Hiring is an expensive process, so you want to choose an employee who will be a good fit for your company. How do you choose a candidate who will consistently produce solid work? If you’re looking to hire a new employee, there are a few areas to consider so that you can find the best candidate for the position.
Previous Experience
When you’re looking for the right candidate for a job, interview closely to find out what your applicants’ previous experiences are, and don’t merely go by what is on their resumes. A job title can tell you some things about what their previous experiences are like, but it won’t tell you the whole story. You will want to determine if the employee values their own development by continuing to learn in order to improve or if they are satisfied with remaining mediocre.
Have a list of hard and soft skills that you’re looking for and base your questions around those attributes. For instance, if you want to know if one of your candidates knows how to use a specific computer program, don’t assume that because they have a certain job title on their resume that they are equipped for the task. It’s never going to hurt to ask. For soft skills, ask candidates to tell a story in which they demonstrated your desired skill.
GPA
You might have candidates for entry-level positions who are lacking in professional work experience. This includes candidates who are just leaving university. If they have only had summer jobs or a short internship, you can also look to GPA as an indicator of their work ethic. Consistently achieving high marks takes a lot of work, so even if an applicant’s major isn’t exactly related to the job, you can still glean a good idea of what he or she would be like as an employee. Generally speaking, a good GPA can indicate an equally good work ethic.
References
Some people wonder if checking a person’s references is actually the best way to know if someone will be a good hire. If you don’t check, however, you’re letting go of some potentially valuable information. First and foremost, you need to verify employment, but it’s also good practice to get an idea of who your candidates value and what their superiors see as most valuable in them. People don’t always view themselves from an outsider’s perspective, so their previous superiors could have information that the candidate simply can’t see in themselves.
Choosing the right candidate is of utmost importance when you’re looking to fill a position. And don’t forget that even with all of their education or qualifications and experience, as according to Bamboo HR, the best candidate will also be the one whose attitude fits your company well as someone with a negative attitude can affect company morale. Thankfully, there are plenty of things that you can do to find the best candidates possible.