8 Steps 'Til Your Next Hire

For the past few years, the number one challenge facing our members has been finding and retaining top talent in their agency. We have spent a lot of time and energy creating resources to help make this process smooth and successful and help you with every step of the hiring process and beyond. I want to share with you the eight steps you should take for your next hire!

1. Step back and identify who you are looking for. Determine who on your current team is ideal in their role and assess what makes them great. This gives you a framework of traits and skills to look for when making your next hire.
2. Customize your landing page using CareerPlug and/or Big I Hires. Be sure to add staff pictures and information about your agency value proposition. The goal is to stand out and get candidates excited to possibly join your team. This will be their first impression of your agency after they click on the job post.
3. Create an attractive job post. This is very different from a job description. Your job post should be specifically designed to attract the right candidate to apply with the end goal being to get a phone interview. You can always explain the full job description later in the process, but you don’t want the job post to get overlooked because it’s too lengthy. It’s important to make the top half of your job post the most exciting part because people have short attention spans. If we don’t grab their interest right away, we might lose them.
4. Have a clear interview process. It’s crucial to have a written process that you can follow. This will allow you to stay prepared as candidates come into the pipeline as well as not lose track of anyone throughout the process. Gather your resources (such as IIANC’s DIY Tool Kit, interview questions, and/or scorecards). I would recommend building the process in CareerPlug (an IIANC free member benefit). This will keep all your candidates in one place, and you can clearly manage each step.
   1. Use technology to automate your process. CareerPlug can automate a few steps to take a ton of work off your plate! When an application is received, it will automatically send a “thank you” text message, followed by an invitation to take a personality assessment. From there, it’s one click to send the request for a phone interview (which integrates with your personal calendar).
5. Use the phone interview to build rapport with the candidate. This is where you want to get a feel for their phone etiquette and how they sound on the phone. PLEASE don’t waste your time talking through their entire resume. (The exception is if you want to dive deeper into one of their previous roles to see how it applies to your opportunity.) I like to get a feel for what has made them looking for a new position and what got them excited to apply to this one. This will typically tell you enough about their motives and experience to feel good about moving them to an in-person interview.
6. Time for the in-person interview. When you bring someone in for an in-person interview, it’s so important to be prepared. Use their assessment, resume, and phone interview to have behavior-based questions ready to go. This way you can be laser focused on seeing how they have handled specific situations and give you a better idea if they have the skills you have identified in step 1.
7. Meet the team. A follow-up to the in-person interview is to have them meet the rest of the team. This is a great way to see how the team will mesh, plus, you always want feedback from your current staff. Since your team will be the ones working with this new staff member, you want to give them a chance to meet and ask questions as well. This also demonstrates to the candidate that staff input is valued.
8. Due Diligence. When you’re almost ready to make an offer, be sure to do a background check and call references.

I know that hiring can seem daunting, but we are here to support you on this journey. We want to make sure you get the right person in the right seat the first time! That is why we have spent so much energy on creating resources and partnerships to help our members’ staffing needs. We want to give you the tools to be successful! Let me know if you want to dive deeper or need any assistance with your next hire!