To hire the right person, you need to drop the traditional process. Candidates present a polished version of themselves who they think you want to hire. They’ve heard the same tired questions over and over: “Where do you see yourself in five years? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Why do you want to work here?”
An effective hiring strategy will bypass the scripted answers to reveal a more accurate version of the candidate. This will require a new, creative game plan.
Triton understands the value of hiring the right person for the job. That’s why we’re sharing these strategies to improve your hiring process.
Start with you
The most qualified candidate isn’t necessarily the right candidate. You may hire someone because their resumé was outstanding. They have a great education, solid work experience, and reputable references.
Then a month into the job and you realize they’re just not the right fit. You disagree on workflows, timelines, and more.
That’s why it’s important to start by clearly defining your company’s culture. You won’t find the right employee if you don’t know what ‘right’ means.
Start by identifying:
- Your mission
- Your values
- The type of people you want to work with
Define the role clearly
Too often companies begin the hiring process with a vague job description. Then they hire someone who doesn’t have some vital skill they’d neglected to highlight during the interviewing stage. Now they have to either spend unexpected resources training this new hire or start the process all over again.
Taking the time in the beginning to establish an accurate job description will save you a lot of stress further down the road.
Identify soft skills
Once you know your company’s culture and the role itself, finding the ideal fit will require assessing more than the usual metrics of hard skills and experience. You will also need to consider what soft skills they bring to the role.
You can get a better sense of how candidates will handle the job by presenting them with unusual scenarios. Consider some of the unique challenges your company often experiences and run it by them. How would they handle it? Be as specific as possible.
Use multiple evaluation methods
Not everyone makes a good first impression. The interviewing process can cause a lot of anxiety for many people. As a result, the right employee for you may fly under the radar because they underperformed during the interview.
A skill-based test in addition to an interview can give more insight into an applicant. You could also ask them to complete a deliverable. Some companies even offer short-term contracts as an extended tryout in the role.
After all, you want someone who can actually do the job – not just interview well.
Collaborate with other departments
Many HR professionals, especially in larger companies, juggle the needs of several departments. So, while they have a broad knowledge of the company, they may not be intimately familiar with the fine details of certain departments. That’s why it’s a good idea to reach out to employees in whatever department you’re hiring for to involve them in the hiring process.
And even if you work for a smaller company, it’s still a good idea to rely on a second opinion. We’re all limited by personal biases that go unnoticed. Just having another person present during the interview can make a big difference.
Establish a rubric
Speaking of personal biases, establishing a rubric will help make the hiring process more objective. It’s easy to be so overwhelmingly impressed by one set of a candidate’s strengths that you neglect other potential deficiencies. Identify the core competencies you’re looking for then grade each candidate accordingly.
For example, you could create a score sheet based on:
- Education/qualifications
- Skillset
- Experience
- Mindset/culture fit
Now you’ve taken the guesswork out of comparing candidates.
Reach out to third-party background check providers
Indeed estimates that 40% of applicants lie on their resumés. And while three out of four employers have caught a lie on a resumé, many slip through. Most HR professionals simply don’t have the time to scrutinize resumés, education history, references, etc.
A qualified third-party background check provider will have the expertise required to thoroughly vet candidates, giving you confidence in your hiring decisions. They also have the dedicated resources to ensure quick turnaround times.
A worthwhile investment
You may be reluctant to overhaul your hiring process. But making the effort to hire the right people at the start will pay many dividends in the future.
David Tobin did his degree in psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. He is interested in mental health, wellness, and lifestyle.
