Finding the Right Person When Recruiting: 5 Top Tips

Trying to recruit a new hire to your business? Wait. There’s a lot of things to take into consideration before you offer a job to what seems to be the perfect candidate! Check out these five top tips to ensure that you fill a role with the right person.

1. Write an accurate job description. The first step in finding the right person for the job is to describe it accurately. The benefit of doing this properly is that you’ll get to figure out and articulate what’s most important to your business, and identify precisely what gap needs filling. You can then make sure that a candidate is the right fit for the job, and that they feel it’s right for them too.

2. Use technology to maximise efficiency. Recruiting the right hire is an expensive and time consuming task, so streamline your processes as much as you can. You can do this by making good use of technology such as hr software, as well as advertising for positions on websites such as LinkedIn. You could also use other kinds of technology such as Skype for first round interviews, which is great if you want to save on the cost of resources required for face-to-face chats.

3. Consider using social media. The chances are, almost every single one of your applicants has a social media presence of some sort. When an application lands on your desk, do some light Google investigating and see if you can find out anything about candidates using their social media profiles.

How a person behaves on social media is a good indication of how they’ll behave in your office, and if nothing else, you’ll get to know them on a human level – they’re no longer a pile of impersonal CVs, but human beings with hobbies and interests.

You could also use social media to promote the fact that you’ve a vacancy to fill. Better yet, if an interviewee happens to apply this way because they already follow your business online you already have a fan that sees value in your company!

4. Don’t place too much importance on experience. Many recruiters place a huge amount of importance on work history and relevant experience, doing exactly the role that’s being advertised. But, this could be hindering your recruitment efforts and might even be slashing swathes of stellar talent.

Instead, focus on a candidate’s potential: social intelligence (the ability to navigate social situations and work well with others) is far more important, and so is having the right attitude. You can train people to perform roles, so don’t overlook an applicant because they haven’t held a prestigious position!

5. Ask for references. Asking for a reference from a previous employer is a reliable way of limiting the risks associated with hiring the wrong person. You can find out if there have been any major issues in the past, and candidates who are unable to get a good reference from a former employer will show up on your radar as a potential problem before they nestle in to your business. However, take testimonials with a pinch of salt (after all, we all continue evolving and improving) and remember that you’re just hearing one person’s opinion of a candidate – a reference is not a full view.