How To Make Better Hiring Decisions

hiring-processHiring can be stressful. You may not be the one in the hot seat going on interview after interview, but there is just as much pressure that hiring authorities feel as the candidates they are interviewing.

We get it. Your company needs you to make the right decision in order for it to grow and continue to succeed. Your workers need you to make the right decision in order for them to be satisfied and happy in their work environment. If you make the wrong decision when it comes to hiring, it can affect many. A company is like a well-oiled machine. All parts need to be working properly, and each failure can have lasting effects.

We’re here to help. Over the years, we’ve learned some of the most important things to take into consideration when going through the hiring process.

  1. Consider your current team. Your people should always be a priority for you, and the hiring process is no different. They should be just as much a part of it as you are. Obviously, you want to make everyone happy, and while that is not always possible, be sure to take into consideration the company atmosphere and work ethic. If you are at all questioning whether or not a candidate will fit in, address that concern. If there are certain people that the candidate will be working with on a daily basis, make sure they get a chance to meet the candidate as well. It’s important that your current team feels like you thought of them through the process.
  2. Hire the most talented and accomplished person, not the best resume. It can be easy to judge a book by its cover, or, in this case, a candidate by their resume. Try not to get caught up in the details. When interviewing, ask about past accomplishments and achievements. Talk with the candidate about those experiences, learn about how they used their skills in real-life situations. A resume speaks volumes, but not as much as the candidate that it represents. The best people to hire are not necessarily the brilliant ones, but the ones who can get the work done well and have a proven track record of doing so.
  3. Follow a process. You create a job posting, advertise it, and the resumes start to flood in. It can get overwhelming trying to sift through all the potential candidates. This is where a third-party recruiting firm can come in to simplify the process for you. By letting a recruiter market the job and seek out qualified candidates, much of the pressure is taken off of your shoulders. Recruiters also have a wide network and they can find you rockstar candidates that may not necessarily be scouring job sites because, well, they have a job. This means they are good at what they do and would probably be a great person to have on your team. By following a process laid out by an experienced recruiter, the entire experience will be easier, organized, and stress-free.

Do you have any tried and true methods that you’ve followed in a successful hiring process? We’d love to know! Tweet us at @RigsbySearch.

The Best Piece of Professional Advice I Ever Received

career-advice

Real-world career advice holds tremendous value, no matter who it is coming from. There is no teacher like that of experience.

As firm believers in constant learning from the people around us, we asked our staff what the best piece of professional advice they ever received was. The answers include great tips for your career and maybe even real life, too.

“Always look for ways to improve.” Tiffany Schifley, Operations Manager

“If you notice something wrong with your work or if you’ve made a mistake, take a deep breath and try to solve the problem. Come up with 2 to 3 solutions to fix it before bringing it to the attention of others.”

“Be present.” Sean Rigsby, Managing Partner and Senior Executive Recruiter

“My old boss used to say ‘When you’re here, be here; when you’re not, don’t be here.’ It’s advice that has stuck with me and I’ve always tried to follow throughout my 20 + year career.”

“Be kind.” Michael Kaufman, Environmental Recruiter

“Treat everyone with kindness, and always be professional first. It can a long way.”

“Go beyond your comfort zone.” Sarah Wheeler, Head of Marketing and Research

“At the edge of your comfort zone is where you’ll find success. Never be afraid to be wrong, and never be afraid to step outside the box. You’ll never regret it.”

What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received? Share it with us on social media by tagging Rigsby Search Group (on Facebook or Twitter). We’ll share it with our followers and help to begin a chain of helpful tips!

How to Clean Up Your Online Presence

cleanup-online-presence

These days, everyone who is anyone is online. The big virtual space that we know as the World Wide Web is so deeply embedded into our daily culture and routine that nearly everything we do can somehow be related to the Internet. So it’s only natural that when it comes to career building and job seeking, your online presence will play a role. Chances are, if you discovered a job posting online and applied there, more than likely, when that hiring authority receives your resume, they will type your name into Google, Facebook or LinkedIn and do their own research. The last thing you want is for that to hurt your chances at landing a position you really wanted.

Cleaning up your online presence is something that should be done every so often. Here’s a few methods that may help streamline the process.

  • Make it a monthly goal. Pick a date, whether it be the first of the month or the very last day, and mark it in your calendar for the remainder of the calendar year.
  • Regulate every post. Always keep the thought in the back of your mind that your coworkers and potential future hiring managers may one day see what you are posting. Ask yourself how you would feel if you saw the same photograph or article on another coworker’s profile. What thoughts would immediately come to mind?
  • Enhance your privacy settings. Before sharing that photo on Facebook, choose the audience that you want to see it. During your monthly cleanup sessions, double check your account privacy settings for each of your social media accounts to make sure they are the way you want them to be.
  • Don’t be fooled. Privacy settings are great, but don’t let them fool you into thinking that you are safe to post anything. Proceed with caution knowing that what you post, can, in some way or another, be seen by anyone. Anything is possible in the incredibly interconnected world of social media.

Networking is important, don’t get us wrong! Who you know can sometimes be just as important as what you know. We are big believers in social media and the power that it holds to connect us all. We’re telling you to go for it, network like crazy, but monitoring your online presence and regulating the content which you are sharing with the world is very important in preserving your identity.