The hiring process can be a stressful time for a business. Chances are if you are in the hiring process you are either replacing an employee or need some extra hands. Either way your business is probably super busy and the last thing you want is to spend hours finding the perfect individual. For swamped managers, it is very tempting to go through the entire hiring process as quickly as possible.
That means a quick job description, quick screening, and a quick interview. While this saves you time in the short run, it can hurt the business in the long run. The time it takes to hire and train a new employee is not only significant but also very costly. When you do not do your due diligence, you let your biases interfere and end up hiring based on first impression which should be avoided. Here are some ways to remove your bias when hiring new employees
1. Re-vamp your job description
An accurate job description will act as a pre-liminary screener for job candidates. If you use a generic job description with vague roles and duties, you will get applicants with a wide variety of backgrounds which will only give you more work when reviewing their resumes. Take the time to accurately describe the day-to-day duties of the job as well as the expectations of the work. Also be sure to request a reasonable amount of work experience and education on the job ad.
By giving potential applicants a detailed description of the job, you are giving them a good idea whether or not they are able to fulfill the duties required. By doing this, you will pre-screen applicants and receive more qualified applicants than a generic job description.
2. Hide personal details on the resume
While it is important to find an individual that fits with the team, the first goal should be to find candidates who are qualified and able to complete the work. One pitfall when reviewing resumes people often make is putting an unnatural emphasis on non-job related information due to personal bias. This can be things like names, gender, hobbies, and age. Try to avoid looking at anything that is not strictly job related. Find the best candidates first then check for fit afterwards.
3. Prepare Interview Questions
Once you have your list of candidates you’d like to interview, you should prepare a list of questions you’d like to ask each of them. Be sure to have a variety of questions that are job-related, career oriented, and ice breakers. Ideally you should ask each interviewee the same set of questions so you can easily compare each applicant.
4. Consider Using A Panel Interview
If the job position requires teamwork, it is strongly recommended to use a panel interview. Invite the employees the potential candidate will most likely be working with to the interview. However, make sure to communicate this to the interviewee beforehand and create a friendly atmosphere. You do not want to intimidate the candidate. The goal of the panel interview is to see how the applicant will fit with the team. Allow the panel to ask questions to the applicate and get their opinions afterwards. This gives you more opinions and different points of view that you may not have considered.
In conclusion, it is important to not take the hiring process lightly. Bad hires can be very costly for the business in the short and long term. Having good hiring processes will significantly help prevent hiring poor candidates. However, this may not be possible for all businesses, especially small or medium sized businesses where time and hiring expertise tends to be limited. In these situations, it is recommended to use recruitment agencies who has a database of applicants and can help you screen and fight the right individual for your business.
