Hiring an employee is a risky proposition for a contractor. We’ve all hired someone who we thought was the perfect fit only to discover a few months later it was a terrible decision. The worst part is it took time and money to train someone and now that investment is gone. Is there anything you can do to prevent this from happening again? While no solution is bulletproof, there are some things you can do to ensure that you hire the right people who help your company instead of hindering it.
Hire for Aptitude, Not Personality
When you interview someone, you are not getting the real person in most instances. You’re getting the window dressing. Some people have a great personality and they can be very convincing. That’s not a bad thing in and of itself. However, personality isn’t everything. You should be evaluating a few things:
- Are they the best fit for you and your company?
- Do they have the basic skills to do the job?
- Are they a “know it all?”
- Are they trainable?
It may be better to hire someone who is hungry, willing to learn, and wants to work over the person who knows it all and wants the most pay. As a small contracting company, the best fit is sometimes the one you can train and bring them up in your organization as the business grows. The key here is to hire for the following attributes in this order:
- Attitude
- Skillset
- Competency
- Experience
Try Group Interviews Over One-on-One Interviews
Group interviews can be a fantastic way to evaluate your prospective employee(s). Group interviews of four to six applicants have a lot of benefits:
- You’ll weed out who wants the job from who don’t – people who aren’t qualified won’t show up to a group interview.
- Interviewees will begin to question their peers and you’ll see under pressure their temperaments, attitudes, and ability to communicate.
- Finally, as they interact with one another you will learn their individual competency levels.
The group interview should last several hours and include a time for:
- Meeting your team and/or contracting vendors
- Asking the interviewee’s specific questions one-on-one
- Asking the interviewee’s questions with the group
- A problem-solving test to see how they respond to the challenge, solve a problem, and work together.
Conclusion
By taking the time upfront to interview potential employees in a group setting, you have a greater chance of evaluating them properly and coming to the best decision. Hiring is risky, but you can take some of the risks out of the hiring process and ensuring you have the right person for your team, culture, and clients.
