Whether you are managing a restaurant, starting a construction company , or leading a manufacturing team, finding good workers can be a struggle. It’s important to know what job-readiness skills to look for in candidates when you are building your workforce. Here are the five top tips for finding the best employees.
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General skills and competence. Forbes recommends making a careful evaluation of each applicant’s basic abilities and ruling out those who lack appropriate education, skills and experiences in order to narrow down your pool of candidates.
Commitment and passion. Finding people who share your vision is a key to developing a successful workplace. It can be tough to evaluate how passionate someone is about your company in a job interview. Business Insider notes that you can find clues to someone’s commitment in how they respond to challenges. For instance, discuss with candidates how they overcame obstacles in their pursuit of work. When you are interviewing job candidates, experts suggest asking them these questions:
- Tell me about something you accomplished in another job that shows your ability to work hard and persevere through a difficult project.
- Have you ever needed to take a stand for your workplace or another organization you belonged to? How did you handle it, and how did it make you feel? How did the other party respond to what you said?
- Do you enjoy learning? What are your hobbies? [For instance if if the candidate is a collector, how does he or she talk about the collection. What is the collection and what does it tell you about the candidate? Does the candidate like to learn and enjoy challenges?]
The ability to organize. Being able to organize properly is a skill that can make or break an employee. An employee that can stay on task and not get lost in details frees you and your staff to focus on other work and not micromanage. To find your best candidates, try these ideas:
- Put something specific in the job description or advertisement that requires a personalized response. You can tell if candidates are just sending canned responses if they don’t acknowledge your request.
- Those you interview should show up on time and present themselves professionally.
- Ask interviewees to explain an involved task they did at a past job and how it was accomplished.
- Instruct applicants to discuss a situation where they needed to perform many tasks simultaneously and how they did it. Ask what the result was.
Good communication skills. Teams are made through communication, so finding candidates who both express themselves well and listen well is vital. Here are some suggestions for the interview to help evaluate a candidate’s ability to communicate effectively:
- Tell me about a time you needed to discuss something unpleasant with a superior. How did you make that work?
- It’s part of human nature to sometimes have personality clashes or hiccups in building relationships. Talk about a time when someone in your workplace was difficult to get along with, and how did you handle it? Did things get better?
- How do you explain processes to people who don’t know the technical terminology or trade jargon? Is your candidate asking good questions? Experts at Monster.com note that applicants who are processing information well will respond to you with appropriate and well-thought out questions.
Integrity. Do applicants show evidence of being able to follow through on things, and do they do so in a manner that is professional and courteous? How will you evaluate this? Some criteria to consider would be noting whether applicants have Veteran’s status, checking references, and doing a thorough background screening on all candidates. Also, carefully evaluate the information the applicant provides throughout the hiring process. Are there any discrepancies?
Building a great team can be challenging, but with careful assessment you can find employees who will be assets to your business. Weed out candidates who lack qualifications and askwell-chosen interview questions. Pay attention to how applicants conduct themselves and do thorough background checks. You’ll find employees who help you set your business up for success!