criteria are objective by researching which criteria have contributed to success in specific positions, rather than relying on anecdotal information.

Job Descriptions should include all your requirements and positive aspects of your company and location, i.e. informal, friendly work environment, great schools, etc.

Applications should request information regarding every previous job, including start and end dates with months and years, compensation, reasons for leaving, achievements and awards.  Information about past performance is very important because past performance is the best indicator of future performance.

Obtain resumes from the right sources. Examples are your personal network and Recruiters that specialize in the Candidate segment that you require.

Request work samples. Evaluating work samples is a critical and often overlooked recruiting step.

Professional personality and skills tests should be administered when applicable.

Interviewing is the most important component of recruiting. Perform multiple phone and in-person interviews. Confirm information included in resumes and ask open ended, probing questions. Discuss every past job, or at least the last three jobs. Ask what the Candidates liked about the jobs and what they didn’t like. Ask about their relationships with their supervisors and others. Discuss achievements and failures. Ask what motivates and frustrates them. Job tenures and reasons for leaving should be fully discussed.

If you are convinced that there is a fit, your job isn’t done. Make sure to anticipate potential problems. For example, if relocation is required, ask how family will react to moving. Describe the position and your organization candidly with Candidates, including the challenges as well as the rewards.

Obtain confirmation of compensation and perform reference checks.  Of course Candidates will select their best references. However, probing questions can help confirm whether or not there is a fit.

Present a job offer as soon as possible after you have selected Candidates. Stay in contact with Candidates from the time the offer is made until it is accepted or rejected and, if accepted, continue to stay in contact until the start date. Congratulate the Candidates if the offer is accepted and reiterate why he or she wants to join your team.  Be prepared to overcome a counter offer or offers from other organizations.

Because of the pressure of our other responsibilities, we often feel that we are not able to make a significant investment of time and effort in recruiting, although we seem to always have the time to rectify recruiting mistakes. However, recruitment is one of Leadership’s most important jobs. Leaders should be recruiting all the time, even if they don’t have open positions. Network and connect with top performers. If you don’t currently have an opening, let them know and explain that you would like to maintain a relationship with them until you are ready to hire.

CNI Recruiting recruits sales and marketing professionals at all levels.  Our fee is only 15% of Candidates’ first year base salary. Please contact us today…we will exceed your expectations.

Fred Neufeld
President
CNI Recruiting
(908) 874-6148
www.cnirecruiting.com