Our last few articles have been dedicated to job seekers, so we’ve decided to change things up a bit and give some attention to you hiring managers! As a hiring manager, you know how important it is for you to make the right decision when it comes to choosing the best candidate for your open position. So, to help you make this process as simple, easy and effective as possible, we’ve identified 4 things you need to do during your recruitment process.
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1. Pay Attention to Experience
If you’re trying to select who to call back, interview or offer a job to, the most important thing you need to consider is, of course, their experience. Although this is a fairly straightforward process, there are still a few things you need to take into consideration with a candidate’s selection.
First, make sure you review their job titles. Most are standardized across many industries, but there is a chance you could find one that stands out and need to make sure you completely understand what it means. These different titles could come with inherent differences in how they interact within their corporate hierarchy, their day-to-day responsibilities, and the general sophistication of the job. Then, you should make sure you look at the actual work that person has done, not just their title. There’s a big difference between someone who’s come from a 20 person company to one from a 1,000 person company.
2. Personality is Key
Experience is extremely important, as is education, but neither mean a thing if the candidate has the wrong personality. Some things you should consider are: how outgoing, talkative, and generally outgoing that person is. If you’ve got a pretty loud, boisterous work environment, the introvert who likes to keep to themself may not be the best fit. This is also true if you’re thinking of bringing a social butterfly into a quiet environment. Personality mismatches, no matter how qualified a candidate may be, should be seen as a major factor in the hiring process. If you still want to hire a person in spite of a personality mismatch, make sure you’ve got a good plan for how you’re going to integrate them into the office.
3. Don’t Forget About Their Soft Skills
One of the most important aspects of the hiring process for hiring managers is one that you also cannot easily identify. We’re talking, of course, about undefinable personality traits that make someone a great employee and allow them to make the best decisions. We can define soft skills as personality traits; things like: professionalism, discipline, insight, and intuitiveness. In other words, these are the traits that are hard to put your finger on, but easily recognizable. We recommend that you make a list of soft skills you want for a certain job before you go out and find a candidate.
4. Think Creatively
The last thing we recommend is to always “think outside the box.” Just because someone may not at first seem like the “best” candidate, it doesn’t mean that they don’t possess the skills and personality that will make them a much better choice than someone who may be a bit more seasoned. Stay open to the idea of cross-training—in other words, someone with a great set of skills who you can train for the open job. This will ensure that you’ve given your company a candidate who’s likely to make long-term contributions.
