How to Hire Employees: Identifying the Best Candidates

The individuals you hire play a significant role in maintaining and strengthening the health of your company. For this reason, it’s crucial you have people in your business who understand how to select the best candidate for each position when hiring. After all, trying to fill a role without this knowledge is not only reckless from a recruitment point of view, it will also likely make the hiring process longer and more expensive. This is because hiring the wrong person can waste time when it comes to onboarding and training. In extreme cases, it can also lead to a situation where you are left with no choice but to potentially replace the new hire, forcing you to repeat the recruitment process all over again.

In this guide, we provide our top tips that will help you streamline your hiring process by highlighting the qualities of a desirable professional.

What to Consider When Hiring Employees

While every aspect of a candidate’s application can impact the appearance of their viability for a position, there are key attributes that should be prioritized by recruiters when filtering through potential employees. For example, you can use a combination of a candidate’s résumé, cover letter, and interview to determine whether they have the traits to match the needs of your organization. However, what should you be looking for specifically when trying to identify the strongest possible candidates? Below we take a look at three factors that all good recruiters keep in the back of their minds when assessing candidates. 

1. Assess the candidate’s qualifications and experience

An employer should have a clear list of qualifications they want from their candidates to ensure those with the required skills and amount of experience are applying for the position. The minimum expectations for your applicants will serve as an effective filter for decreasing the number of applications from professionals who aren’t a great fit with your business, helping you minimize time spent on unwanted applications and allowing a shortlist to be created.

After finalizing your standards for the job, you can start to compare the qualifications of applicants who do meet your basic expectations. The years of relevant industry experience a candidate has may reveal which applicant is more beneficial to the company. Professionals who can show they have been successful in past positions will also likely be able to replicate those achievements for your organization. Employers should also pay particular attention to applicants who are passionate about career development and display a willingness to continue learning on the job. 

2. Ask about the candidate’s goals and ambitions

Another important quality an employer should consider when evaluating candidates is whether or not the applicant has longevity. Hiring a professional who has no intention of staying with an organization will likely force you back into the recruitment process to find another desirable applicant for the position sooner rather than later. Therefore, asking about a candidate’s goals and ambitions is a good idea. This will help to reveal their intentions with your company and allow you to determine if their work ethic, goals and aspirations meets your expectations.

Questions about an applicant’s motivations also give employers insight into the professional’s traits, which is an especially helpful insight for organizations that want to see if the candidate is a good cultural fit. A lack of ambition can be a red flag for how the applicant will perform in the workplace. After all, those who have the right candidate experience but don’t have the drive may not be unable to fully apply those qualifications to their position.

3. Look at the candidate’s hard and soft skills

Applicants who have the necessary qualifications and ambition to become an asset to your business can be further differentiated by analyzing their hard and soft skills. Having a list of desired skills made in advance will help you find candidates who stand out from their fellow applicants. A pre-prepared list of skills can also be used during interviews, as it will remind employers what to look out for when asking questions and interpreting responses.

Hard skills are derived from past experiences, so applicants with a varied résumé of relevant industry positions will be more beneficial to an organization than those with fewer experiences. That being said, soft skills are equally important. Those who possess traits like excellent communication skills and positivity may be the perfect fit for your organization’s culture. Be sure to write down the skills of each applicant to compare and contrast what benefits they bring to the company.

Remember, when it comes to recruitment, taking the time to determine which attributes define the best candidate for a position will turn a challenging task into a rewarding experience that will help you find the perfect professional. Analyzing and comparing your applicants will ensure you select someone with the right credentials, motivations, and skills for the job. And remember, just because a candidate isn’t the right fit for one role, this doesn’t mean they won’t be able to benefit your company. With this in mind, when it comes to unsuccessful candidates, it’s always a good idea to offer resources to help applicants with their job search. This can establish a positive bond with candidates and help build a useful talent pool for future use.

INTOO helps employers of all sizes with cost-effective solutions for every stage of the employee lifecycle, including candidate experience, career development, and outplacement services. Contact us to learn how we can make a difference for you and your employees.