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Erf Newsletter 8.09

The document provides tips for small businesses on hiring the right employee the first time. It emphasizes the importance of a thorough selection process, including developing a job description, recruiting applicants, interviewing applicants, and checking references. Sample interview questions are provided to assess important job skills like employment history, communication, organization, motivation, managerial skills, and job-specific technical skills. Reference checks should be an intuitive process that explores job performance and ability to work with others. Following a consistent hiring process can help small businesses stay within EEO laws and find the best fit for the job.

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72 views3 pages

Erf Newsletter 8.09

The document provides tips for small businesses on hiring the right employee the first time. It emphasizes the importance of a thorough selection process, including developing a job description, recruiting applicants, interviewing applicants, and checking references. Sample interview questions are provided to assess important job skills like employment history, communication, organization, motivation, managerial skills, and job-specific technical skills. Reference checks should be an intuitive process that explores job performance and ability to work with others. Following a consistent hiring process can help small businesses stay within EEO laws and find the best fit for the job.

Uploaded by

Bill Taylor
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TM

Enterprising Rural Families


This newsletter is an instrument of An Online Newsletter August, 2009 Volume V, Issue 8
the Enterprising Rural Families:
Making It Work program of the Hiring the Right Employee the First Time
University of Wyoming Cooperative
Extension Service. For further in- by Susan James
Federal Relations and Staff Development Coordinator
formation concerning the Enter-
University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service
prising Rural Families program or
on-line course contact informa-
tion@eRuralFamilies.org or go to Looking for your first employee? Have you hired some who were less
http://eRuralFamilies.org/. than desirable? Hiring the right employee for
your business is important. They often han-
dle your money, your customers, your prod-
TIPS OF THE MONTH: ucts and you may spend more time with them
than your family. So why do some small busi-
• All family businesses must do some nesses get stuck with bad employees? Typi-
form of inventory and assessment to cally, it’s because we fail to search, prepare
form a clear picture of assets, and interview candidates thoroughly, and are
strengths, weaknesses, and individu- anxious to hire someone hoping they will
als before, during, and after goal set- work out. Bad hiring habits can result in
ting.
high turnover or problem employees which
Questions to ask: negatively impact your business.
⇒ Where do we want to go?
To ensure that applicants’ goals and skills match with jobs, small busi-
⇒ How do we get there? nesses should use a sequence of selection techniques. Following a con-
sistent, complete process will improve your odds of staying within Equal
⇒ Why are we doing this? Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws and hiring the best employee for
⇒ Who is best for the job? your business. Planning including developing a job description, recruit-
ing applicants, and interviewing applicants will help in selecting the
Determine who does what. most qualified employee who is the right fit for the job.
Study the community.
When preparing to interview job candidates, it’s important for small
Once you have a clear picture,
business owners to plan out their lines of questioning. Decide which
you have opportunity for suc-
cess. skills are most important for the position, and then focus your questions
on assessing those skills. Here are some sample questions to work from:
• Goals form the very “heart” of the
management process. They describe Employment history
the direction and timing of effort
1. If you had to evaluate your performance in your present job on a
needed, as well as who will be in-
volved. Goals can measure progress. scale of 1 to 10, how would you grade yourself and why?
Goals should be all encompassing. 2. What skills have you acquired in your present job that makes you
Goals should be SMART: Specific, the right candidate for this job?
Measurable, Attainable, Related, 3. Describe a recent event in your job that challenged your capabili-
Time-Associated. ties. How did you handle the situation?
4. Why do you want to leave your current job?
5. When you saw this position advertised, what attracted you to
working for our company?
6. Where do you hope to be in 5 years in your career and how does
this position fit with your goals?
Communications
1. Are you more comfortable working on a team or on your own?
2. What types of people do you find difficult to work with?
3. How often do you like to meet with your supervisor?
4. Describe what you consider to be the perfect boss.
5. If you had an idea for a new project or new way to complete a job, how would you communicate it
to your co-workers or supervisor and get it approved?

Organization
1. How do you go about planning your schedule for the day?
2. How do you relieve stress at work?
3. What tasks in your present job do you consider to be a waste 8 questions to
of time? NEVER ask
4. Do you consider yourself efficient? Why?
5. If you were given a long-term project, how would you ap-
proach the work?
6. If you came to work and had several projects you were cur-
rently working on, and your supervisor gave you three new 1. Are you married?
projects how would you prioritize which project to work on? Divorced?
2. How old are you?
Motivation
3. Do you have (or
1. Tell me about a work situation when you really blew it. How plan to have)
did you handle the situation? What did you learn? children?
2. What motivates you to do your best?
3. Think of a major accomplishment you had in your present job. 4. Do you own or
What aspect did you find most satisfying? Why? rent your home?
4. If you could by any skill that you don’t possess, what would it
5. What church do
be?
you attend?
5. What tactics should a supervisor use to get the best out of you?
6. Do you have any
debts?
Managerial
7. Do you belong to
1. What qualities do you possess that would make you a good
any social or
manager?
political groups?
2. Tell me about the best manager you ever had and what you
learned from that person. 8. Do you suffer
3. Tell me about your worst manager and what you learned from from a disability? ?
that person.
4. How do you create an environment that fosters teamwork?
5. Share an example of a conflict you may have had at a past job.
How did you resolve the situation?

Specific Job Skill Questions


1. When you look at the job responsibilities for this position, what are your greatest strengths? On
the other end of the spectrum, what weaknesses do you have?
2. Share your experience from a past job in (fill in the blank job task).
3. If you were asked to teach another employee how to _______________ how would you proceed?
4. How would you define success in this job?
5. In the time you have known about this position, what do you see as your role in the company?
Always allow time for the candidates to ask questions about the company and the job. Remember that in
the workforce today, it is important that you hire the person who is the right fit for the job opening.

For positions which require technical skills which might include operat-
ing equipment, or if clerical in nature, developing spread sheets, offering
job testing may be appropriate. Develop a short test to evaluate if the ap-
plicant actually can perform a specific task of the job.

Reference checks are both an intuitive and systematic process that in-
cludes a wide range of job-related issues, such as performance on a previ-
ous jobs and the ability to work with people. Checking references may appear to be a simple matter, but
it is one of the least understood aspects of the selection process. The contacts that should be made de-
pend on the nature of the job. Generally applicants are asked to provide names and contact information
for three – four references. As a prospective employer you should inform the applicant that you are con-
tacting references. If the applicant is currently employed, ask if you can contact their supervisor. For ref-
erences to serve as indicators of future performance, the people who provide them must be knowledge-
able. It is natural for applicants to select individuals who they believe will provide positive information
about them. Ask for names of individuals who can provide information on work related qualifications.
When references are contacted, generally by phone, ask a short list of pertinent questions. Be prepared
to share briefly the major responsibilities of the position. To ensure a fair hiring process, ask the same
questions for all applicants. Here are a few sample questions.

Reference Questions:
1. How long have you known the applicant and in what capacity? (this will tell you if it is a work
related reference, character reference or friend)
2. What strengths would this applicant bring to the position?
3. What weaknesses can you identify that the applicant may have in regard to this job?
4. How would you describe the applicants’ interpersonal skills – how well do they get along with
others?
5. Can you tell me about the applicants’ ability to bring projects to completion?
6. If you had this position open, would you hire (or if they previously worked for this individual)
or re-hire this individual? Why?
7. Is there anything else we should know about the candidate?

Though it might seem like a time consuming task to contact references, in my experience, valuable in-
sight into the performance of the employee can be identified. It is worth the time to call references for
the top one or two candidates before a job offer is extended.

The overall objective of screening and interviewing candidates is to hire the applicant with a high prob-
ability for job success for your small business.

References:
Lindner, J. and Zoller, C. (1997). Selecting Employees for Small Businesses: Doing it Right
the First Time. The Ohio State University Fact Sheet CDFS-1383-97.

Witte, J. (2008) Avoiding the Bad Employees: Hiring Tips for Your Small Business. Posted
http://blog.logodesignguru.com.

Small Business Hiring Tips. SCORE, Counselors to America’s Small Business.


http://www.score-rochester.org

When Hiring 25 good interview questions….and 8 to avoid. (June 2008). The HR Specialist,
National Institute of Business Management, p.6.

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