James / Published on October 29, 2013
It can be hard finding the right staff for your business, especially if you are a start-up or entrepreneur.
Where do you start?
The first thing you must do is clearly define the role.
Once you understand exactly what the role will entail, you will be able to draw up a list of attributes that the person must have in order to succeed in the role.
You need to ask yourself "Will this person be able to handle the tasks and situations of the job?"
You can find this out by asking the potential employee questions about their experience and giving them specific scenarios to answer about what they would do in that situation.
Psychologists believe that past behaviour predicts future behaviour 88 per cent of the time, so delving deep into their previous jobs is important.
Then, you need to see first-hand experience if they can actually do the job.
Ask to see samples of their work, and if they have none, set them a task so you can see if they have the relevant skills for the role.
You can send them the task before the interview, or even better, give it to them during the interview, giving them enough time to complete.
This ensures that they can’t cheat in anyway and will show you how good they are at performing under pressure.
You will also want to see how they will respond to any challenges in the role, so offer hypothetical situations that they have to solve, and pay attention to how they come to their conclusion and watch their body language carefully.
You can learn a lot from someone’s body language.
Finally, find out who they are as a person.
Are they a right fit for your company? Will they fit into the company culture?
Ask them questions that will reveal their work ethic, their priorities and their attitude. Ask them personal questions too, which will get you closer to their personality.
What are they passionate about? How would their friends describe them?
Hiring the wrong person can be expensive for your company, so make sure you hire the right person by being thorough and taking your time with the interview process.
