Considerations for a solid hiring process

It seems straightforward when you need to hire someone. Develop a job description, ask around, post the job, ask the right questions and make a decision. Different roles will come with their own challenges, but in general, it can be detrimental to you to make a mistake in this decision. This article provides suggestions for why you need a solid hiring process and considerations to think of when doing so.

What happens when you hire the wrong person?

You may end up with someone who isn’t a good fit no matter how much qualifying you attempt, but here is a list of reasons why you need to do everything possible to find a great fit.

If you don’t have a solid plan and process, the new hire could:

1. Be unmotivated and lazy
2. Be unqualified for the role requirements
3. Have a negative impact on all other employees
4. Cost you a lot in lost productivity, lost clients, and lost time
5. Damage your reputation
6. Bring on unexpected legal costs

Additionally, before we get into all of the considerations to think about during this process and while you are developing your own, there are red flags you should watch for before and during the interview.

The top 10 red flags to watch for during the hiring process

1. They call last minute for a reschedule
2. They know little about you or the company or the actual job
3. They are hesitant to add this job to their LinkedIn or signaled other concern about their personal brand that conflicts with the role
4. They take a long time to get back to you
5. They focus their questions on compensation or title
6. You notice excuses early in the process
7. There is hesitation for references
8. They show up late to the interview or any other call
9. They apply for your job during the work day when they are working for someone else
10. They focus on the hours required and you sense they may have another job to do at the same time as this one

Considerations when you hire so you find the right person

Include all of these steps and exercises to have the best chance of a good hire.

Determine the absolute must-haves for the position upfront

It’s useful to have a few things you absolutely have to have in a candidate spelled out ahead of time and a scoring system of some sort. This way, when you are vetting resumes, you are looking at the same list of must-haves for each candidate and not forgetting any. It’s good to have a list for your company as a whole and then for the position. According to Warren Buffet, you have to have intelligence, energy and integrity, they are non-negotiable. He believes without integrity, it all falls apart. You can then make notes of a one to ten score for example on each and then determine how to proceed from there.

This Warren Buffet example, summarized by Tom Searcy, is a great way to summarize the mistake in missing any of the three above.

High energy + high intelligence + low integrity = A smart, fast-moving thief

High intelligence + high integrity + low energy = A shopkeeper, not an engine of growth

High energy + high integrity +low intelligence = A strong functionary, but not a great problem solver or visionary

Some examples for a manager position would be they have to have analytical skills, specifically Microsoft Excel, they have to be able to show examples of dealing with high pressure deadlines, they have to have managed a team in the past, and they must be familiar with the budget process. Score each candidate as a starting point. Those who score the highest would likely make it to your video interview list.

The job description

Be clear and upfront about the job responsibilities and tasks, while also being compelling. You want to attract candidates, but it has to be accurate. It’s common to see what you are responsible for, but it’s rare to see what it means to be a success in the role. Consider adding a single sentence to capture that so that goals, roles, and responsibilities are all known before the candidate accepts the role.

The recruiting strategy

Asking trusted former co-workers or other networks can be great for finding candidates. If this is exhausted, then you will need to determine how you want to proceed with finding candidates. There are many options from contacting people yourself on LinkedIn to job boards like indeed.com, ziprecruiter.com, to hiring an agency and outsourcing all of it.

Video interviews

I recommend using software for this and asking a few key questions via video. This saves your time, their time, and gives you an idea of how people communicate before ever meeting them in person. They are generally up to ten questions, and you can customize what you ask.

Ask questions that really make a person think

When I was hired at my first job as an analyst, I was put through the ringer with one difficult question after another, all about problem solving. It was about various hypothetical scenarios and math problems. The interview was stopped abruptly at 1.5 hours by management. At this point I was completely soaked in sweat. It was so difficult. I asked why it stopped and they said, “Everyone else gave up by now.” The point is, the interview was designed to find the quitters, and weed them out. An analyst may have to put hours to days into solving problems so it was key to find someone who could do that, and think of all possible solutions.

Test the candidate

Ask the candidates to complete a test as part of the interview. Apple, for example, has a number of technical interviews, days apart. If hiring an analyst, make sure they have the basics and then some with a test project. Sometimes these are done on-site, and others will be given a week and they complete it on their own. You not only see skills, but you see how timely they are, and how serious they are about the position.

Watch employment gaps

This is controversial, but over and over, candidates with spotty job history have proven to be poor hires in my experience. While I know there are reasons people have for employment gaps, it’s always a red flag and I can’t stress it enough to do your due diligence if you are considering a candidate with those. 95% of the time, there is a reason and I’ve regretted the hire. As a general rule, I would tread lightly with those, despite having a gap in my own history at one point. A one time gap is much less of an issue generally than trends. Ideally, you will find someone who is employed, and you need to entice them away. Specifically, look for trends in gaps like they didn’t get along with team members or leaders, and other trends like that.

Look for attitude

You can train someone on how to do things, depending on the level of experience you are looking for. What you can’t easily do is train someone on how to have curiosity, and a desire to learn and excel. Someone who has the right attitude and mindset is almost always preferred to simply having the specific skill set.

Include self reflection

Follow Google’s lead and include questions to make people think about where they are at to ensure they are passionate about the position. They ask questions on their website to make the candidates think about their skills, passions and experience to get a well-rounded individual. They want to make sure you are excited about the job.

Check their social media

You cannot ask all the questions in interviews because of time and because some could be discriminatory. However, you can do some digging to find out more about the person. LinkedIn for example, can show you more details about their experience and the types of groups and articles they engage with.

Ask them about your company

See how interested they really are by how much they looked into your company. Various roles will have various types of questions and insights. A marketing role, for example, should be able to comment on your social media and ads if applicable. A salesperson should have some feedback about your product or service as they should have checked into what they would be selling.

Multiple interviews

It’s possible a candidate could have one interview that goes great for 30 minutes. It’s more difficult however, to interact with several people, over the course of an hour, and more than one meeting. Since employees have to work with this person, it can work well to have two separate interviews, with yourself, other leaders, and other employees to get the whole picture. When possible, it’s a good idea to have at least one, in-person interview. This shows you how they interact, and they get to see the team, the environment, the culture.

One time, I worked with a team hiring someone for a receiving position in the warehouse. They did video interviews as the candidate was out of state. The interviews went great, very intelligent person. The position needed to be on lifts, and be able to handle 100 pounds or so in a single package. The person was hired, and showed up a few weeks later. The person was 4-8” tall, and could not meet those job requirements. This was a major miss by doing a video interview that would have been noted when in person and walking the person through the warehouse. Yes, other questions should have been qualified regarding the actual role, but nonetheless, that didn’t work out.

Consider lunch interviews

This could be the second interview. Things you want to look for are how polite they are, whether they get frustrated easily, how they interact with others, do they let other people go first, and can they hold a conversation.

In summary, sometimes things just don’t work out. If you develop a solid hiring process, and consider all of the items in this article, you will have a fair chance at getting the right candidate. If you ignore any of these, you are taking chances on making a mistake in your decision.