Hiring Checklist For BrainTrust, Inc.
Time put in to making good hiring decisions is always well spent. Here we offer a checklist on hiring in general, as well as a ten-step interview guide, to help make finding just the right candidate for your project or part time position a snap.
Successful Hiring [1]
- Make the commitment. The quality of the person you hire will reflect the time and energy you give to the selection.
- Familiarize yourself with the legal landscape. Make sure all job requirements are directly related to job performance. Make sure you and everyone who is part of the hiring process is familiar with the Equal Employment Opportunity laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, marital status or handicap.
- Clearly define the job. Take the time to outline the functions and responsibilities you require, translate that in to specific qualifications for the job. Avoid setting too many requirements; you may miss some great candidates.
- Be realistic. You don't want to hire just anyone. You want to hire some one terrific. Think through the negatives of the position and realize that you might have to adjust your expectations or make changes to the role to make it more attractive.
- Stay in touch with screening. Make sure the process is not eliminating qualified candidates that you might have selected for interviewing.
- Become a better interviewer. Make a plan for each interview, ask thoughtful questions, take notes and listen.
- Do the reference checking yourself. Try to speak directly with the people offered as references. Try to contact others, even if not listed, who might be able to evaluate candidate's work.
- Be as objective as possible. Keep in check personal prejudices. Acknowledge the validity of your first impressions, but bear in mind that the best indicator of future job performance is what the candidate has already accomplished.
- Don't delay the decision. The decision to hire should not be rushed, but you should not deliberate so long that you lose good candidates. Accept the fact that there is no such thing as a "perfect" employee, and that you can never be absolutely sure that you're making the right choice. On the other hand, if you've defined the job properly, recruited wisely, and screened intelligently, your chances of making a "wrong" choice are minimal.
The Ten-Step Interview [2]
- Make small talk.
- Go over the job briefly.
- Ask questions in sequence:
- Education
- Job history
- Outside interests
- Strengths
- Shortcomings
- Goals, personal and professional
- Take notes.
- Probe, probe, probe - always in your area of expertise!
- Announce, "We have about five more minutes." Then listen carefully.
- Tell the candidates what to expect in the selection process and when.
- Let the candidate ask questions.
- Thank the candidate.
- Compare notes with other interviewers.
For further information, here are some good resources:
Hiring the Best: A Manager's Guide to Effective Interviewing and Recruiting, Martin Yate. Adams Media, Avon, MA, 2006.
On Hiring, Robert Half. Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, 1985.
45 Effective Ways for Hiring Smart! How to Predict Winners and Losers in the Incredibly Expensive People-Reading Game, Dr. Pierre Mornell. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA, 1998.
