Hiring great employees is the key to growing your business. A thoughtful hiring process includes well-written job descriptions, effective recruitment ads, and strong interview processes, all of which should promote your values and culture and adhere to fair labor practices.
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1. Create a Job Description
A job description helps you connect with qualified applicants as well as clarify their work expectations once hired. A great job description also includes the company culture and education and experience requirements and outlines the benefits provided.
Job Outline
Before the duties of the job are discussed, basic information is often shared at the top of the job description. For example:
- Company logo
- Job title
- Status (full time, part time, temporary)
- Job location (remote, city/state)
- Salary range
A position summary can be added at the bottom of this section that gives a brief (four to six sentences) description of the position. This is where you let potential candidates know the basics of the position; greater detail can be given further down in the job description that outlines specific duties and responsibilities.
Detailed Position Information
This is the area of the job description where you define the job, its duties, and responsibilities in specific detail. It is not uncommon to highlight more than 10 primary features of the job, listed in order of importance or essential duties. The more detailed a picture you paint of the position, the more qualified candidates you will attract.
Essential Functions
Be sure to include all essential functions of the position. These are the duties that an employee must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) governs what is considered an essential function, partially through the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA).
Some of these functions may include:
- Ability to sit or stand for long periods
- Able to lift a certain amount (i.e., 50 pounds)
- Languages required to be successful
- Required travel
- Ability to use general office equipment
Skills
When you create your job description, make sure you’re describing the skills necessary for a candidate to be successful in the role. These may be learned skills like proficiency in certain computer software, or soft skills like personal development.
Skills Examples | |
|---|---|
Required Skills
| Soft Skills
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Education
Most business owners list a minimum educational requirement in their job description based on the job role when hiring employees. For example, a solar installation company may desire its workers to have at least a GED or high school degree to be able to read complex instructions. A CPA firm might prefer its associates to have a business or accounting degree (bachelor’s or master’s), and a Biomed testing facility may need Ph.D. candidates for licensing purposes.
However, when you’re thinking about how to hire employees, ask yourself whether a degree is really necessary. If not, skip the college degree requirement on the job description and focus instead on the skills and abilities you’re looking for in an employee.
Experience
Think about the kinds of work experience you would like your new hire to have. In addition to education and training, many skills are learned on the job. For example, a top sales professional may never have graduated from college; a graphic designer, web developer, or line cook may be completely self-taught; and so on. Instead, think of the experience and skills you prefer they possess. Much of the time it is best to clarify what is “required” and what is “preferred” in experience, education, and skills.
Here are some examples of the kind of experience statements you might want to include in your job description:
- Four years of customer service experience in a fast-paced sales environment; two years in IT sales preferred.
- Five years diesel mechanic experience or two years’ experience (if ASE certified).
- Ten years multi-restaurant management or former GM managing at least $100,000 in sales each month.
- Three years transportation dispatch experience with temperature-controlled carriers; foodservice transportation experience preferred.
- Six years of technical or supervisory experience in any construction trade; three years of solar panel installation referred.
Company Culture
This is the section of your job description where you can let your business shine. Define the cultural and management values of your company. Explain how employees can benefit from working for you. Describe your company values and how you got your start in the business. Give details of your employer branding. This highlights how your company is perceived by prospective and current employees both online and on-site. And, positive employer branding can reduce hiring costs by attracting more candidates per job opening.
Federal labor laws enforced by the EEOC ensure fair labor practices across the employment spectrum, from job advertising, interviewing, and hiring to and continued employment. Be sure to use language that is non-discriminatory when creating your job descriptions.
2. Advertise & Recruit
Once you’ve created your job description, it’s time to post or advertise your job. Many businesses use job boards for recruiting. Using a job board service like ZipRecruiter will not only increase visibility, which, in turn, can attract top-tier candidates, but it offers templates to assist you with crafting a job advertisement.
3. Evaluate Resumes
Once you begin receiving job applications, the process of screening job applicants begins. If you’re using a job posting site, such as ZipRecruiter, it provides online tools to assess job applicant qualifications in advance. Otherwise, you’ll start by reading applications and resumes to determine which candidates to interview.
Thoughtfully Read Through Resumes
Pick a time during the day when you can fully concentrate on the resumes. Give them a full read-through and look for any skills or experience the candidate has that aligns with your job description. You should be looking for past job experience that is similar to the role, skills the candidate possesses that can help them perform the job, and anything “extra” that the candidate might bring to the table (i.e., certifications).
Sort Resumes
You’ll find that a large percentage of job seekers fire off resumes with no regard for whether their skills match the ad posting. It’s easiest to set those aside into a “no” or “not qualified” pile once you recognize that candidates do not qualify for your role.
Sorting your resumes into three groupings is a great way to get a handle on which candidates you may want to follow up with. Oftentimes you have a “yes” pile, a “Maybe” pile, and a “no” pile. The “no” pile will typically be your largest, followed by your “Maybe” pile and then your “Yes” pile. Your end goal is to have a short stack of three to five individuals to interview.
4. Interview Candidates
Once you’re done sorting, it’s time to schedule interviews. Be certain you have a good interviewing process established, which should always include more than the hiring manager or the HR representative.
Additionally, knowing what you can and cannot ask in interviews is essential. Use caution when interviewing as there are labor laws at the federal and state level that may restrict the kind of questions you can ask, i.e., criminal background and salary history.
Schedule Interviews
Consider setting up a quick phone interview to assess each job seeker’s interest in the role before committing yourself or your managers to the full interview process. Some applicants may have already accepted a job with another firm, while others may not be as good a fit as they appear to be on paper. The most common forms of interviews include:
- Phone Interviews: A phone interview is generally brief. You contact the candidate, thank them for applying and ask if they would mind answering a few questions. How they react will tell you much about their true interest in the role.
- Video Interviews: Video interviews are great for team interviews (with more than one of your managers) or remote and work-from-home candidates. Don’t worry if you don’t already have video conferencing software (many are free).
- In-Person Interviews: In-person interviews are the most common interview type managers think of when they imagine interviewing a new hire. But in-person interviews are notoriously inefficient and may result in you selecting a candidate based on how similar they are to you rather than how qualified they are.
Thank Candidates
A best business practice is to acknowledge those candidates that took the time to apply to your open position. Remember to communicate just as promptly with those who didn’t make the cut as those who did. For those you’re going to be turning down, you can send rejection letters or use a job board, like ZipRecruiter, that will allow you to send bulk emails to candidates, including interview requests and rejection letters.
Select the Best Person for the Job
The best person for the job is the individual who most closely fits the job requirements and has the highest likelihood to succeed in the role within your organization. If the candidate will be working in a specific department, it’s a good idea to allow direct supervisors to have a say in which candidate is right for the job.
It’s also a good idea to contact prior employers and check the candidate’s references to get insight into the candidate’s strengths. Take a look at your candidate’s LinkedIn profile to be sure it matches the attributes listed in their resume. In some roles, like finance or childcare, it’s also important to conduct a background check and/or a pre-employment drug screen once you choose which person to hire and after they have accepted in writing (via a signed offer letter).
5. Craft a Job Offer
Your final step in hiring a new employee is to write a formal job offer letter. This letter should outline what the role is, when it starts, and what it pays. When describing your company and the position being offered, make sure the personality and culture of your company come through. Include benefits as well as your company’s unique mission. It’s also a good idea to make the job offer contingent upon a successful background check, required physicals, drug tests, or any other pre-hire requirements.
Don’t be surprised if your job candidate doesn’t accept your first job offer. Be willing to negotiate unless you simply can’t pay a penny more. Many new hires are open to receiving off-site training, getting a few more days of paid time off (PTO), or working remotely in exchange for a lower-than-desired salary.
Post-Hire Considerations
Once your new hire has agreed to your job offer, it’s time to plan their onboarding. Additionally, when you take into account recruiting expenses and new employee training costs, retaining good employees is the most profitable way to keep your business fully staffed.
Bottom Line
Finding great employees to grow your business and promote your brand is a huge building block in your company’s foundation for sustained success. Take your time to find the person most likely to be successful in the job based on the candidate’s resume, interviews, and employment references. Maintain a clear vision when recruiting and selecting your new team member.
Consider using ZipRecruiter to find your next top employee. It can assist with the entire hiring process—job description templates, job posting to over 100 sites, interviewing, tracking, and hiring.
