Tips: Narrowing In on a Hire

Have Your Current Employees Interview Job Candidates
Use the interview process to show your company's strengths and introduce your candidate to your other top performers. The goal of this process is to make your candidate want to work for you and for you to decide if you've found the

right person. Each participant in the process needs to know his or her role -- what points to make and what information to elicit. Afterward, each staff member should write a brief report of their impressions of the candidate and which aspects of the job appear to be most and least attractive to the candidate.

Read Résumés with a Critical Eye
Do not just read the résumé to ensure that the candidate has the experience that you require. Read between the lines: Do the dates of employment make sense, or are there gaps? Call the employers listed or search for them on the Internet to ensure that they really exist. Do you and the candidate share any hobbies or other interests? Interpersonal skills go a long way in making a successful hire. Critical examination of often-overlooked résumé information can tell you a lot about the candidate.

Always Check References
Desperate candidates may be willing to do desperate things to get hired. Do the schools listed on the résumé really offer the degree the candidate claims to have? Do the schools really exist? Confirm the candidate's work history. Most employers will probably only disclose dates of employment, last rate of pay, and other objective factors, but this information is still valuable. At the very least, you will be able to confirm that the person did in fact work for the employer.

Consider Background Checks for Your Job Applicants
Background checks are routine in many industries. If your new hire will handle your sensitive business functions, such as accounting and customer service, a professional background check may be in order. If you decide that pre-employment screening or background checks would be useful in your organization, make sure you get the proper consents and select a reputable provider.

Conduct Personality Testing to Hire the Right Candidates
Personality testing has evolved into more than interpreting ink blots on a card. There are numerous sophisticated tests that can determine the personality traits that best fit your company culture. Many business coaches, psychologists and social workers offer inexpensive personality testing.

Screen Job Applicants over the Phone
Yes, reading résumés and speaking with promising candidates prior to interviewing takes a lot of time, but hiring employees is not a race. Speaking with someone on the phone for a few minutes can be very revealing. Be sure to give the candidate an opportunity to make a good impression by scheduling a mutually convenient time to speak for 10 to 15 minutes. During the telephone screening, ask for a brief description of their background, work experience, and hobbies. This should give you some idea whether or not the candidate can handle the basics of small talk, telephone etiquette, and basic communication. Use this opportunity to tell the candidate about your expectations for the position and to gauge the candidate's level of interest. If you and the candidate both agree that the opportunity is worth pursuing, then a more formal interview may be scheduled. Save the tough questions for the formal interview.

Be a Tough Interviewer
The interview itself should be akin to a courtroom cross-examination scene. Ask open-ended questions, don't lead the witness, and let them talk. Marginal candidates, if permitted to talk long enough, will hang themselves. Use this opportunity to ask hypothetical questions about how the candidate would handle themselves in a particular situation. Quality candidates will expect and be prepared for the tough questions. Be Flexible in Your Hiring Needs If you are hiring for a full-time position but find a fantastic candidate who is only available part-time, consider a job-sharing arrangement or scaling back the hours for the position. Arrangements that take quality of life into account can dramatically expand your qualified candidate pool.

Rethink Your Interviewing Strategy
General questions like "Where do you see yourself in five years?" won't tell you much about the candidate sitting in front of you. That inquiry and many other standard interview questions sidestep what you really need to know - how the person will perform in a specific role. To find and hire smart employees you have to adopt smart interviewing tactics that uncover a candidate's abilities, talents, strengths and weaknesses.