How To Quickly Find The Best Employees
Locating Qualified Personnel
Placing an ad in your local newspaper or contacting an
employment agency does not guarantee that the next person
you interview has “the stuff” you’re looking for. And once
you have place an employment ad, you may receive a higher
response then planned. Don’t seek qualified employees at a
whim! Be prepared to conduct an interview that weeds out an
“unqualified” employee and draws in the “highly qualified”.
It’s obvious… The interview process is key to finding that
special individual. You can look through a stack of resumes
a day and still not find someone that is appealing. It
will take a half hour or hour of your time spent one-on-one
with an individual to hash out his or her expectations, your
requirements, and business goals.
Resume Selection
The good resumes have cover letters and references. There
are some people who hire professional resume writers that
will create a resume that specifically address all of the
qualifications you are seeking in an employee. Other people
decide to write their own but often fail to catch your
attention. It is not wise to evaluate a potential hire
based solely on who actually wrote the resume.
You are going to want to pay very close attention to their
job history. Is this person prone to job hopping? If they
have not stayed at a place for 5 years or more, it is
unlikely you will be able to retain this person. Do they
have skills beyond those required by the position?
So if you find yourself searching for a secretary with
decent computer skills who likes to communicate with
people, the resume of the right candidate should have
experience in both the secretarial and customer
service fields. Ideally, you want the talents of the
right candidate to include skills and talents outside of
the specific area that you need for the position so that
they may grow with the company into more challenging
positions. Anyone with some office management or
accounting experience would be a definite bonus for
you and the company. In fact, that would be a top
flight resume and someone you definitely want to call
in for an interview.
Don’t overlook the inexperienced. Sometimes an employee
that has less experience in the field you want them too
engage in is a better employee. The reason - - this
employee is trainable and willing to learn ‘how’ you do
things. Chances are he or she will sore beyond your
expectations and stay with your company longer.
Conducting an Interview
If you are looking at Bob’s resume you quickly see that he
has 8 years of experience in an administrative role and 3
years of experience working in a fast food restaurant. So
if you need someone to perform light administrative tasks,
as well as answer phones and handle customer questions, is
Bob your man? Well, he has the administrative skills but
seems to be coming up short on the customer service side of
things. When you probe a little deeper, you find that Bob
was an assistant manager at the fast food place and
therefore had to field customer and employee complaints day
in and day out. Although the experience is not exactly
what you were looking for, dealing with people in a fast
food place can be very demanding and that means that Bob
could probably handle your customer base with ease.
Similar experience is definitely something to consider when
evaluating candidate potential.
The Evaluation Process
The entire screening process can be quite lengthy so do not
plan on getting it finished in a day or even a week. Take
time to thoroughly evaluate the candidate. What was their
body language like and did they look into your eyes when
talking? If they didn’t, they may be lying to you. Body
language can be quite telling and should be considered
carefully when deciding upon a candidate. Having the
qualifications is important, but it is also important that
they be able to get along with the rest of your workers.
A second interview is always advised if you are having
trouble making a decision. Give them a questionnaire during
this round. Maybe have them perform a simple task that
will help you determine their skill level. Maybe you will
want to ask Joe to draft a letter for you on a typewriter
instead of a computer. Analyze his reaction and be prepared
to tell him why you are making the request.
Finding qualified personnel is a lot easier when you know
precisely what kind of person meets your requirements.
Retain the resumes submitted to you during the process for
future use and be very honest but compassionate during
the interviews. At the end of the day, you will find that
new hire that will be appreciative of the job and more
willing to satisfy your needs.
About the author: Ken Bidgood is the proprietor of
Advertising XP,
the #1 source on the internet when you’re looking for fresh
up to date advice and reviews to do with Business.
For more articles on Business visit:
http://www.advertisingxp.com/articles
While you’re there grab our free mini-course
on how to get loads of free targeted traffic.