Recruiting and Hiring Tips to Ensure You Make the Right Hire

How do you find and make the best new hire for your company? A question that has driven HR professionals and recruiters throughout their careers. Surely, there must be a few tested and trusted recruiting and hiring tips. Well, you’re in luck because there are.  

First, you have to attract the right job seekers. When new hires already have the right skills, you can spend less time on training. How about work ethic and teamwork? Some aspects of an employee’s personality are unlikely to change, so it’s important to match the right candidate with each job.

The following hiring tips will help you incorporate these considerations into each aspect of your hiring process. This will ensure you meet with the right applicants, ask the right questions during interviews, and ultimately, make the right hiring decisions.

Describe the role accurately

The best job seekers understand their own abilities. An accurate job description will attract more of the right people who would be successful in that position.

Also, compare your pay and benefits with competitors. The more self-motivated workers will shop around during their job search. Don’t drive away the best workers by underpaying your staff.

Use recruiting software

An applicant tracking system (ATS) organizes and streamline your hiring process. Automatically collect information from applications. Easily compare quality candidates throughout the selection process. Hire with confidence using interview evaluation reports and analysis. Of all our hiring tips, this one will prove to have the most impact⁠—immediately and long-term.

Vet applicants thoroughly

When looking for the right person, it’s easy to just skim and discard resumes based on a few basic keywords. To check resumes more thoroughly, start with a checklist of minimum requirements. Examine the rest of the resume and other application materials to get a better idea of the person applying.

Do they show an attention to detail or perseverance? Are there red flags or employment gaps you should discuss in the interview? Search them online and social media to discover who they are as a person.

Look beyond technical skills

Some technical skills are essential, and others can be trained on the job. Does the applicant have a history of adapting to different industries and other challenges? Could their background bring a new perspective to the team?

Instead, look for signs of character, personality, and aspirations. Can your company offer opportunities for advancement that match the applicant’s career goals?

Be aware of your biases

Reading between the lines of resumes can get complicated. You may also discover personal biases while looking for someone who would work well with your existing team. Be aware of your own biases and try to work against them. Instead of trying to ignore significant parts of a person’s background, remember that all types of diversity can make your team stronger.

Beyond hiring tips, there are ways you can improve your workplace’s diversity and inclusion for current employees and new hires including training with an online Learning Management System (LMS).

Ask for input from co-workers

Your applicants can also meet with potential co-workers and other managers either through setup meetings or casual office tours. This will give potential co-workers and teammates a chance to form their first impressions. When choosing the best candidate for a job, it’s helpful to get more perspectives.

If you’re conducting interviews online, you can still provide a virtual tour with a camera or handheld device. During days with multiple online interviews, walking around might help reduce mutual feelings of video fatigue.

Consider your company culture, values, and goals

The easiest way to improve your company culture is to start with motivated employees. Look for applicants who align with your company values and future goals. If your management team wants to do more community engagement, then an applicant who does lots of volunteering might have helpful insights. With each new hire, you’re not just filling an opening, you’re shaping the future of the company.

Talk with candidates more than once

We’ve all had off days or interview jitters. You may never know which interviewees are quietly struggling with extenuating circumstances. Many will simply be nervous about their first interview with your company.

Although multiple in-person interviews can be a burden, you can find other reasons to call and talk during the selection process. Over the phone or with video conferences, multiple interactions will help you get to know them better and reveal more of their personality.

Trust your instincts

Many aspects of the selection process feel obvious. You give a certain weight to education and relevant work experience. Some candidates are objectively more qualified than others. Other factors like personality are harder to measure, but they make a huge difference in the workplace.

If you’ve been in HR for more than a few weeks, you know that the best employees aren’t always ones with the best credentials on paper. Trust your instincts, but also double check those instincts against your personal biases.

Check backgrounds and references

Too many employers fail to call even a single reference. It takes time, but references provide valuable insight into each applicant’s background. Develop a list of questions to guide those conversations.

A criminal background check also takes some time, but it can help to protect your company and employees. Some candidates might have one or two minor infractions and still perform well as employees. Still, you’ll want to find candidates who can be candid about their past.

The hiring process is complicated and shouldn’t be something you speed through. Look at each hire as an opportunity to match the right workers with a satisfying career. There are still lots of motivated workers out there.

Discover how Netchex can help you implements these hiring tips into your recruiting and interviewing process: