If you were the head of a large enterprise, hiring new staff would probably less of a headache. You would have staff who is well-versed in employment law, recruiting practices, researching candidates, and conducting interviews. These staff members would be able to quickly review all CV, conduct phone screens, and even first interviews. Your role would be to conduct final interviewers, or even to step out of the process entirely, leaving the final hiring decisions to department managers. Unfortunately, as a small business owner, these duties fall solely in your lap.
6 Hiring Tips for Small Business Owners
Things can be especially overwhelming if you are hiring your first employee, or first set of employees. Fortunately, there are a few tips that you can use when you first begin to navigate the hiring process. Hopefully this will make things a bit less daunting.-
Prepare a Set of Appropriate and Relevant Interview Questions
In addition to this, writing out your questions before hand gives you a chance to make sure that you are not asking anything that could get you into trouble. If an interview happens to go too far off topic, you can also use your list of questions to get both yourself and your interviewee back on track.
-
Re-Read the CV of Any Client You Have Called Back for a Second or Third Interview
Before you a carry out a second or third interview, take a few minutes to remind yourself of each person's education, experience, and skills by reading over their resume one last time. You'll be better prepared and you won't risk embarrassing yourself by asking irrelevant questions.
-
Follow Up with All Interviewees
If you develop a reputation as an employer who does not let interviewee know that they are no longer being considered, you will likely lose word of mouth references that can be so important when filling new positions.
-
Value Your Gut Instincts
If you suspect that a potential employee won't fit into your team, the best thing you can do for all involved is to move on to a candidate is a better fit.
-
Use Networking in Addition to Posting Positions for Hire
The more avenues you take when reaching out to new hires, the more likely you will be to fill any openings quickly. In fact, many younger job seekers will look for jobs via social media sites more often than they will traditional job sites.
-
Be Clear and Detailed in Your Job Postings
Keep in mind that the more clear you are, the less likely you will have to spend time sifting through applicants of candidates who do not meet your requirements. Before you send your job posting off to be published, read it over and over from the perspective of a job seeker. Then, ask yourself if more clarity is in order. If you have a friend or acquaintance that is familiar with all of this, you might see if they will take a look at your job posting for you.