As a startup CEO, the recruitment process can be exciting if you’re doing it for the first time. You have the opportunity to meet with the most competent people in the job market. But as you’re marching through the procedure, it’s suddenly a painstaking chore that takes time and energy away from getting actual work done. It’s a grind. It’s less meeting up for coffee with an industry rockstar than sifting through countless of résumés in which half belongs to the trash. That’s why there’s a separate department for it. But like everything, it can be learned. If you want to take the work out of HR professionals, you must do the work like HR professionals. You should know the steps in hiring a new employee like the back of your hands.

There’s more to it, but the recruitment process can be boiled down to nine general bullet points. After you learn them, you can probably get the gist of it. However, you owe it to yourself to do some more specific reading. We’re probably going to write more about each of these bullet points, so stay tuned!

 

9 Steps In Hiring A New Employee

Defining the Role

Before you start recruiting anybody, you need to identify what your company needs. Don’t get an IT specialist on your regular payroll just because a blog online told you it’s a “must-have”. If you hire someone with little necessity in the first place, you disappoint yourself and the person you hired. List down tasks your company needs to be fulfilled, and then find appropriate positions for those roles. Every responsibility and requirement should be outlined in the job description so you don’t waste anyone’s time — including yours.

 

Announcing the Vacancy

You need to advertise the opening to potential candidates. Since it’s not 1950’s, most people use job posting sites like Jobstreet or professional networks like LinkedIn. However, some people still use headhunters to speed-up the process. If you’re using job posting sites, make sure the information is clear, concise, and comprehensive.

 

Screening the Résumés

In about a week, you would have probably gotten a lot of résumés from potential candidates. I wish I can tell you there’s a shortcut here, but all résumés must be screened for matches. That’s if you want to make sure you’re making the right recruitment decisions. It’s either you, your HR department, or outsourced manpower. Either way, it’s a job that needs to get done.

 

Preparing For Interviews

It’s not only the candidate that needs to prepare for the interview. You also have to be prepared with a list of specific questions that will reveal information outside of their CVs. It’s also important to figure out their character and motivations. You’re not only hiring someone to do the job for you, but you’re also hiring someone to work with the team. Make sure the candidate fits right in.

 

Conducting Interviews

The best interviews don’t feel like interrogations — they feel like conversations. A loose light-hearted chat reveals more about the person because they’re allowed to be themselves. If you prepared for the interview, you won’t have any problem keeping it on-track. Bringing up another member of the team with you allows for two heads to work instead of one. That way, you’ll reach a better decision.

 

Narrowing Your Selection

After meeting your candidates, it’s time to narrow your selection to a small range depending on how many positions you need to be filled. If you only need one, you might want to narrow it down to three. Consider their skills, experience, requirements, temperament, and cultural fit. Most importantly, give yourself the leeway to choose intuitively. When you met with your candidates, you’ve picked up some subconscious cues about them. Sometimes, these subtleties say more than some statistic.

(READ: What Are The Qualities Of Good Employees?)

 

Performing Background Checks

Don’t skip this. Make sure everything checks out with your candidate. You don’t want to be working with someone for 5 months only to find out some compromising information about your candidate. Double check their educational, professional, and criminal background. You might learn big things that you might never learn otherwise.

 

Making an Offer

After you learn everything you can about your potential candidates, it’s time to choose one. Make an offer to the winning candidate. If you really want the candidate, you should be willing to match their asking price. However, always make an effort to negotiate to a lower price. This process also involves making the appropriate paperwork to finalize the employment. Make sure to take care of that.

If you’re a little sad about the other candidates, you can always write a recommendation or a referral to another company. Don’t worry about giving away “good talent”. You already hired the best of the bunch, right? Plus, relationships make businesses. You would have made a positive relationship with both the company referred to and the referral — even if it’s your competition.

(READ MORE: Does Hiring Temporary Employees Benefit Your Business?)