There are few more important decisions to make as a manager than the choice to hire one candidate over another. Considering the costs incurred when onboarding a new employee, selecting the wrong person adversely impacts your organization in a myriad of ways. With making the right hiring decision in mind, here are eight best practices worth implementing.
Leverage a Rating System for a Candidate’s Abilities and Interview Performance
If multiple members of your staff are involved in interviewing, use a rating system to ensure there is enough hard data regarding interview performance to work with when making a decision.
A Standard Set of Interview Questions is a Must
All candidates must be asked the same set of interview questions. There is some room for an interviewer’s follow-up questions, but when comparing candidates, you need to take into account responses to similar questioning angles.
Get Together to Review All Final Candidates After Interviews
After interviewing ends, get the interviewing team in a room to go over their candidate ratings as well as any impressions more difficult to quantify in a rating. Don’t make a final decision at this point; just make sure there aren’t any large discrepancies between the interviewers’ rating curve.
Ensure the Security of All Interview and Candidacy Documentation
Any materials related to the interview and candidate screening process need to be kept in a secure place. If the material is online, don’t store it in a common area on the company intranet. Needless to say, privacy at this step is extremely important.
Perform Reference Checks on the Final Candidates
Since reference checking is a time-consuming process, forego any efforts until the final two or three candidates are determined. This gives more time for meaningful questioning of each candidate’s references.
Put the Final Decision up to a Vote
While you may have to make the final call on two equally qualified candidates, it is important you give everyone involved in the interviewing process a chance for their voice to be heard. After the votes are tallied, use that information to make the final decision.
Inform All Candidates in a Timely Manner
After you have extended an offer to a candidate (and they accept!), notify the rest of your talent pool. If your first choice candidate decided to move in a different direction, pick the next candidate on your scoring list.
Start the Onboarding Process as Early as Possible
Once the candidate accepts your offer, start the onboarding process as soon as possible to make their transition to becoming a productive team member a smooth one.
If your company needs advice on building a winning team, talk to the experts at Synerfac. As one of the top technology staffing agencies in Parsippany and the rest of New Jersey, we have the experience and available talent to help your company thrive. Talk with us soon!