Dedicated employees are the lifeblood of any enterprise. As such, it’s only natural for employers to seek out the best of the best when actively hiring. However, in the absence of proper screening, your enterprise is liable to wind up hiring applicants who are ill-suited to their roles. While it’s hard to overstate the importance of a good first impression, presenting oneself well shouldn’t be the only criteria that factors into your hiring decisions. Enterprises on the hunt for qualified, hardworking team members can benefit from the following screening tips.
Confirm Employment History
While verifying an applicant’s employment history may seem like a no-brainer, a surprising number of employers often abstain from doing so. In many instances, verification of an applicant’s work history is skipped as a result of that applicant presenting themselves well during an interview. It isn’t hard to see why employers opt to skip this step, but they have absolutely nothing to gain by doing so. While contacting an applicant’s references and previous employers may seem cumbersome, it can ultimately prevent you from making a huge hiring mistake. For good measure, you should also verify their educational credentials. So if you’re giving serious consideration to welcoming an applicant into the fold, the absolute least you can do is verify his or her employment history. A little bit of time and effort can go a long way in helping you make the right hiring choices.
Conduct Pre-Interviews
Before committing to an in-person with an applicant, it’s generally a good idea to conduct a pre-interview via phone or video chat. This will help give you a sense of how much an applicant knows about your enterprise and the position for which he or she is applying. This can also prove beneficial to the applicant, as it will ensure that they know exactly what the position entails, thereby clearing up any confusion they may have. If a pre-interview reveals that an applicant is ill-prepared for a certain position or knows very little about your business, there’s no need to devote time or resources to an in-person interview.
Reach Out to a Screening Firm
Depending on the size of your enterprise and the number of applications you regularly receive, you may lack the resources to thoroughly screen candidates in-house. If this describes your situation, consider reaching out to a professional screening firm. The right firm will meticulously screen your applicants, thus saving you and your staff a considerable amount of hassle. In addition, if your enterprise attracts a sizable number of applicants, ATS integration for employee screening may be a worthwhile investment.
Finding qualified employees should not be a task businesses approach lightly. If proper importance isn’t placed on the screening process, enterprises put themselves in danger of hiring unqualified applicants. While it can be tempting to hire people who make solid first impressions, this approach to staffing is seldom good for a business’s bottom line. The next time your enterprise finds itself in need of new talent, the previously discussed pointers are sure to come in handy.
