17 Terrific Tips to Hire the Right Person

Hiring the right person is a daunting and challenging task. However, hiring the wrong person can damage morale, credibility, service standards, and the bottom line.

These tips will assist once qualified candidates are found, but that’s easier said than done! Sources to consider include referrals from family, friends, employees, industry groups, and colleagues. Your LinkedIn network can help you find similar positions in other industries and experts who work in a target industry. Don’t forget temporary agencies and want ads which can help find applicants as well.

Here are tried and true practices to make your hiring process and result as positive and profitable as possible.

1. Resumes reveal a lot. Work experience, life experience, education, attention to detail, and writing skills. Pay close attention.
2. Use a checklist with 1-5 rating scale and notes to track candidates. It also helps recall and provides an outline to discuss qualifications with others. Categories to include are knowledge of position, transferable experience, personal presence, communication ability, alertness, and interest.
3. Phone interview first. 80% of client communication is by phone. Assess for confidence, clarity of speech and thought, grammar, ability to listen and respond to what is asked.
4. If using personality assessments (highly recommended), have the candidate take the profile before the in-person or Zoom interview. Hold off on submitting it for scoring until candidate advances to the final selection. The assessment company I use and recommend is The Omnia Group.
5. All interviewers need to be instructed about appropriate and legal employment hiring practices. Specifically, what to ask and what not to ask.
6. Interview all candidates for a position using a similar environment and format to better compare and avoid claims of discrimination.
7. Co-workers should interview the candidates.
8. Peer managers should interview the candidates without reviewing the resume. Different insight will be gained based on personal interview only.
9. Utilize a knowledge assessment if the candidate has industry experience.
10. Utilize an aptitude skill assessment if the candidate is new to business.
11. Utilize technology skill testing for all candidates.
12. Review the job description and training program in detail with the candidate. Let the candidate know there is 90-day probationary/trial period to be certain of a mutually beneficial match. Use this recommended format for your 90-day Performance Evaluation.
13. Review the company’s vision, values, and mission with the candidate.
14. Ask behavioral questions. “Tell me about a time,” or “What would you do if,” or “Describe a time that,” or “What kind of manager/coworker/client do you prefer to work with?”
15. Check references and reports. Candidates need to sign forms allowing investigative reports to be ordered.
16. Ask the candidate to hand write the answer to an essay question such as “Why do you want to work here?” or “From what you know about our business, how can you contribute to its success?” or “Why should we hire you?”
17. After the interview, send an e-mail follow-up question. “I forgot to ask you….” Assess response time, e-mail writing skills, and clarity of answer to the question.

Emily Huling, CIC, CMC, CSP helps the insurance industry create top-performing sales, service, and leadership organizations. She can be contacted at emily@sellingstrategies.com.