Guide to Finding the Perfect Employee

The basis on which any business is conceived is vision and every business owner undeniably has to have one in order to propel his or her entire team to go towards achieving their collective goals. If you are in search of the right staff member who will get the job done, first and foremost that person also has to share the same vision as you. Hiring the right man or woman to work for you always pays off, no matter if it is long-term, short-term, or just freelancing, but it takes some thought and planning to clearly determine whether the candidate meets your requirements to begin with. If you find it hard to make such a decision, here are a few guidelines to help you clarify that process…

Your company’s policy

First off, you have to think about what your company’s policy is, or what your culture is like. This means figuring out what is your way to approaching business, your way of thinking, how you operate, and what makes you unique. Being an owner has loads of responsibilities and that means you are the hub of this machine, but before you start recruiting new people to keep everything functional and progressive, ask yourself these questions:

·         What is your current company’s policy?

·         What do you want your policy to be like in the future?

·         How will the candidate fit into your company’s policy?

·         Would you prefer someone who will actually challenge your current policy in a positive way?

·         How do you define your policy to potential recruits?

·         How do you evaluate the candidate’s suitability to you policy?

How to find candidates

Naturally the first solution would be to contact a recruitment agency to try to find candidates for you, but in this modern world, this search can be done easily online. Recruitment agencies may be able to track down people who will meet all the requirements, however they can charge you a lot for that service, too. In order to make things less expensive and worthwhile, here are some options to do the search by yourself:

·         The LinkedIn website is a goldmine for potentially new employees.

·         Communicate with other local business agencies, because that network can easily find you a candidate.

·         Use your own website to offer a position in your company.

·         Advertise on job websites.

·         Ask your business partners and even clients if they have someone to recommend.

·         Use social media to announce that you are hiring.

Make a list of applicants

Those who have applied have to be sorted out and evaluated. It is best to make a filtered short list with all the relevant data which point out whether the person fits the criteria that you have specified. Here are some things you have to consider when evaluating their suitability which can save you precious time:

·         Their qualifications, or are relevant to the role.

·         Their previous work experience; if they have done sales jobs marketing, design, SEO, programming, finances, branding, whatever can be implemented to your cause.

·         What is their background in the niche you are working in?

·         Do a little profiling, especially via social networks, but don’t take this reference for granted.

The interview

Meeting a potential employee face to face is crucial, because you get to acquire all the necessary information about his or her suitability based on their speech, sharpness, wits, humour, body language, looks, attention, and eye contact. However, sometimes there are men and women who do not have the sufficient experience, but are tremendously eager and able to learn, which can prove to be gold; while there also are cases where someone has all the qualifications and references needed, but there is something about them that you just don’t like. You can also hire professionals from some recruitment agency to do this for you. Nevertheless, base your interview on these few guidelines and see if their vision coincides with your own:

·         Ask them about their successes, achievements, and future ambitions.

·         Ask what they think about your company and see if they have also done some research on you.

·         Don’t miss out on asking what their hobbies and interests, especially because of the good work-life balance.

·         Don’t be too rigorous and distant, instead make things a bit less formal to see what they really are like as a person.

It may take some time to find the right person for the job, but it will definitely be worthwhile if you do the entire process of recruitment thoroughly without any pressure. The head of every company knows how to be open and approachable, yet also firm and strict, if need be. Also, never let go of your intuition when searching for candidates. With these guidelines you can get a decent frame of reference on how finding a perfect employee is done, but know that things which are written down are never the same when experienced firsthand. Open your eyes and ears, and see how the pieces fit in your business empire as you call in your next candidate for an interview.