Tips for successful recruitment

Insanity is defined as doing the same thing time and time again and expecting different results. This happens too often in the recruitment process, where we continually hire the wrong person, don’t change the process, but expect a different outcome.

Rather than defining what we truly need in a new hire, often we casually jump ill-prepared into an interview, go with our gut feel and hire the person most like us as opposed to the person best suited for the job.

The best hire I ever made in my career as an individual whose personality traits, skills, experience, and interests were completely opposite to mine and the outcome was some of the work I am most proud of in my career and ironically enough, one of the strongest working relationships I ever experienced.

Many people ask me for some tips on better recruiting and here are a few suggestions:

1. Determine the role and skill set required by the ideal person by taking the time upfront assessing the needs;
2. Remain consistent and ask the same questions to all the candidates’;
3. Don’t make a quick judgement of the candidate based on one or two pieces of information;
4. Asking open ended questions allows you to learn more about the candidate;
5. Practice active listening and limit your own talking; and
6. Don’t make decisions on the spot, take the appropriate time to review your notes and weigh the pros and con before making a decision.