Your most valuable business investments are your people. Engaged, focused, and qualified staff members are at the core of success. They bring to the table epic amounts of value. Not only do these recruits attract success, but they will make day to day life easier and smoother for you as their leader. Good recruiting brings on good people. So how do you find and attract the cream of the crop, especially in such a competitive hiring environment?
Here’s 3 Tips to Improve Your Recruiting Results
1. Be 100% clear on the ideal recruit. List every quality. Spend time envisioning success in that role. What type of person has what it takes? What skill do they possess? Which experiences are under their belt? Where would they have graduated from school, and what types of books have they read?
2. Ask the right questions. With clarity from tip #1, you will soon have candidates in front of you for interviews. During this part of the process it’s critical to ask the right questions. Ask about their passions. Ask about the last book they read, and where they want to be in 3-5 years. Ask about most significant contributions to their last position. Don’t ask about high school GPA if that was obviously decades ago. Most importantly, ask them what questions they have for you. Their ability to think of a relevant and important question off the cuff shows interest, focus and the ability to think quickly.
3. Be flexible. Have personality and skills testing in place, but be ready to interpret the results with a grain of salt. Not everyone fits into a box. Sometimes there may be a gut feeling about a candidate, and that feeling with be important to explore. Maybe you sense their passion, and you trust that they will get the certifications or additional training they need. Maybe they are 5 minutes late, but they truly did have a good reason to be. Recruits are humans, and you can miss out on some of the best hires of your career if you aren’t flexible through the process, and willing to listen to your gut.
Recruiting superstars is both an art and a science. Have a great process and follow it, but be ready for the most unlikely candidate to knock your socks off. Recruiting top talent is a skill within itself, and you will get better the longer you work at it. Take notes, improve yourself, and enjoy the process. Your next top recruit may already be in your inbox!