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Hiring Tips

· 2 min read

An article I recently read talks about how to hire the right people. The TL;DR of it is a list of 7 C's (we all love lists right?):

  1. Is the person Competent, with adequate skills and experience to carry out the role you are recruiting for?
  2. Are they Capable of delivering for you through good times and bad?
  3. Will the candidate be Compatible with others and build good relationships with team members, managers and clients?
  4. Do they have the Commitment to make a telling long-term contribution to your company, or do they bounce from job to job?
  5. What is their Character and do they have personal ethics such as honesty and integrity?
  6. Will they fit into your company’s Culture and live up to the expectations you have as an employer?
  7. And lastly, agree on a Compensation package and make sure it is a satisfactory outcome for both parties.

(Note: The list above is copied word-for-word from the article I read. I can’t link to the original article because I received it in my email.)

One takeaway point from the article is that the interviewer can begin by first soliciting feedback from customers about the company. Knowing what are the positive things from the customers’ point of view will help the interview process by highlighting the positivity of the company.

Another suggestion in the article is to always interview candidates before the company needs the manpower. This may be preferable for large companies but is quite infeasible for small companies.

There is a point that I completely agree with, however - make sure you like the person. This does not mean that you hire only people who suck up to you. Rather, the person needs to be compatible with the company culture. If you hire solely on the basis of technical competency and aptitude you would eventually end up with someone who is difficult to work with. When that happens, not only does it make time in the office more unpleasant, but more importantly, you end up spending more time arguing and justifying the actions that you need to make rather than taking action immediately.