A Guide To Hiring Your First Employee

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Maybe you’ve been doing fine on your own for a while, but now, hardworking you has a business beginning to grow and you can’t handle or manage things on your own anymore. You need to hire someone, but you don’t know where to start. Or maybe you work for a company and are asked to take part in the hiring process.

Either way, it’s going to be your first hire, and this guide will show you the most important things you would need to do to hire. So let’s get right to it.

Be clear on work expectations

Before you hire, be clear on what you are expecting from a new hire. How many hours of work will they do? What exactly is their role? What are the foreseeable future prospects for the employee? The clearer you are to yourself, the easier it will be to write the job description which is the next step. Write in a compelling interesting way, and put the points most important to you. Imagine the type of employee you want, and put down those thoughts in the job description.

Shortlist

You will get a host of people, and it might seem overwhelming. But you just have to shortlist those applicants. Eliminate anyone who does not meet your most basic criteria. Focus now on those left who you plan to interview.

Don’t believe everything you read

Truth be told, too many people lie on their CV, so you need to do a background check on the person. A typical check would include: confirmation of previous employment, any prior criminal record, drug test, driving record, and credit history. This is not prying; this is your right and duty. At this stage, it would be a good idea to use people search which would help provide you with much needed background information on your chosen candidate.

Ask tough questions

You’re running a business, so it’s really not the time or place to judge someone on instincts alone during an interview. And you don’t have to put on a persona of being super nice. Even if you are, go against your nature when you are actually interviewing someone. Don’t stick to yes or no questions. Ask questions that need detailed answers. The more elaborate the question the more you will get to see the personality of your interviewee.

Obtain identification

Once you have hired someone, you will need the employee’s ID number for tax returns and other official documents. Besides other official reasons, which you can check online for, depending on which state you are in, you need to know the official information of that person in case something goes terribly wrong and you need to track down the person.

Attract the right candidates

By creating an interesting and compelling job description, you can get the type of employee you are planning on. You want someone who has a similar vision that you have for future work and growth of the business. It’s a responsibility on your shoulder now, but the right hire will pay off in the best of ways in the short and long term.

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John is a serial entrepreneur and writer who is passionate about helping small businesses launch and grow. His work has been featured in Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, and Forbes.