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An introductory guide to the hiring process
Intro .............................................................. 3
Sourcing Applicants .................................... 4
Screening Applicants .................................. 5
Screening Checklist ..................................... 6
Interview Candidates .................................. 8
Hated Questions ......................................... 9
Hiring Candidates ...................................... 12
How2Hire Series
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Here at The Resumator we believe the future of any company depends on the employees they hire. For this reason, we embarked on a mission:
Help today’s greatest people create tomorrow’s greatest companies
To further this mission, we created How2Hire (H2H) - a community where hiring challenges are discussed and solutions are discovered. This E-book lays the foundational framework of how to hire. We will detail the four pillars of the hiring process:
Sourcing, Screening, Interviewing & Hiring
Understanding these four pillars and the roles they play in the hiring process is the first step towards successful hiring.
Intro
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The process of actively attracting quality job applicants to your job opening
The initial step is often the hardest. Bite the bullet and take it. Consider these challenges as you start this process:
Developing a profile that describes the ideal candidate
Crafting a job description that properly explains the role and responsibilities
Creating an engaging careers website to attract great candidates
Encouraging employees to apply for the job or refer candidates
Organizing all incoming candidates to make screening easy
Before hiring can take place – before recruiting can even happen – employers need to begin the process with a strategic approach to sourcing.
Sourcing Applicants
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The process of identifying applicants to interview from the pool you’ve sourced
So now we’re off and running. Resumes pour in and now you have to decide who moves on to the interview process. This presents a new set of challenges:
Separating qualified applicants from all other resumes
Coordinating and conducting pre-screening questionnaires and phone calls
Gathering tangible feedback from all screeners
Choosing which applicants to bring in for an interview
Informing unqualified applicants of their status
The pile of resumes on your desk looks like a miniature Leaning Tower of Pisa and you’re sweating like you just ran a marathon. How do you even begin the process of making hiring decisions?
The act of sifting through candidates separating the good from the really good is what screening is all about.
Screening Applicants
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Ask yourself these questions before you start making any hiring decisions
Does the cover letter “Cater 2 U?”Read the applicant’s cover letter carefully. Does it “Cater 2 U” or does it strike you as a boring form letter? Does it have personality? When a person puts effort and creativity into a cover letter, it’s a signal that you can expect the same when she’s on the job.
Is this guy a job hopper?Check to see how long the applicant has worked at any given job. You want someone who will stick around and grow with your company, so ruling out job hoppers should be a crucial part of your employee selection process.
What’s her Internet persona like?What’s her Internet persona like? If you didn’t do it during the sourcing stage, now is the time to check out your candidate’s social media presence. You certainly don’t want to go with someone who badmouths her former employers all over Twitter.
Screening Checklist
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Do his references check out?A candidate may have an impressive list of references, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that those references will check out. Call them, and don’t be shy. Ask for details! You want to make sure your applicant actually is the ultra-driven Ivy League grad he claims to be and not some sort of pathological liar who messed around for three years and got kicked out of a community college. If you don’t have permission to call the applicant’s references, consider it a red flag.
Can she perform?Anyone can make himself or herself look good on paper – and sadly, even a degree doesn’t necessarily guarantee skill these days. We’ve got you covered though. HR software allows you to administer customized “Skillset” tests for just about whatever you want. These tests allow you to quantify candidate proficiencies before you even bring the person in for an interview (let alone make any hiring decisions).
So there you have it. Wipe that sweat from your brow, take a little breath and do a little stretch. You’re ready to go.
Oh, and about that stack of resumes … now would be a really great time to take a look at our brand-spanking-new overview video, because there’s just no need to suffer.
Screening Checklist
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The process of actively interviewing applicants and identifying potential candidates to hire
Your list is narrowed down to a few special candidates. You think to yourself, “almost to the finish line” and then the reality catches up to you. What does your hiring process actually look like? Do you have specific questions? Think about these challenges before you move any further:
Preparing questionnaires, exercises and objectives for the interview
Coordinating times and locations for interviewing applicants
Gathering tangible feedback from all interviewers to identify top applicants
Informing unqualified applicants of their status
Lets begin with the obvious – the interview questions. Every candidate can hit the softballs interviewers pitch. Why not spice it up and get to know a little more about the candidate? Put them to work and challenge them with questions they weren’t expecting. After all, we’re trying to uncover the best applicant, right?
Here is a quick look the 3 most hated interview questions and how to change it up to learn something useful.
Interview Candidates
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Bad: Tell me about yourself.
As one of the first interview questions posed to most applicants, this opener is meant as an icebreaker. The problem? Most candidates will recite a response telling you nothing you didn’t already know from the cover letter and resume.
Better: What’s the most exciting thing that ever happened to you?Help interviewees ditch the script and open up by asking them about the most exciting thing they’ve ever experienced instead. Their answers might surprise you.
A candidate who talks about the birth of his son shows that he’s committed and loyal. An applicant who beams while describing his first published piece of poetry gives you a glimpse of his creative side, and someone who’s gone skydiving or deep sea diving reveals that she’s not afraid to take chances and try new things. Remember, when your questions are interesting, your answers will be too.
Hated Question #1
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Bad: Where do you see yourself in five years?
Some interview questions have no good answer. This is one of those questions. If candidates say, “Right here,” they seem ambitionless. If they reply, “Moving on to the position I really want,” then they seem uncommitted. If they say, “Sitting in your seat,” they come across as predatory, and if they steal Mitch Hedberg’s line and answer, “Celebrating the fifth anniversary of you asking this question,” they might get points for humor, but you won’t learn anything about their passions and goals.
Better: What do you want your job title to be when you retire?Making the time frame less immediate will help you uncover what applicants truly enjoy and what drives them to succeed. That’s the kind of information you need to make the best employee selection decisions you can.
Hated Question #2
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Bad: Tell me about a time when you had to overcome an obstacle.
Most applicants are prepared to tell you a story that paints them as the business equivalent of a superhero flying into a burning building to rescue orphans. Sometimes these stories provide valuable insights into a candidate’s character, but often these tales are unrelated to the kind of work the new position requires.
Better: Let me describe a problem you might encounter while working here. How would you solve the problem?Use a real, concrete example and ask her what she’d do to get an idea of how your new hire would handle decisions making in her new position. You can even formulate questions designed to reveal different qualities.
For example, “What would you do if you found out a colleague was fraudulently inflating his sales numbers?” is a lot different than “If your business to business sales took a dip a few weeks before your performance review, what would you do?” Pointed questions can tell you a lot about a person’s social skills, integrity, technical knowledge and expertise.
Conducting an hour-long Q&A session stuffed with clichéd interview questions is no way to start a business relationship. It’s trite, it’s uninspired and above all it’s boringfor both of you. Energize your interview sessions by revamping your questions. Not only will the process become more enjoyable, but you’ll get the information you need to make even better hiring decisions. Remember what Tony Robbins once said. “Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.”
Hated Question #3
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The process of choosing a candidate to hire
Now you’re finally ready to hire the candidate you sourced, screened and interviewed… Before you make that offer though, have you considered some of the following?
Establishing the criteria for candidates to be considered for hire
Gathering opinions from all screeners and interviewers
Choosing top candidates (if any) for consideration
Selecting one candidate and presenting a thoughtful job offer
Negotiating the job offer with the candidate
Informing unqualified applicants of their status
We invite you to join our H2H community and find out more about the final step of the hiring process. “Like” us on Facebook and “Follow” us on Twitter to continue the conversation with thousands of working professionals who live through the hiring process day in and day out. Lastly, be sure to stay tuned for our upcoming E-books.
Hiring Candidates
How2Hire Series | The Hiring Process
Get to Hiring!
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