Dear New To Recruit,

Hiring a new employee isn’t as straightforward as it seems. Developing your interview strategy and setting clear expectations involves a lot of skill and introspection. That said, hiring the right person isn’t rocket science.

Here’s a quick primer on hiring 101: how to set expectations, set up a hiring process, and make your decision.

Set clear expectations

If you don’t know what you’re looking for you’re going to have one heck of a time finding it!

Before you start the hiring ball rolling you need to lock down the requirements of the position. You should understand the role’s duties and the hard and soft skills necessary. The better you know the position, the more equipped you’ll be to hire the right person for the role.

Setting clear expectations also helps you write the right job description. This, in turn, sets the expectations of any potential recruits.

Don’t neglect your hiring process

Odds are you’re going to be looking at multiple candidates, so it’s essential that you have your hiring process locked down. A consistent hiring process ensures you’re evaluating all your potential recruits in the same way – an important factor when it comes to deciding between them.

You should break the position down into three categories:

• Basic requirements – physical location, degree requirements, etc
• Hard skills – those skills your recruit has to have
• Soft skills – those skills you’d prefer your recruit to have but that aren’t required

Breaking things down in this way will allow you to develop questions or other assessments that identify whether your potential recruits have the necessary combination of attributes. Once you have those questions, you can stay consistent in your asking of them.

Don’t rush your decision

It can be all-to-easy to interview, decide you like them, and hire them on the spot. Don’t do this! You need some time and distance to be able to make a level-headed decision.

Instead of rushing into things, give yourself at least 24 hours to evaluate your candidate. Re-read any notes you took during the interview and make sure to check their references. Call back to the questions you developed as part of your hiring process. Does the candidate meet all your hard requirements? How many soft skills do they have?

If in doubt, get a second opinion. It’s standard practice to interview in teams for a reason.

Be open to negotiation

Hiring the right person for a role is a two-way street. You have to be open to negotiation when it comes to the hiring process. Make your offer but be willing to budge on it for the right candidate. Odds are your ideal recruit will have their own expectations for the role.

All of that said, don’t compromise on your hard limits. If a candidate pushes for more than you’re able to offer, be prepared to walk away.

Hire intelligently

Hiring the right person for a role is a skill like any other. It requires practice and determination. If at first you don’t succeed: try, try again!

Now you know a little more about the hiring process to get you on your way.

Sincerely,
Jenny