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Writer's pictureSummer Finch

Ready. Set. Hire.

READY


Getting ready to hire someone looks different in every situation. “Ready” could be a sudden need because an employee resigned and you have 2 weeks until they are gone and you know they will leave a large void in your department, or worse, you had to fire someone for cause and have an immediate void. “Ready” could be your business is growing and everyone has been stretched to their full capacity for several months and you now know it is a necessity to add a head count. “Ready” could be that you have realized there is a talent gap in your organization that must be filled before growth will happen. No matter if your situation matches one of these examples or is completely different, you are most likely reading this article because you have become “ready”.


SET


Getting set is often much more strategic than getting ready. There are several questions that need to be asked and answered in order for the final step, “hire”, to be successful. As a recruiter, I enjoy being invited to participate in this process. I have found that the beginning stages of this process gives a lot of insight into the business and personnel; this insight is valuable as I reach out to potential candidates and assess their fit.



If you are in the process of getting set, open a new document (or get out a piece of paper if you like physically writing it out yourself) and brainstorm. I encourage you to ask yourself these questions, even if you already have a job description in hand, in order to clarify your specific situation at this point in time; or even better, hold a brainstorming meeting with those in the department or influenced by the position so you can get a well rounded perspective.


  • Why is this position a necessity?

  • What skill set is needed in order to be successful in this position?

  • What experience and/or education is needed?

  • Is there anyone internal that could fill this void or part of the void?

  • Who is a good example of someone that has thrived in this role? What made them such a good fit?

  • What is the market rate for someone with this skill set? What will the salary range be?

  • Do I know anyone that has this skill set that I am interested in considering for the position or just to network with?

  • What is the culture in the company? What is the culture in the department?

  • What quality traits will be needed in order to be successful in the culture?

  • What quality traits would make someone unsuccessful?

  • How do we want to move forward in an effort to find someone for the position?

  • What are 3-5 main objectives that this position will have in their first year?

  • Should the position and the recruiting for the role be confidential?

  • What will our interview process be? Who will make the final decision?


If you have done what has been suggested up to this point, you should have a pretty clear direction on the skill set, experience, and character qualities of the person you want to hire. Now comes the reality side of getting set, actually finding a real person that matches what you have written down on your paper. Ideally, you would like to have 3-5 qualified options to consider and/or present to the team involved in making the hiring decision. How do you ensure that the people you take time to interview are actually worth your time? If resumes are easy to come by, how will you be able to also determine who has the character qualities? If resumes are hard to come by, how will you generate candidates to be able to interview?


Recruiting the right person will take time and the ability to genuinely care about people. You have to be able to slow down enough to really listen to who your talking to, ask the right questions to determine what they care about, and then consider if what you have to offer matches that. My experience has shown me that you most likely do not have the time and find it difficult to assess the personal motivating factors and character qualities of candidates, especially with all the legal parameters on what you are and are not allowed to ask a candidate in an interview.


Please consider how important it is that you hire the best person for this position. Think through the benefit this person will bring to your business. How much money will be invested into this persons training and what money could be earned by this person’s success? This is why engaging a recruiter to take the time to find qualified candidates and assess their fit is the best choice. Yes, recruiters cost money but the value of a good hire will far outweigh that investment. I find great fulfillment in meeting this need for my clients, truly becoming part of their team and investing myself in their businesses success. Choose to engage me in your search and let me do the difficult part of getting “set”. The process moving forward would be one of teamwork with an agreed upon process that fits the managers needs, preferences, and timeline.


HIRE


Here comes the fun part! You are ready to make an offer to a qualified candidate. You should feel confident that this person has the skill set needed to be successful in this position and that they will fit well in the company culture. You were able to consider several options for the position so you know that this is indeed the best choice.

Yes, the recruiter provided qualified options but you were the one to do the face to face interview, assess, and determine they were the right fit and will be the one held accountable for making the final decision. There is always an element of risk when dealing with people but you can be confident that you minimized the risk by putting the resources needed into the process.


You're READY. You're SET. Now go HIRE!





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