6 Hot Tips to Help You Hire Winners

Very few of us have ever had any formal training in how to make hire decisions.  We learn as we go and we feel like out "gut" reaction to an applicant is pretty accurate.   Times have changed in the hiring game however and today you are likely to know more about the capacity of that copier you bought last month than you do about the applicant sitting in front of you.  They are all wearing a "mask" after all and your job, should you chose to accept it, is to get behind the mask and uncover what the applicant probably does not want you to know.

Making good hiring decisions can make all the difference for your organization.   You'll definitely be ahead of the game when it comes to employee morale; you will probably lower your turnover rate and the ability of the staff as a whole to meet your "mission" increases dramatically.  Since replacing even a $10 per hour employee, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, costs no less than $3800 out of pocket, you'll even save money.

So here are 10 smoking' hot tips to help you separate applicants who can really help you from those who will be around to collect a paycheck, and very little else.

1.  Remember, your objective is different than the applicant.  You want to find out as much about the applicant as possible; the applicant wants a job offer or at least a second interview.
2.  Watch out for "positive chemistry".  This feels good right away and you'll assume that you've finally found the right person.  But it probably has very little to do with whether or not the applicant can meet the job requirements.
3. Make sure your questions ask about the applicant's past work and experience.  Don't pose a scenario and ask, "what would you do?"  Past performance is the best predictor of performance in the future.
4.  Don't provide the applicant with a job description before the interview.  Plenty of time for that later.   The job description (especially if it's a good one) merely gives the applicant easy access to the verbiage he/she thinks you want to hear.
5.  Don't talk too much.  Wait for the applicant to answer difficult questions.  Be comfortable with silence.  If you as the interviewer are talking more than 20% of the time...you are talking too much.
6.  Use pre-prepared questions.  That way you will be able to listen intently without worrying about what your next question should be.

Making good hiring decisions is not necessarily a science, but you should always be trying to improve your ability to make these judgements.  Whatever hiring process you have, subject it to a quality control process.  Become a student of hiring and do it better today than you did yesterday.