The original premise for starting the Up In Your Business radio show and podcast was to interview guests that could share small business information and give encouragement to those just starting out.
It did not take long before my guests and I were repeating the same information. No matter what your business is, the “rules of business” remain the same.
- Under the topic of employees: hire smart, train well, have defined rules, and show appreciation.
- Under the topic of sales: be attentive to your customers, have follow-through.
- Under the topic of purchasing: maintain low inventory levels, buy smart, offer a good product at a fair price, and keep up with inflation.
- Under the topic of accounting: pay your taxes on time, have a separation of duties, and get paid quick because “Cash is King.”
- Make a plan to borrow money before you need it. Once your debt/net ratio is low, the banks are leery of lending.
- Have an exit/retirement strategy.
- In all dealings, treat everyone with respect and guard your good name through honorable business practices.
These past few weeks I am repeating the hiring process, a never-ending duty addressed in the first bullet point. Hiring the right person, who will fit into our company personality and work family, is tricky. Over time I have used many different recruiting methods. I have hired people via the newspaper, telephone, internet, snail mail, employment services, Skype, and today I am resourcing through INDEED.com. They should change the name from “Indeed” to “Inundated” because of the glut of resumes one receives.
Modern Hiring Tools, Age-Old Advice
To quickly pare down this glut, I added two assessment tests that Indeed.com offers. These additional steps allow me to quickly assess if the candidate demonstrates initiative and attention to detail. If the applying candidate did not take the time to complete the test, then they are immediately X’d off the list of possibilities. This eliminated 90% of the applicants!
But no matter what method you use, how good the applicant’s resume, or the excellence of your research, hiring is still a crap shoot. So, in keeping with the original premise of my radio show of sharing helpful business information, the best hiring tip I can give (and I have many) is: Try not to talk too much. Interviewing is a process of listening and observing.
For more tips, preparation notes, and questions for both the interviewer and candidates read my earlier blog: Rejection Goes Both Ways/Interview Tips for Interviewer/Candidate
