Guest PostIt can be difficult to run an understaffed business. When you’re understaffed there is more work coming in than people to do it.
As a business owner or manager, you may feel frustrated by many things. Perhaps you’re noticing a high employee turnover rate, an alarming rise in customer complaints, and an increase in overtime costs. You may also feel you’re falling short of your business goals, constantly need to extend project deadlines, and don’t have enough people to take on new clients.
And, of course, you know your business is in trouble if your staff looks exhausted and you haven’t taken any time off for weeks on end.
Fortunately, if you go about it the right way, you can find new candidates quickly following this simple recruitment process:
4 Steps to Finding the Right Candidate
When you want to recruit, interview, and onboard the right person for a specialized job, you should research the position, write a job description, review incoming resumes, and interview promising candidates.
Research the position
Find out what other companies are doing by checking out their job descriptions on job boards. Scan job descriptions similar to the one you’re planning on advertising. Understand what skills and experience employers are seeking.
Put yourself in the shoes of a potential candidate to distinguish between well-written and poorly-written job descriptions. What keywords are smart recruiters using in their job titles? How are they describing the job? What salary range are they offering?
Now set yourself the task of writing a job description that is as good or better. Make a list of all your needs. What do you expect your new employee to do? What characteristics are you seeking? For instance, you may need an industrious person if you run a fast-paced business. Interestingly enough, candidates who earn online degrees often happen to be highly industrious. This may be because they study for their online classes after already putting in a hard day’s work.
Write a job description
Your job description should be warm and inviting. Try to paint a picture of your workplace, identifying all the best things about it.
Provide a clear and meaningful job description. Think about what keywords your ideal candidate will look for and insert them into your job description.
Accurately describe the job’s responsibilities, detail the requirements, and don’t forget to mention any rewards, perks, spiffs, and benefits. In short, try to be encouraging by writing in a friendly, conversational, and informative way.
Review incoming resumes
If you wrote an excellent job description, you will receive many resumes.
When reviewing resumes look for the following features:
- Quantitative evidence of achievements in previous jobs
- Longevity at various jobs
- Clear explanations about employment gaps
- Signs of steady career progress
- Errors in grammar, spelling, and dates
- An inventory of skills and experience
- Hard and soft skills related to your advertised job
Interview promising candidates
The next step, of course, is to interview promising candidates. When they come to the interview, find out why they want the position and to work for your company. Also, try to discover their strengths and weaknesses on the job, their professional achievements, and what they are looking for from a job besides a paycheck.
If the interview goes well, check all references from past employers. If the candidate’s information turns out to be accurate, invite them to join your organization.
Wrap-Up
In summary, when things get hectic in your office, you must act fast to hire the right person. The longer you postpone it, the more chaotic your business will become. The process goes smoothly if you systematically research the position, write a good job description, meticulously review all incoming resumes, carefully interview the best candidates, and check all references. Chances are you may be pleasantly surprised at how many talented people you’ll be able to find for the job.
About the Author
Robert Cordray is a former business consultant and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience and a wide variety of knowledge in multiple areas of the industry such as corporate leadership, employee engagement, workplace culture, and entrepreneurship. Robert earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from the University of Chicago.
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