1. Best Interview and Hiring Practices
Denise ChaFfin, president
Top source talent, llc
Women’s Small business conference 2018

2. Agenda Best Interview Practices Best Hiring Practices
Position description and company profile
Where to find the right candidate
Behavioral interviewing
Skills assessment
Clarifying U.S. work and citizenship requirements
Best Hiring Practices
Evaluation and Candidate Selection
Compensation and benefits
Onboarding your new employee

3. Hiring Preparation - To Do List
Create or modify position description.
Review salary requirements and budget available for position.
Notify HR and select hiring team.
Create application requirements.
Define methods for identifying candidates.
Create candidate contact and tracking system.
Prepare candidate screening process:
Candidate interview questions and evaluation form.
Post interview debrief meeting agenda.
Candidate selection process.
Prepare for employee onboarding.

4. Best Interview Practices

5. Best Position Description
First step: Brand your company to new potential candidates (ie. include website URL, links to products, videos).
Be specific but use common terms for the industry.
It may be best to stay away from adding the following terms to a position description
Must have
Mandatory
Friendlier terminology to use could include:
Preferred qualifications
Skills Fundamentals

6. Position Description – Requirements
Minimum Requirements and Experience
Preferred Requirements and Experience
Consider fit with current team members
Personality Type
Communication Style
Compensation (do not include with Position Description)

7. Best Interview Team
The interview team should include direct-report manager, a one level up manager; as well as appointed direct peers who will work with the new employee(s) hired for the position.
Provide each interviewer with an Interview Evaluation Form (see example to equitably assess candidate including:
Tactical skills qualifications
Education
Verbal and written communication
Critical thinking and problem solving

8. Where to Find the Right Candidates
Identifying and contacting ideal candidates is less difficult than most employers think. There are many internet-based resources to assist most employers seeking candidates:
Linked In: Create a profile, create a network!
monster.com and indeed.com: Low hanging fruit.
hireveterans.com: Government trained, and good behavior training.
Industry associations (shrm.com, raps.com, nursingjobs.com, swe.com, ieee.org, culinary agents.com, theladders.com)

9. Find Best Candidate When seeking new employees, go where they go!
For example, to find your ideal nurse, research the industry, find out what companies are downsizing/laying off (there will be a lot of good candidates to choose from here).
Also, companies that are merging or going through acquisitions are great places to find candidates who will be seeking new opportunities.
Attend industry events and job fairs for your industry.
Brand your company: sign up, become a member with association groups for your industry. Your company will be notified of upcoming events and job fairs.
There may be an annual membership fee to join, but the cost may bring with it a great ROI (return on your investment) if you anticipate a need for hiring.

10. Employee Referral Programs
This may be your number “1” resource for hiring.
Your current employees will most likely have colleagues who are in the same field. They will know the character and work ethic of the people they refer.
Create a program that will allow employees to refer suitable, qualified candidates.
Offer an Employee Referral Bonus (the bonus can be a cash reward, time-off paid, or other types of bonuses) to current employees if you hire someone they referred.
Caution: you will need inform current employees against submitting unsuitable leads in order to earn a bonus. You are still the ultimate decision maker on who is hired.
One additional note on Employee Referrals: Your current employees know your organization and company culture better than anyone else. They are the best advertisers and branding resources for your company.
If they are happy working for your company, they will refer great talent. Also, utilize your current employees for feedback and gaining intelligence with respect to turnover and employee retention. Have them post comments about working for your company on GlassDoor. You can gauge how your employees feel about working for your company by reading GlassDoor reviews!

11. Best Application Process
Application Form - In order to meet HR Compliance Regulations, make sure to have all employees fill out an Application. This will be part of their employee file if/when hired.
A chronologically formatted resume should be required. Most recruiters will ask a candidate to re-write an ‘accomplishments’ formatted resume, and resubmit a chronologically formatted document as part of the review and interview process.
It is acceptable to ask a candidate to amend their resume to highlight applicable skills needed for the position. Some candidates will provide an ‘Accomplishments Resume’ versus a ‘Chronological Resume’. A chronologically formatted resume is always preferred, with detail pertaining to each current/previous position held.

12. Best Candidate Screening Process
When reviewing candidate resumes, give evaluation points for resumes that are well written and easy to read. The manner and professionalism utilized when writing and presenting a resume is an indication of a candidate’s written communication skills.
If the person you hire will be required to prepare presentations or write corporate s, their resume may be the first sign of their writing style and communication skills.

13. Accomplishments Formatted Resume

14. Accomplishments Formatted Resume, page 2

15. Chronologically Formatted Resume

16. Chronologically Formatted Resume, page 2

17. Best Candidate Contact and Tracking System
It is important to integrate an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) into your HR and Talent Acquisition processes.
There are several types of ATS software companies available. An ATS system will help to track all candidate applicants to your positions; as well as provide EEO detail (should be included) for any HR audits that could occur.
Good ATS companies include: Taleo, JobVite, iCIMS, BullHorn, TrackerRMC, PeopleFluent

18. Best Candidate Interview
For each person on the interview team, provide the questions you would like them to cover with the candidates during the interview process.
Each interviewer should have two to four specific questions that they cover during the interview process.
Some questions may overlap between interviewers, so they can compare notes later.
Salary and Compensation questions should be responsibility of the Hiring Manager, or HR / Talent Acquisition team.
Some of your interviewers may be at a salary lower than the open position they are interviewing candidates for. This needs to be considered prior to adding them to the interview panel. These same employees may want to be considered for the position themselves.
NOTE:
With new laws springing up around compensation discussions with prospective candidates, it is now best to request a ‘target salary’ from a prospective candidate vs. specific details around current compensation - during an intial conversation.
Many candidates will provide their current compensation, but some prefer to hold back on this detail until later in the interview process.

19. Behavioral Interview
Asking behavior-based questions during the interview will give you a good idea of a candidate’s attitude. Following are a few examples of behavioral interview questions:
Give an example of an occasion when you used logic to solve a problem.
Give an example of a goal you reached and tell how you achieved it.
Give an example of a goal you didn't meet and how you handled it.
Describe a stressful situation at work and how you handled it.

20. Salary and Benefits
During later stages of the Interview process, it will be important for the Hiring Manager to discuss
Base salary, any added compensation (i.e.. bonuses tied to salary, car allowance), and benefits (401k, health benefits, vacation and holiday policy) with the prospective candidates.
Are your compensation targets in line with similar positions for your industry and geography?
There are websites you can utilize to gain access to this information (salary.com, payscale.com), so that you can compare your target compensation ranges with other companies in your region and industry.  

21. U.S. Work Authorization
This is very important factor in hiring employees for many companies. If your company requires a candidate to be a U.S. Permanent Resident (Green Card Holder) or U.S. Citizen, there are specific questions that need to be asked during the interview process.
The key questions:
1. Are you legally authorized to work in the U.S?
2. Will you at any time require employer sponsorship to work in the U.S?

22. Best Hiring Practices

23. Best Candidate Evaluation
Successful employers focus on attitude as much as they do skills when interviewing since many skills can be learned (i.e.. computer software systems), while behaviors are part of a person’s character.
A perfect candidate will have both the desired attitude and the necessary skills; but a perfect candidate is impossible to find.
Candidates that are less than ‘perfect’ (human-ish) should be evaluated on behavior aptitude rather than functional skills.
Some professionals suggest a 65/35 split:
65% right attitude and 35% industry skills and education.

25. Selecting Best Candidate
With top candidates to decide on for a position, consider using the 65/35 rule on deciding who to hire.
The candidate with the highest level of skills qualifications may require less training, but he/she may not fit your organization culturally is he/she does not possess the level of behavior or character that fits well with the team he/she will be working with.
The person with the better attitude may require more skills trainings, but will likely fit well into the organization, and have a better relationship with the other he/she will work with.

26. Best Debrief Process
Once a candidate has interviewed, schedule a “Debrief Meeting” after candidates have interviewed, so the interview team can discuss the evaluations, and provide feedback and hiring recommendations.

27. Making Best Offer
Once you have your compensation range and benefits for this position and are ready to offer a new employee the position,
Be prepared for candidate questions around health benefits, education reimbursement, vacation policies, performance reviews, career path for the position.
If you have a someone in your organization who is a dedicated Benefits Administrator, you can refer the prospective new employee to him or her for additional information outside of the salary and compensation discussion.

28. Onboarding Best Employee
What to have ready for your new employee’s first day
Tax Forms (W4, State Withholding)
Direct Deposit
Payroll Dates (your new employee will need to know when to expect payroll)
I-9 forms
Benefits Forms (Health insurance, Life insurance, HSA, 401k)
Computer, phone (if applicable), company car (if provided), office space (onsite or remote).

29. Estimated Time-to-Fill to complete a hire
Time-to-Fill metrics for typical small business management position:
1-3 months
Time-to-Fill metrics for hiring someone in a supervisory or team lead level role
hours
Average cost for out-sourcing search to 3rd party sourcing company:
$7,500 - $10,000

30. Tips for Hiring a Sourcing or Search Agency
What is their fee structure?
Hourly
Placement %
Does the agency or sourcing company have experience hiring in your industry or for your needed position type?
Do they have their own candidate tracking system?
Check their references.

31. Contact: Denise Chaffin 970-562-4891 denise@topsourcetalentllc.com