Hiring Smart rht.com

Transcription

1 Hiring Smart

2 Hiring Smart Introduction 2 Defining Your Needs 3 Locating Qualified Candidates 5 Evaluating Resumes 8 Conducting Effective Interviews 9 Selecting Job Candidates 1 1 Managing the Reference-Checking Process 12 Closing the Deal 14 About Robert Half Technology rht.com Hiring Smart Robert Half Technology 1

3 Introduction At Robert Half Technology we understand how challenging it can be to find and hire skilled candidates. As a leading provider of technology professionals on a project and full-time basis, we also know that a successful recruitment strategy is crucial for your company s profitability. Hiring is a complex and time-consuming process. Making the wrong choice is costly and results in lost productivity, increased stress and disruption of operations. This booklet will provide you with techniques that take the guesswork out of hiring. You ll find tips about everything from locating skilled candidates and assessing their resumes to conducting effective reference checks. We hope you find this information useful in your hiring efforts. Sincerely, Max Messmer Chairman and CEO rht.com Hiring Smart Robert Half Technology 2

4 Defining Your Needs For the hiring process to be effective, you must lay the groundwork before you place your first ad or start spreading the word through your network. Often, however, firms tend to skip this important step. They feel a need to fill the open position immediately because projects are short-staffed, a backlog of work is piling up and remaining employees feel extra pressure as they absorb additional duties. But it s difficult to hire the right person if you don t know what combination of skills, experience and knowledge you re seeking. You re not just trying to fill a desk; you re looking for someone who can add value, enhance your bottom line and help advance the objectives of the organization. By filling a vacancy rather than strategically satisfying the needs of your firm or department, you run the risk of selecting the wrong person. To avoid this mistake and its costly consequences, consider these guidelines: Do a workload forecast. This is the cornerstone of a strategic approach to staffing. Based on current activity levels and planned initiatives, what do you anticipate your firm s or department s workload to be? This step will help you decide which type of employee is required full-time or project-based or whether you even need a new hire at all. Sometimes it s preferable (and more economical) to reassign or outsource a job s functions. Evaluate current personnel resources. Which key skills do you have on staff and which are you lacking? For example, you may decide that you need a network manager experienced in firewall administration. Or your company may be installing a supply-chain automation system, so you ll need the expertise of an IT professional skilled in database management. Create a job description. This is a brief but important document that captures and precisely conveys the essentials of the position. It provides a summary of the job and serves as a basis for the hiring criteria rht.com Hiring Smart Robert Half Technology 3

5 Defining Your Needs A well-written job description should include the following sections: Title. Explains which type of professional you re hiring (i.e., senior web developer, network analyst or help desk specialist ). Primary responsibilities. Outlines the main duties of the position. Secondary responsibilities. Describes periodic, rather than daily duties (i.e., train new support staff ). Core competencies. Highlights the skills and attributes required to perform the job. Experience required. Specifies type and amount of experience. For example, does the candidate need to know your company s financial systems software, possess specialized industry knowledge (i.e., experience in the healthcare sector ) or have a minimum number of years experience with a specific technology? Compensation. Includes a range for starting salary and lists the basic benefits that your company offers, such as health or life insurance, 401(k) plans, paid vacation, technical training opportunities, etc. Preferred educational background. Identifies the degrees, certifications and other credentials the ideal candidate should have. However, be careful not to turn this item into a deal-breaker later in the hiring process. Credentials can be a useful screening device, but their absence should not prevent you from hiring an otherwise qualified prospect. 4

6 Locating Qualified Candidates As companies are increasingly dependent on technology to run their businesses, the need to quickly locate and communicate with a pool of qualified job candidates has grown in importance. Because of this necessity, your approach to hiring must be more proactive and flexible if you want to compete effectively for the best candidates. This is due to a number of factors, including: The Internet. This is a 24-hour, international job fair in which you are vying against FORTUNE 500 and start-up companies around the world. In hiring, as in business overall, your competition is no longer local it s often global. An aging workforce. The first wave of baby boomers will start retiring within this decade. The post-boom generation represents a dramatically smaller pool of workers from which to draw replacements. Shifting priorities. Work/life balance has become essential to professionals seeking successful careers while enjoying rich and full personal lives. Such trends as flexible scheduling and independent contracting are attractive options for many workers. The willingness to offer progressive benefits will directly impact your firm s ability to recruit the most qualified technical talent. Obviously, these factors make hiring a more challenging and daunting task than ever. Nevertheless, qualified candidates do exist, and there are several effective ways you can identify them. 5

7 Locating Qualified Candidates Here are some suggestions for finding highly skilled IT professionals: Use multiple recruiting methods. There s more than one way to search for employees in today s high-tech world. In addition to posting openings on online job boards and your company s website, consider using an electronic matching service or participating in job fairs. Look within. Consider current employees who may qualify for the open position. Promoting from within is a powerful motivational tool and can reduce your search by a number of weeks. Ask for referrals. Seek recommendations from trusted colleagues and contacts in your professional network, as well as from family members, friends, and current and former employees. To encourage your staff to refer people, offer incentives to those whose recommendations result in a hire. Rewards can include cash, time off, dinner at a popular restaurant or paid membership to a health club. Consider a specialized IT staffing firm. Recruiters maintain up-to-date files of potential candidates; their resources can quickly and effectively expand your prospects. In addition, staffing firms can handle ad placement, selected reference checking and other time-intensive tasks. Keep a prospect folder. Collect the resumes you receive for each job listing. Although a particular candidate might not be right for a current opening, an opportunity may arise in the future for which he or she is the perfect choice. 6

8 Locating Qualified Candidates Be competitive with salaries. To attract the most qualified professionals, you must offer appropriate levels of compensation. To determine whether the salaries you offer are in line with trends in the current market, use publications such as the Robert Half Technology Salary Guide or the Occupational Outlook Handbook, developed by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Be creative with extras. To stand out as a prospective employer, your firm should offer as many of today s popular benefits as possible. Beyond the standard medical/dental insurance, attractive packages can include profit-sharing, childcare referral service, alternative work arrangements, tuition reimbursement, extra vacation, sabbaticals, performancebased bonuses, stock options, and on-site services such as dry cleaning delivery or a health club. For senior-level employees, consider offering signing bonuses, expense-paid relocations or job-placement assistance for spouses. 7

9 Evaluating Resumes Because the resume is your first glimpse of a potential employee, it s important to conduct a systematic review of each resume you receive. Here are some tips to make the process more manageable and productive: Develop a screening system. Whether you sift through the stack of resumes yourself or let an HR specialist handle the first round, you need a set of guidelines to streamline the process. Keep the following questions in mind as you review resumes: What are the prerequisites for the job? What are the unique requirements of the organization? Which qualifications or attributes are essential? Look for positive indicators. The resume of a candidate worth interviewing will feature a long history of stability, a record of advancement, and detailed descriptions of accomplishments and responsibilities at previous jobs. Ideally, the resume should demonstrate how the individual s achievements contributed to the goals and profitability of the employer. A strong, well-written cover letter should accompany the resume and give you a sense of the applicant s communication skills. Watch for red flags. Relegate the resume to the needs further review or no pile if it contains any of the following: Unexplained gaps in employment Vaguely worded job descriptions A string of job-hopping Typos, misspellings or grammatical errors Ambiguous phrasing (i.e., familiar with, involved in, etc.) Static career pattern Take notes. As you read the resumes of candidates you would like to interview, jot down any questions or notes you can use when you meet. Too much time may elapse between your first reading and the interview you won t necessarily recall your initial reactions and questions. 8

10 Conducting Effective Interviews The importance of the interview is stressed extensively to job seekers. Although often unstated, the fact is that this meeting is every bit as important to you and your company. To make the most of this critical phase in the hiring process, follow these eight steps: Prepare in advance. Develop an approach that you ll use with all candidates. Rank the key factors required for the job in order of importance. Also, prepare a list of specific questions that will allow you to explore the applicant s problem-solving abilities, interpersonal skills, business acumen and technical aptitude. Ask the right questions. You ll get a wider range of responses by varying the style of your questions, including: Closed-ended, factual ones (e.g., How many years did you work for Firm A? ) Open-ended (e.g., What do you consider your greatest accomplishments? ) Hypothetical, job-related scenarios (e.g., How would you handle a situation in which...? ) to assess the candidate s work style and compatibility with your company s culture Make a pitch for your firm. Job seekers today want to know what your organization has to offer them, so it s critical to give a positive first impression. In a recent survey by our firm, executives polled said that, other than base salary, applicants ask most often about benefits and corporate culture. Employees prefer companies that offer progressive work environments and compensation packages, foster professional growth, and support the balance of work and personal demands. Be sure to point out any appealing programs your firm offers when meeting with candidates. Rephrase questions to get complete answers. If an applicant s response to your question is vague or insufficient, don t be afraid to ask in a different way. For example, rephrase Why did you leave your previous position? to What types of opportunities are you looking for that your last job did not provide? 9

11 Conducting Effective Interviews Pay attention. Fight the urge to formulate your next question while the candidate is still responding to the last one. You need to listen attentively to pick up on bits of information that might otherwise escape you. Write it down. Memory is unreliable, so it s best to take notes in an unobtrusive way during the interview. Don t try to transcribe everything the candidate says word for word jotting down the highlights should be sufficient. Don t rush to judgment. Try to avoid forming an opinion too quickly about a candidate. Wait until after the interview to evaluate responses and make interpretations. End on a positive note. Once you feel you have enough information, end the interview politely. Thank the applicant for his or her time and interest, and briefly mention subsequent steps, such as a date for the second round of interviews. 10

12 Selecting Job Candidates Once you ve completed the first round of interviews, you ll need to narrow the field. Some managers rely on gut feelings and general impressions, but this approach is imprecise and contains pitfalls. It s better to develop a system that enables you to rank prospects using specific, consistent criteria. Here are the basic steps to setting up an evaluation system: Focus on key hiring criteria. Review the job description for the skills and attributes required for the candidate to perform the job well and fit into the company s culture. Concentrate on the must-haves and disregard the preferreds for now. Set priorities. Assign a numerical value to each skill or attribute. For example, using a fivepoint scale you might rate previous experience with our operating system a three, while strong communication skills could be a four. Take intangibles into account. Qualities such as motivation, creativity, resourcefulness and ability to handle stress are very hard to gauge or quantify. But they are an important component in your evaluation of candidates. Rank them on a numerical scale as well. Screen out irrelevant factors. Keep your hiring criteria at the center of the process. This will help you avoid the tendency to favor one candidate over another for the wrong reasons, such as when each was interviewed or your own feelings of urgency about filling the position. 11

13 Managing the Reference-Checking Process Obtaining meaningful candidate references can be difficult in today s climate. In some cases, individuals have sued former employers for giving references that were viewed as defamatory. In other cases, firms have been sued for not disclosing enough information about an employee, particularly when the individual turns out to be a liability for the hiring company. In order to protect themselves many businesses have adopted a strict name, rank and serial number policy. This can be a significant obstacle if you are trying to find out more about a prospect than dates of employment. As a result, many firms forego reference checking an unwise decision for many reasons. Checking candidates references is a critical tool for verifying qualifications and claims. It s especially indispensable within IT departments, where hiring mistakes can directly affect a company s bottom line. Here are six steps that can help make your reference checks more effective: Begin at the interview. Let each candidate know that, if he or she becomes a finalist, you plan to conduct reference checks. This should prompt the applicant to give honest answers to your questions. During the interview, write down responses that you would like to discuss with the applicant s references. Do it yourself. No matter how full your schedule, resist the urge to delegate reference checking. Since you know best which skills and abilities you re looking for, you re more likely to persist until you obtain the required information. Ask the right people. In addition to HR representatives, speak with the candidate s former manager or coworkers. These individuals should be able to provide the most detailed and accurate information on the applicant rht.com Hiring Smart Robert Half Technology 12

14 Managing the Reference-Checking Process Ask the right questions. Begin with the basics: Confirm employment history, job titles, responsibilities, salary and where the candidate worked previously. If the reference is willing to talk, ask him or her to describe the individual s strengths and weaknesses, interpersonal skills, and ability to work on a team. It s also appropriate to ask if the job candidate s references were checked thoroughly the last time, and what they said. Finally, ask if the manager would rehire the applicant. Avoid the dangerous questions. Discrimination laws apply equally to reference checking and interviewing. You cannot ask about the candidate s marital status, age, religion, gender, disabilities, ethnicity or other personal matters. Broaden your scope. Try to move beyond the list of references the candidate provides. Ask those contacts for names of other individuals you could call. Verify basic information about the applicant through phone directories and other public sources. Also, turn to your own network for contacts who may have first-hand knowledge of the candidate rht.com Hiring Smart Robert Half Technology 13

15 Closing the Deal Once you ve gathered enough information and made your decision, there s just one more step: making the offer. Handle this final phase of the hiring process as carefully as the previous steps otherwise, you risk losing the candidate or starting the relationship on a shaky foundation. Here are four points to keep in mind: Don t hesitate. After you identify the best candidate, make the offer immediately. A oneday delay could cause you to lose your first choice. Make it detailed and official. Put in writing all pertinent information proposed start date, title, salary, benefits, and any extras you and the candidate may have discussed. If you can t put these details on paper, you re not at a point where you can make an offer. Clarify acceptance. Ask the candidate to sign a duplicate copy of the job-offer letter. If the agreement is contingent on further reference checking or skills testing, make sure the applicant is aware of these conditions. Keep in touch. If more than a week transpires between acceptance and start date, it s wise to stay in touch during the transition. This is a good time to send the new hire a copy of the employee handbook, health insurance forms or other paperwork. You might also schedule an orientation session or lunch, if appropriate. 14

16 About Robert Half Technology With more than 100 locations in North America, South America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, Robert Half Technology is a leading provider of IT professionals on a project and fulltime basis. We specialize in initiatives ranging from web development and systems integration to network security and technical support. For more information, please contact your local Robert Half Technology office by calling or visit our website at This booklet is part of a series on human resources management issues published by Robert Half Technology, a leading provider of technology professionals on a project and full-time basis Robert Half Technology. An Equal Opportunity Employer. RHT