Hiring Remarkable Employees for Your Small Business Part 1: Henry Lopez and David Begin discuss their process, tips, techniques and best practices for hiring remarkable employees for your small business. This topic will span multiple episodes, and this first part focuses on creating the job description, job postings, and the screening and interview process.

• The hiring process does not end at the hire. In this episode we focus on the up-front part of the hiring process which includes creating a job description, posting the job, and the overall screening and interview process. Some employers may decide to include additional parts to the screening process to make sure that they are hiring the best person for their business.
• Personality, character and attitude are often more important than skills. You can teach an employee certain skills (how to operate a certain accounting system for example), but it’s almost impossible to teach them to have a great personality, high character and a positive attitude.
• The way to look at the process is that you are trying to find people who are a “fit”, for a particular position and for your organization.
• The process for hiring exceptional employees starts with a clear definition of the position…The Job Description.
• Here is an example of a Job Description & Posting.
• Another good approach for hiring remarkable employees for your small business is to list the outcomes (or how you will measure them) for the position.
• We mentioned that we have used Craigslist for job postings and also have recently begun to use Indeed. The Indeed platform provides features that help with screening, communicating with candidates and collaborating.
• A cover letter is something we usually ask for on positions where we also require a resume. In the cover letter we are looking for personalization, accuracy, and communication skills. Asking for a cover letter can help with the initial screening process criteria.
• Another screening technique is to see if the applicant follows the rules for submitting applications or resume. If your instructions call for applications to be submitted in person, for example, then you can probably immediately eliminate those who e-mail it to you.
• The things we look for in a resume may include: experience and skills required for the position, authenticity, accuracy, grammar, typos (multiple typos or grammar errors may indicate that the candidate does not have good attention to detail), consistency, and gaps in employment.
• We typically conduct a phone interview first, except for hourly, line-level or entry-level employees.
• During the phone interview you want to listen for their “why”. Why do they think they are a fit? Use the resume or application as a source of questions. They need to have a good reason for wanting to come to work for you.
• Be careful not to hire people just because you like them. While their likability is important, particularly in a small environment, it can blind you to uncovering other aspects of their qualifications and skills that may in fact make that person a poor fit for the position.
• During the phone interview, be sure to ask multiple types of questions. On important topics (are they looking for part-time or full-time, for example), ask the same question different ways at various times throughout the interview.
• To hire remarkable employees for your small business you need a process, and you need to understand that the process does not end at the hire.

Small Business Employment Episodes

Find previous episodes of The How of Business podcast on the Archives page. The How of Business is focused on helping you start, operate and grow your small business.