8 Essential Things to Do Before Hiring Your First Employee

Running your own company is challenging enough. What happens when you need to hire someone when you need help? It’s easy to make mistakes and get overwhelmed.

Avoid the tendency to rush through and hire the first person you meet or hire a friend or family member. That can be disastrous and then you have to start all over again.

As your company grows, so will you need to hire more staff. Finding the perfect solution for hiring your first employee will make the process easier as you go. We’ve put together a few steps to make the hiring process make sense.

Hiring Your First Employee :

You started this company from scratch. You’ve worked hard to get it to the point where you need to hire someone to help you. It can be scary bringing someone new on.

1. Take Your Time

Even if you need someone right away, you don’t want to rush the hiring. Make a list of the tasks you need the new hire to do. This may be very specific jobs or general. It’s helpful for you when you see it written down.

When you have the list, use that to compose the job description in your job ad. Mention the must-haves and the ones that are good but not deal-breakers. This list will be very helpful when you start the interviews.

2. Budget

Set aside a budget. Think wages, plus. Plus monies to cover if they are sick or off and you need to replace them.

Money for extras, like the equipment you might need, a laptop, a cell phone or even extra space for them.

3. Get Your Forms

There will be plenty of new paperwork for you, once you start hiring people. Forms for hiring, for taxes, insurance, evaluations forms and so much more. It’s important for you to protect yourself and document everything from the moment you decide to hire someone.

When you are the entire human resources team, you are going to need human resources help. Get all the forms you need and stay on top of the latest information.

4. Employee or Contract

Once you know what you need your new employee to do, you can decide on whether you want to bring someone on full time, part time or on a contract. The contract can be a one time job, or a renewable one, to keep your options open.

This can be a perfect solution for you when your new hire doesn’t work out. If you set up contracts for the new employees, it works a trial run. You can renew the contract or hire full time once you are satisfied.

5. Prepare The Space

If you are bringing someone on, they need a place to work. If you work from home, there will also be regulations regarding access to washroom facilities, breaks away from premises and insurance issues.

You will also need to make space, a desk, extra equipment and consider things like parking. If it is in your home, they need to know about pet or food allergies and whether there will be other people or children present.

5. Read Between The Lines

It’s helpful to know that people lie on their resume. Call it embellishment or enhancement, it can really matter. When you are reading resumes, you need to read what is there and what isn’t.

Vague descriptions, resumes that echo your job ad or a lot of jobs listed within a short period of time. You should call their listed former or current employers before you call them.

Be open to those who are qualified but may have been fired from their last job or have gaps in their history. Life happens. You need to be open to that.

It well may be something personal that will have no bearing on your company at all.

6. Do Background Checks

If you are seriously considering someone for hire, do all the background checks you legally can. You want to weed out the undesirables. People lie to get jobs all the time, they lie why they left the last one and lie about their qualifications.

You will save yourself a lot of pain down the road when you do all the groundwork before they are hired. Finding out about negative aspects once they are hired will be a headache.

7. Interview

You have your list from the job ad. Now use that to ask the right questions. Ask very tailored and specific questions about what you need from them.

Always ask for proof, if they can provide samples of their work and references.

Check all the references and past work history. Take negatives ones with a grain of salt. Not everyone likes everyone else.

Stuff happens. It likely happened to you, and that’s why you run your own business now.

8. I Don’t Do Windows

Going back to your list, be very specific about the jobs you expect them to do. If you are hiring someone for general duties, you still need to be clear about what you want.

There is always room for improvement. They are not going to come in and do things exactly the same way you do them. Be open to training them and be open to new ideas.

Make sure they are competent in all areas you need. Look at their other skills and experience as assets that can be useful down the road.

Help Wanted :

The very fact you are hiring someone means business is good. You want to keep it that way. Hiring your first employee shouldn’t be stressful or time-consuming. Plan what you are going to do, and then do it.

Be careful, be open-minded, be smart and don’t cut corners. Take advice when it’s given but don’t live by it. Chances are, you were looking for a job at some point, so try to see things from both sides of the resume.

You want to find the best person for the job who will understand your vision and help you grow it and grow with it. Once you become a boss, you will need more help. Keep reading for management tips.

Read Also :

• How to Boost Your Employee Morale with Corporate Events in the Workplace
• 3 Tips on How to Communicate Better with Your Employees