WEBVTT

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Now that I've explained
five very common potholes

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you're liable to fall into, let's talk
about what you can do to avoid them.

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There are no
absolute guarantees,

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but when it comes
to recruiting and hiring,

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there are five practical
actions you can take

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to help you stay out of court.

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Action one is to be prepared.

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That means making sure all your
job descriptions are up to date

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and clearly list the essential
functions of the job.

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And it means preparing
a list of interview questions

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that you ask every
applicant for the same job

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that focus exclusively on the job.

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You also want to create a
scoring sheet for the application

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and the interviews.

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List each skill or ability the successful
candidate has to have,

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and how much weight
you are giving to each one.

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Let’s say you have 10 skills
you want them to have,

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and each is worth 10%.

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Then a maximum score
any applicant could get

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in each category is 10 points.

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This way you can
easily rate each applicant

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on a scale of 1 to 10
in each area.

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This scoring sheet
isn't the only thing you look at

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in making your decision-

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references count too.

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The important point is that
if you have one candidate

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scoring much higher
than the others,

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you should hire them, unless
you have very strong evidence

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to the contrary from references
or background checks.

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Your "gut feeling" is not going to cut it
as a reason not to hire.

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Action two - don't omit or puff
up information about the job.

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Make sure you provide
a complete, accurate picture -

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the good stuff and the
challenges they'll face.

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Action three - make sure everyone
gets equal treatment -

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from the questions you ask,
to the skill tests you give,

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to the number of references
you check out.

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And action four - make sure what you
ask, say, do, or write down

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is job-related.

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Absolutely everything
should be directly related

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to determining a candidate's
ability to succeed on the job.

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No exceptions.

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And action five - make
sure that you document

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everything you've done.

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Make a file where you put
the job description,

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the ads, your interview questions,

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the resumes or applications
of the people you interviewed,

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reference checks, your notes –

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everything related to this
particular hiring decision.

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That way, if there
ever is a question,

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you will have everything
in one place.

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After you decide who to hire,

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you should document the reasons
why you rejected the other applicants.

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"Not as qualified"
is not a reason.

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Be specific.
"Less relevant experience."

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"No background leading teams."
"Fired from the last three jobs."

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At some point, you will stop
looking for candidates.

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That point in time
should be documented.

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A good way to do that is to send
brief letters to applicants

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thanking them for
applying and saying,

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"Your qualifications do not match
our current needs."

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Then invite them to
reapply in the future.

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Do not say that the application
will be held for future openings

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unless it is true.

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So, what's the
bottom line here?

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Well, in my experience, if you simply
remember to watch out

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for the five major issues I've talked
about in the past few minutes;

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and make a good faith effort to
implement the five key actions

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I've just described,

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you'll not only help ensure you're
in compliance with the law...

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You'll also be in a much better
position to find and hire

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the best person for the job.

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And ultimately, that's what recruiting
and hiring is all about.

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Isn't it?