Hiring can be stressful, especially if you need to fill a position immediately. And sometimes, the resources that you have to make a decision aren’t quite enough to allow you to ensure that the person you’ve hired is the perfect fit.
Fortunately, there are industry professionals who have endured years of interviews with hundreds of candidates so that you don’t have to. Here are some tips for hiring the right person for your job.
The Standard Job Interview Has Got to Go
The job interview that we’re most familiar with today is little more than a carefully choreographed social call. While a candidate may seem excellent in the interview room, they might not be so polished while on the job. Instead of crossing your fingers and hoping that the person you met in the interview room is the person who will show up to work the next day, there are a few interview strategies to change the game and get a better read on your candidates.
Start by using creative interview questions or methods. There are hundreds of lists of interview questions on the Internet, and you can assume that your candidate has prepared themselves for most of the standard ones. Ask questions that will better reveal how a person thinks and reacts. Problem-solving questions or questions about job-specific scenarios can be particularly helpful.
You can also enlist the help of other employees during the interview process. They’re going to have to interact with the new hire on a daily basis, so their opinion and initial feelings about them should factor into the process.
Tour Your Candidates
Workplace tours are an essential part of being a new hire, but they can also be an invaluable way to evaluate potential candidates. Show your interviewee around the building and introduce them to a few colleagues. Pay attention to what questions they ask and how they greet everyone they meet. An interested, engaged candidate is more likely to fit into a work environment and make an effort to learn the ropes of their new job.