How To Hire the Right Person the First Time

Start with a phone interview.

You can save hours of time by discussing goals, salary and qualifications over the phone. Listen to their communication skills, especially if the position requires them to speak with customers. Have a few open-ended questions ready, such as, "What would you say are your greatest strengths? Weaknesses? Is there anything specific that makes you feel we are a good match for each other?" Make it a point to address any red flags on their resume or application that may disqualify them up front.

Make the interview a three-step process.

When candidates come in for an interview, they are usually prepared to say just what the employer wants to hear. They are usually never themselves and some are a bit nervous. This may cause them to come across as being unsure of their abilities. On the flipside your candidate may be a good actor pretending to be more qualified than he really is. By having them return multiple times, you can often see the real people start to emerge (good or bad).

If you believe you have a superstar in the waiting, make sure you tell her it is a three-step process and give her the dates to return. If you don't, you may lose her to your competition. Superstars usually do not wait too long; they want to work and are usually aggressive about finding and negotiating another position.

Have someone else help in the interview.

Two minds are always better than one. Someone else may see a behavior you missed or may ask a question you didn't think of. It is always good to bring someone else into the interview just before making the final call. If possible, have that someone be their supervisor or at least a well-respected coworker.

Always, Always, Always, look at their personality and behavior style along with their qualifications.

A motivated person with a passion to work and succeed is easier to train than a qualified person is to motivate.

If a person has to deal with the public, it really doesn't matter how may degrees they have in Communications if they have the attitude of a badger. Make sure their personality matches the job description.

Think of the other people they have to work with as well. Will they clash or gel? No one wants to be around people with a negative or arrogant attitude.

Make sure people who have to deal with the public have an outgoing and polite attitude.

Make sure those who have to work alone can do so. Otherwise you may have a "People Person" on your hands who is never at his desk because he needs contact with others.

Make sure those who have to lead others can communicate with others openly and assertively.

Most ineffective people are just in the wrong position for their personality.

Ask the right questions.

Open ended questions are always best and can often tell a lot about a person.

Use questions such as:

• What was your greatest accomplishment at your last position?
• Why did you choose this over all the others?
• The last time you made a mistake at work, how did you handle it and what was the outcome?
• If you were to be accepted for this position what could we do to help you become the best in your field?
• What resources would you like to have?
• What steps do you take for personal growth when it comes to your profession, or how do you stay on top of your game?
• Is there anything in particular that other employees do that upsets you?

Go over the job description in detail.

Make sure the candidate knows as much about her responsibilities as possible before being hired, especially anything negative. You don't want her to say; "I didn't know that was in the job description."

Always have a probation period.

A maximum 90 day probation period may be sufficient; 6 months would be best. Always make it a maximum so that you are not locked into having an underqualified person on staff for the entire probation period.

Present it in a way that it is in both parties best interest to make sure you are a good match for each other's needs. If the match works, great. If not, you can part ways with no negative comments going on their record.

Use a system to rate the candidates.

Ask each candidate the same questions and rate their answers on a scale from 1-5 or 1-10 and then total their scores.

If you have to interview a lot of candidates, by the time you reach the last one, you will have long forgotten many details about the first few.

Don't disqualify because of a bad reference without hearing their side of the story.

There are many good folks out there who have stopped working for bad employers and can not get a good reference from them. Let them explain their side of the story.

There are also good people who made foolish mistakes in the past and have learned from them. You may have a diamond inside of what everyone else thinks is a lump of coal.