How Can You Tell if You’re about to Hire a Turkey?
More of us have experience interviewing for a job opening in the hopes of landing the job, but imagine what it’s like to sit on the other side of the table. Imagine you’re in charge of your company’s well-being. It’s up to you to hire the right person for the available job. If the new hire ends up being a “turkey” it will be on your shoulders. The last thing you want for your company is to end up spending hours training a fiasco of sorts. That’s a flub you don’t want on your record.
Instead, as an employer you want to hire someone who is competent. You want someone who can take your company to the next level. Someone who takes the hours of training that you’re going to give them and turn it into a valuable wealth of knowledge. To pick out the best new hire for your company there are some helpful steps you can take.
Tips for a Successful Hire
Your first step to a successful hire is of course, a background check. Background checks are pretty much a given these days. There are very few companies that do not perform background checks for new hires. There are a number of reputable sites you can go to for ordering background checks. These checks can sometimes take some time, so plan ahead when hiring a new employee. Employers will shy away from a background check that comes back with questionable records, but employers should also be aware that a clean background check isn’t the only information needed for a good hire.
There are laws that keep former employers from talking negatively about a former employee you are calling about. Because of this, it is important to know what specific questions to ask former employers. While you wouldn’t necessarily encourage a former employer to speak negatively about a former employee, they will be more comfortable with direct questions versus “Tell me about your former employee.” Ask questions like “Was (insert name) fired or terminated?”, if yes then you can ask “Why was (insert name) let go?” These direct questions are easier for a former employer to answer.
Personal contacts are not as popular with potential employers as they once were, but these contacts can be extremely beneficial during the hiring process. Asking for one to two personal contacts helps give you an insight into the potential employee’s personal relationships. It is likely that someone who can keep valuable personal relationships will be able to work well with other employees and show appreciation and respect towards customers. When hiring a new employee this is exactly what you want. You want someone who can be a part of your company’s team and represent your company well to customers.
Lastly, the in person interview is the most telling. As an employer you should be able to read whether or not somebody would fit well with your company. You don’t want to get stuck with a “turkey” and neither do your other employees. To improve upon your chances of hiring the perfect person to add to your business’ team, consider inviting a coworker to sit and on the interview with you. Choosing a valuable team member with your company to sit in and evaluate potential employees can help you make a better decision on a final candidate.
Follow these steps to help avoid hiring a “turkey”. It can sometimes be difficult to tell what the best decision is for your company when searching through candidates, but if you look closely enough and do some research you will be able to recognize the bad eggs of the bunch and pick out the perfect new team member for your business.
