Are You Choosing The Right Candidate For The Job?

Any growing startup should take very seriously the prospect of who they hire into the business. One bad cog in a small machine can grind things to a halt. But, how do you make sure that you’re getting the right selection of candidates and, beyond that, is there anything else you can do to make sure you’re picking the right one for the job?

Define the role clearly as you can

This is vital. Don’t just copy any job description that you see on the internet. Take the time to seriously consider the role that you are trying to fill and what they are going to be doing with their day to day. What skills and experience do they really need for the job? What is their working day going to look like? You can use examples as references in what language to use and how to structure it, but you should really try to write your job descriptions by yourself so that you’re only getting the most relevant candidates in the first place.

Know the culture of the workplace

A job isn’t just about the work that one does, but also the environment and team that they do it in. Some people are good fits for the tasks they do, but not for the work culture. As such, you should take the time to think about the work culture that you want to establish. What do you prioritise? Is it creativity? Freedom of work environment? Is it transparent? Is it progressive? Or is it perhaps traditional and challenging? Think about the language you would use to describe your work culture as shown at Pingboard and try to boil it down to a concept that you can put out to applicants.

Choose better sources for your candidates

If you’re heading exclusively for the wanted ads, you are going to have a fairly limited choice when it comes to your candidates. You should make sure that you’re casting a net that gets you a wider yet more specific selection of candidates. For instance, recruitment options like Gempool's Total Talent partnership can help you set up a pipeline for the potential members that bring the exact expertise and qualifications that you need. Look for other ways to source your candidates so that there’s less chaff to sort through to get the wheat.

Sell the workplace

Job interviews aren’t a one-way thing. Candidates are also going to vet your business during the process. As such, you had better know how to sell it. This includes having attractive compensation and knowing which benefits attract staff, yes. However, it also includes being able to sell the day-to-day environment of the office as well as how you take care of your employees. Know what questions interviewees are likely to ask so you can prepare answers that impress.

Selecting candidates for any given role isn’t an exact science. The tips above can help but you need to make sure that you also have excellent onboarding processes to help them better fit the company, as well.