Hiring | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer

4 Tips For Screening Potential Employees

September 26, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

The hiring process in a company can be a hassle, especially when you have many applications to go through. If you are not careful, you might disregard the good employees and hire people who are not well qualified for the job. The type of employees you get will greatly influence the production levels at the office. Here are some of the tips that will come in handy when screening the employees before hiring them.

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Have a clear job description

One of the first things you need to do before starting the hiring process is to have a clear job description. It will guide you in determining the qualifications required for the job posts and what areas are the most vital for you. If you do not do that, you will keep getting applications from people who do not qualify for the job. It will make you spend more time going through the applications to get potential candidates for the posts.

Have a checklist

Once you have a clear job description, create a checklist. Ensure the list has what you believe your employees need to possess. It is what will guide you when you are interviewing the candidate. The checklist will also come in handy when you are formulating the questions to ask the potential candidates. Without the list, you will find yourself at a crossroads when it comes to the actual interviews.

Get the help of a hiring company

While the hiring process is something you can do in-house, it does not hurt to get outside help. A professional hiring company will go a long way to ensure that the employees you get have the right skillset. Many times you might need to go through various applications, which take forever. The hiring contractors can do this in record time and let you concentrate on the running of your company. You will only come in when they have a list of candidates that you need to make the final decision on.

Keep it legal

When screening employees, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is to use illegal methods. Do not hire anyone based on their race, sex, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Your personal preferences should in no way come to play when hiring. If you are not careful, you might end up with a lawsuit in hand because of your hiring methods. Another thing you should never do is ask your potential employees whether they have family or plan to start one and whether they plan to go back to school in the future. Doing so means you will employ them based on how many work hours they can put in. Everyone deserves to have a life outside their career.

Bottom Line

The right hiring methods will ensure that you not only get the best employees but that you do not get on the wrong side of the law. When hiring a freelance employee, you need to ensure that you do your research well. It will help you get the best employees for your company.

How to Make Sure You Recruit The Right People

October 23, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Recruit the right people

If you’re expanding your empire and are in a position to recruit staff to join your business, then you’ll know that making the right choice can feel like a minefield. It’s a big decision as ultimately people are what make up your business

If you’re in this position then you will need to consider these four vital aspects to ensure you get the certainty you require that you are making a good choice. After all, recruitment isn’t something you should take lightly, as once someone is contractually employed it can be challenging to let them go – which is why it’s so important to make the right choice, first time, every time.

There’s a reason so many people choose to outsource this onerous task to a professional recruiting company as there are many time saving benefits in addition to being able to leverage the expertise and processes of an external company that specialise in this one specific area. However, many small business owners want to be much more involved with the process, meaning they go it alone and do it themselves.

Here are three pointers to help ensure you recruit the right people:

GET CLEAR ON WHO YOU ARE LOOKING FOR

When it comes to advertising for a job and trying to fill a role, the most important ingredient you require to be successful is clarity – as unless you know exactly what you are looking for and are able to articulate a clear description in a job advert, things are going to get very confusing and incongruent.

You don’t want to rely on your gut instinct when recruiting people, of course, utilise this intuitive power but don’t rely solely on it. The need for getting clarity in all aspects of your business is high, but it becomes even more important when looking for the right candidates; so spend some time drafting your candidate criteria and really think about it.

INTERVIEW IN A VARIETY OF WAYS

You want to interview people in a variety of ways, as people have different strengths and will shine in different aspects of the interview process – for instance, someone faced with a panel interview where they have to give a presentation might make them freeze and lose their composure, but that’s not to say this isn’t an ideal candidate – just that they are nervous and intimidated by the process.

This is why task based interviews offer a more holistic insight into the person, as you can watch them interact with others and see how they manage tasks, especially creative problem solving skills.

THOROUGHLY CHECK THEM OUT

Last but not least is that you want to thoroughly check out a small number of shortlisted candidates, as it’s very easy to talk the talk, but you need to ensure they have walked the walk before – and that their CV isn’t fiction.

In summary, you want to make sure you are crystal clear on the type of person you are looking for, interview them in different ways, and thoroughly check out the shortlisted candidates backgrounds.

How One Bad Hire Can Affect Your Business

October 3, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

If you’re going to take your business to the next level, then sooner rather than later you’ll need to bring employees on board. While this might seem like an easy enough task, in practice it can turn out to be quite tricky. Depending on your industry, you might find that there’s a skills shortage, or that it’s difficult to develop a hiring process that results in a stellar employee. It’s worthwhile taking the time to find the process that works for you, however, as there can be big consequences to hiring the wrong person, as we’ll see below.

Bad Hire

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Cost of Rehiring

Your employee should eventually end up making you money, once they’re up to speed with their duties and responsibilities. But what if it quickly becomes clear that they’re not going to be up to the job? Then you’ll have to fund the cost of a replacement. Keep in mind that the costs of hiring aren’t limited to just putting an advert online. There’s also the matter of training, lost productivity as they get to grips with the job, and any finders fee you have to pay if you go through an employment agency.

Legal Problems

No matter what industry your business is in, there’s always a chance that your employees can do you harm. And that’s why it’s imperative that you don’t just ask for background checks, but that you follow up with them. In some cases, a criminal background check might be merited too. The issues can become particularly problematic if they have access to your customer’s private data. As Ivrnet outline, credit card fraud is a big problem that can cost companies their customer’s trust, as well as money they need to spend on settlement fees. It doesn’t take an army of employees to do this damage; just one rogue employee.

Bad Energy

A happy workforce is a productive workforce. But as with most things in life, the enjoyment of the environment can be easily compromised by a single person. If they’re bringing bad energy to the team and otherwise making it a less enjoyable place to work, then you might soon find that morale begins to take a downward turn. This will, in the best case, reduce your worker’s output, at worst, invite people to jump ship and head to work for another company.

Reduced Customer Service

You already know how important your customer service is to the success of your business. As such, it’s imperative that all of your employees have your customer’s needs at the forefront of what they do. If you find that that one of your employees isn’t quite as hot when it comes to customer service, then you might find that you’re losing customers, all because one of your staff members didn’t understand the memo.

Getting Around It

To get around these issues, hire properly. Employ people you can trust, and who fit in with your overall company culture. Your hiring process may take time to become watertight, but you’ll get there eventually.

Hiring A Freelance Employee: What They Need

September 12, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

What drives us as an entrepreneur, apart from the fear of failure is the financial aspects of our business. Unfortunately, we always have to keep an eye on the finances whenever we are heading into new territory, or merely expanding on our current operation. Naturally, we develop a sixth sense when it comes to finding the best ways to cut down on unnecessary outgoings. Hiring freelancers is one of the best approaches any burgeoning business can take. But, it’s important to think about what your freelancers need from you, as well as what you need from them…

Setting Out The Task At Hand

The objectives are vital to ensuring a symbiotic relationship with a freelancer. You need to set out clearly what you need from them, and as a result, they will respect your needs. It’s important to remember that, despite the fact you are laying out clear objections, they will need to complete the work in their own unique way. This is a very important thing to consider with regards to the differences between full-time employees and freelancers. Whatever the approach, your goal is to ensure they deliver the final product. But when you are setting out the task at hand, there are things you should lay clear in the contract, such as if they need to be available during specific working hours.

How You Are Going To Pay Them (And How Much?)

This a very sticky issue. Remember, if you don’t pay them enough for the job they are doing, especially when you promise a certain amount, there can be numerous sticky issues further down the line. However, there are legal professionals you can rely on, and that your employees can rely on, to ensure that everybody is happy in a financial sense. Ultimately, you need to decide before any work is done, what their fee is, and how it is going to be paid. For example, are they going to receive commission?

The Intellectual Property Rights

One of the biggest legal issues when it comes to hiring a freelancer is the intellectual property rights. When you hire an employee full-time, the intellectual property is yours. However, when you hire a freelancer, they own everything that they create, and so, if you want to ensure that you own this intellectual property, you have to put this in the contract at the very outset. This is a very important thing to establish before any work is done, because if the freelancer is unhappy with the circumstances in which they are working, they could easily leave you in the lurch, and take their creations with them.

Ultimately, when you are hiring a freelancer, you have to give them the respect that they deserve. So many freelancers don’t feel respected, because they are a hired gun. But if you are looking to develop long-term relationships with specific freelancers, it’s important to give them the respect that they need. But at the same time, you need to ensure that you are covering your back. This is why preparation is always the best course of action before hiring any freelancer.

The Key to Business Success: Building a Wonderful Workforce

August 13, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Building Workforce

Finding the right employees for your team can be difficult- like everything in business, competition is always going to be fierce. It’s worth remembering that you’re not just competing against other businesses for customers but for employees too, since similar companies will be offering similar job roles which will appeal to the same pool of candidates. Be aware of the following to ensure your job stands out and you can secure the best workers.

Recruiting and Interviewing

Your first step is to create an ad describing the job role. While you’ll want it to sound appealing, it’s important to not dress it up as something it isn’t. If an employee is left disappointed and the role isn’t what they expected, they could leave your company and you’re left out of pocket in regards to recruiting and interviewing costs. A high staff turnover rate reflects badly on your business, it can reduce productivity, staff morale and can cost you money. If you use a recruitment agency they can put you in contact with the most suitable employees who have skills that match what you’re looking for. Otherwise, be sure to interview carefully, finding out as much about the candidates skills and experience as possible. You could use an applicant tracking system to manage the hiring process and keep you in control. Second and even third interviews help you to narrow down the best candidate for you, it’s better to spend time in the recruitment stage than hire someone that’s not right for your business.

Invest in Employee Benefits

While it’s the hourly wage that candidates will place the most emphasis on when looking for a job, employee benefits will also be taken into consideration and are what could help you stand out from your competitors. Health, dental, medical and disability plans are just a few examples. These things can make your job role more attractive than those offered by your competitors and can also make your employees feel more secure. This can reduce staff turnover rate, saving you time, hassle and money in the long run. Other employee benefits include things like company phones, laptops or a car depending on the role being offered.

Upgrade Your Office

Mood and productivity are closely linked, and one way you can boost both is to upgrade your office. Change the layout to improve space and flow, make the most of the natural light by placing desks next to windows. Give the office a coat of paint and upgrade the flooring to give the space a fresh feel. As well as the decor, you also need to work on creating a positive and friendly working environment. This means a zero tolerance policy towards bullying, this could mean implementing an anonymous reporting system and being open and available to listen if employees come to you with an issue.

Utilise Team Building Activities

Teamwork is absolutely crucial when you run a business, and one thing you need to do as company owner is ensure that your staff work well together. The first step to this is choosing the right workers, people who have a track record of working well in a team. Secondly you can inspire great teamwork with the use of team building activities. There are lots of fun ways to do this these days, from weekend retreats offered by companies with lots of activities on offer, to treasure hunts, escape rooms and murder mystery evenings. Anything that gets the team chatting, socialising and working together can lead to better communication back in the office.