When you run a small business, and it comes to hiring your first employees, it’s hard to get it right. If you’ve never hired people before, it can be very difficult to know how to approach the task. And this is why many entrepreneurs make business mistakes. That’s not what you want to happen, so here are the mistakes that you should be aware of and avoid.
Vague Job Descriptions
Writing the job description is one of the most important things that you will have to do when you are hiring people. Those descriptions should be as detailed and specific as possible. It’s vital to make sure that you are being very clear about the kind of candidates you’re looking for. When companies fail to do this, they can get a lot of applications from people who are not suitable. This is something that wastes everyone’s time, so it should definitely be avoided. You don’t want to have to spend time sifting through applications that are worthless to you. Take time to write it and don’t miss anything.
Going It Alone
When you’re looking for your first employees, you don’t have to do it all by yourself. This is something that applies in a couple of ways. First of all, there are plenty of companies and agencies, such as Aim Hire, that can put you in touch with candidates. This is something that should definitely be considered if you want to save time. And secondly, you should interview people with a panel. This allows different people to give their opinions and make their voices heard. Having differing perspectives can be very important when it comes to hiring people.
Not Conducting Secondary Interviews
Every business conducts interviews before hiring people. This is totally normal. But what’s not quite so common is the use of secondary interview stages. If you ask me, this is a big mistake, and it should be avoided at all costs. When you have a large number of people to interview, it makes sense to narrow down the field. You can call back the people who impressed you most for a second interview. You can then ask different kinds of questions and find out more about the candidates. It’s something that makes the process longer, but it’s worth it.
Failing to Offer Trials
There are many things that you can learn about people from reading their CV and interviewing them. But what you can’t really learn is how people will respond when they actually start working for the company. So, you should always make sure that you give someone a trial before hiring them. This is something after the interviews when you’re sure about who you want to hire. It’s usually a formality and will allow you to have your positive impressions confirmed. But sometimes, small problems will be exposed when you see someone doing the job. Small mistakes will be made, so that’s not what you should be looking for. But bigger problems should be looked for.
This article was provided by ellie jo