7 Must-Read Tips on How to Hire the Right Person for Your Business

Every hiring decision you make plays a critical role in the success of your business. It doesn’t matter whether you’re looking for a new intern or find yourself looking for the company’s next CMO. Either way, only the best candidate for the job will do.

You need someone with the right skillset, a bunch of bright ideas, and of course, a good attitude.

Otherwise, you may find yourself on the hunt for a new employee all over again in a few months.

To keep your employee turnover low and hire the right person, follow the tips below.

1. Consider an Internal Hire:

You don’t necessarily need to look far and wide to hire the right employee for your open position. In fact, he or she may already be on your team!

Take a look at the current roles everyone on your team is doing. Is there a way to merge the open position with the responsibilities someone already has? Are you better off promoting someone than trying to bring a new person into the team?

These are questions well worth considering. An internal hire not only saves you a significant amount of time and money, but it can also improve employee morale. One promotion alone has the power to change the dynamic of an entire department for the better.

2. Ask Your Team for References:

The only downside to hiring within is that you’re still going to have to fill the position from which you promote someone. As long-term employees move up the ladder, other people need to enter the business and fill their place. The exception to this is if you decide to outsource – like having Databerry help you with IT services.

What’s the best way to hire employees in such a situation? To go to your team and ask for references. Someone you work with is bound to know another person who needs a job.

Plus, starting your search for a new employee with references is much better than going in blind. When you go to your team, you’re able to get a good feel for what to expect. Your employees may tell you something that’s not on the person’s resume, but that can still bring value to the business.

3. Consult Your Professional Network:

While references are good to get from within the business, it also pays to talk to people you respect in your industry and professional network as a whole.

Reach out to your old college professors and ask them about their current shining students. Talk to your mentor, your old classmates, and maybe even message the person you hit it off with at the last networking event you attended.

You’ll be surprised at the kind of feedback you receive. Someone may refer you to a candidate who is actually a little overqualified for the job, while another could tell you about a highly-skilled individual who is looking to change industries or relocate. These are things that could work in your favor if you play your cards right.

4. Do More Than One Interview:

Part of “playing your cards right” during the hiring process is to do more than one interview. Think of this kind of like dating. The first date alone doesn’t tell you whether or not you want to be in a relationship with the other person.

In the same way, you can’t make the final hiring decision on a candidate after one hour with them. You need to have a few different interviews to find the right person for the job.

However, be careful of dragging out the interview process. This puts you at risk to lose the best candidate to a competitor. Each interview should have a clear purpose; try to keep the process around 3 rounds total for the best results.

5. Create an Interview Panel:

Another thing to consider is to create an interview panel.

Think about the last time you and your team put your heads together and came up with a bright idea. Someone probably made a suggestion you hadn’t even thought of. They came into the situation with a fresh perspective to make the outcome much better than you expected.

The same thing can happen when you create an interview panel. This multiplies your efforts and allows you to find the best candidate for the job. When more than one employee meets a candidate, you’re able to consider them from more than one perspective.

One of your colleagues may find something interesting about a certain candidate while another takes a more critical approach. This dynamic lets you weigh the pros and cons of each potential hire without being too much in your head.

Plus, you can base part of the decision in regards to how well each candidate fits your company culture. Don’t be surprised if you end up in a debate with your panel between the candidate who is most qualified versus the one who better matches your business in terms of character.

6. Get to Know the Candidates Beyond Their Skills:

Speaking of hiring for skill versus for character, make it a point to understand each candidate beyond their skills. What else do they bring to the table?

Maybe this is the practical, straightforward thinker a department has been missing or the strong communicator your business needs as a whole. Maybe you make a personal connection with another candidate – like the fact that you’re from the same hometown or went to rival colleges.

While these shouldn’t make or break your hiring decision, a few personal details can help you get the full picture about each potential hire.

7. Do a Background Check:

To really get the full picture about the individual(s) you’re about to hire, get a background check. In fact, this should be a given.

The last thing you want to do is onboard a new professional only to find out they have a drug record or some sort of bad reputation in your industry. To avoid this, get a full background check.

Go beyond the formalities of a drug test and the right to work. Dig a little deeper to ensure the candidate you want to hire is really who they seem to be.

Hire the Right Person, Then Keep Them:

There’s one piece of the hiring process many employers forget to consider: employee retention. That’s right – it’s not enough to hire the right person when you have an open position. You have to work to keep everyone on your team, too.

For management tips to help you do just that, click here.

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