Making a great hire

							T H E         H A M P T O N                R O A D S              B U S I N E S S              J O U R N A L




INSIDE BUSINESS
 Volume 13 Number 49                       www.insidebiz.com                                        DECEMBER 3 - 9, 2007   $1.00


THE EXPERTS | Management                                                                                     COLUMNS

Making a great hire
I
   f you hire for your company, you       thize with minor spelling, formatting      and it shows they
   know that you probably do more         or grammatical errors in everyday          care      enough
   work than the prospective employ-      situations, do not display this kind       about the inter-
ee when preparing for the interview       of sympathy in reviewing a resume          view to prepare
process. By properly assessing a          or cover letter. This is a candidate’s     materials ahead
candidate and doing research, you         one chance to impress a perspective        of time. Even if
save your company time and heart-         employer. It may sound harsh, but          the pieces they
ache in the long run. The ideal hire      if they don’t take the time to proof-      bring       aren’t
is self-motivated and self-managed        read such important documents you          exactly relevant,
with a professional attitude, but it      shouldn’t take the time to read them.      you will be able
takes hard work to find the perfect           Start the candidate’s interview        to see their dedi-     ROBIN HANISCH
fit.                                      with an initial phone call. This first     cation to a proj-
     When your company needs to fill      interaction can reveal volumes about       ect and the pride
a position or create a new position,      a person: if they’re eager to inter-       they take in their work.
the first thing to do is write a job      view, when they can come in and                The way a candidate handles her-
description. The best way is to write     their phone demeanor. Prior to the         self can sometimes push her over
a comprehensive list of the duties        face-to-face interview, read through       the edge and into a job. For example,
of the position, being sure to use        their cover letter and resume care-        most recently Wheeler Interests was
action verbs and specific job tasks       fully. While relevant experience is a      hiring a property manager and all
because that can help narrow down         no-brainer, look between the lines at      three final candidates were impres-
the number of applicants. Be aware        gaps in employment and duration of         sive. They were polite, dressed pro-
that posting a generic job listing in     time at companies. Employers can           fessionally, sent thank you notes and
the classifieds or on the major job       also learn more about a candidate          seemed to fit into our office. In the
hunting sites might produce a large       by running a name through a popu-          end, we hired the candidate with the
pool of applicants, but the percent-      lar search engine or by reviewing          most experience. But it’s interesting
age of qualified applicants is often      their profiles on social networking        to note that if one candidate slipped
low. Local colleges and universities      sites such as MySpace and Facebook.        in any area he would have been out
are great resources – especially if       Though you shouldn’t base a decision       of the running because the other two
you’re hiring an entry-level position.    strictly on these results, it might give   exhibited great interview etiquette.
Contact their career centers.             you a better understanding of how              Once you make an offer and
     A better use of your time might be   the candidate presents to the public       it’s accepted, your work isn’t done.
utilizing a professional recruiter to     when not in an interview.                  Proper training is essential to make
find qualified candidates. According          Once you have a grasp of past          your new hire feel at home. If you
to CareerJournal.com – The Wall           experience and persona, create a list      take the time to train someone cor-
Street Journal’s executive career site    of questions pertaining to each can-       rectly you will save time later.
– using this type of service increased    didate based on the materials they’ve          While training, allow new hires to
3.2 percent in searches for executive     provided and a list of questions about     make mistakes and think for them-
job candidates in just the first quar-    the skills needed for the position.        selves. Don’t hover or micromanage
ter of 2006. You can use recruiters to        When candidates arrive for an          a new hire because she’ll never learn
secure information on qualified can-      interview, make them comfortable.          to work on her own.
didates or to locate candidates for a     Ask them to talk about themselves.
temp-to-hire position. If the funds to    This gives them time to shake a
pay for a recruitment service are not     nerve or two and represent them-              Robin Hanisch is vice president
available, you should consider publi-     selves fairly. If the applicant brought    of human resources and investor
cizing your opening in specific trade     any materials, letters of reference        relations for Wheeler Interests.
Web sites and publications.               or a portfolio, look through them. A       She can be reached at 627-9088 or
     While it may be easy to sympa-       portfolio can shed light on work ethic     robin@wheelerint.com.