While your product or service is meant to fulfill a need in society, it doesn’t matter what you’re selling if you don’t have effective employees. Depending on the stage of growth your business is in, you may be the only employee at this point. If this is your first time hiring new employees, making the decision to expand your brand to include other individuals can be a nerve-wracking experience. To ease the tension, here are a few major areas to consider throughout the hiring process.

Writing the Job Description

Understanding the basics of a well-written job description ensures that any prospective employees will have a firm understanding of their role in your business. The process of writing and revising the description also offers you the chance to clarify your own understanding of why you need bring in new people. Important information to list includes the job title, the main responsibilities of the position, required experience and skills, a thorough description and mission of your business, and a final call-to-action in order to ensure employees will make the leap in submitting their application materials.

Consider that this may be the first interaction an applicant will have with your business. A job description riddled with errors and confusing language might easily deter high quality individuals from applying. By writing a thorough and well-phrased job description, you’ll stand a better chance of attracting someone who will contribute to a positive future for your business.

Publicizing the Job Opening

While you might have some luck asking your friends and peers for recommendations, this kind of outreach alone won’t lead to much publicity. Obviously, you can’t hire the best people if they don’t know the job exists. You might try advertising the position in newspapers and trade magazines to reach candidates in a certain locality or industry. The internet offers a variety of options for reaching a large number of people, and this is where the majority of job postings can be found today. This can include social media, email outreach, and career websites.

Setting up a booth at a career fair can provide another opportunity to interact with a large number of applicants. This face-to-face interaction early in the process can be an effective way to tell if a candidate will be an appropriate addition to your business.

Reviewing Applications

Depending on how you’ve chosen to publicize the job opening, you’ll receive applications from a number of qualified and unqualified candidates. With the rise of digital job search tools, it’s become common for people to apply for a large number of positions without fully reviewing the responsibilities and required experience. Because of this, it can be helpful to create a checklist of minimum qualifications to quickly weed out inexperienced applicants. This will help you to focus your attention on the most qualified candidates and not waste the effort of contacting people who haven’t put in the time to get to know the position or your business.

It may also be helpful to look for candidates with previous experience working with startups. You should aim to hire talented individuals who demonstrate flexibility and the potential to go beyond the basics of a position. Selecting someone who is familiar with the expectations of a small business work environment can help to ensure your new employee will be able to adapt to changing needs as the business continues to grow.

Interviewing

Once you’ve narrowed the pool of applicants, you should consider including a phase of phone interviews. This will allow you to ask any immediate questions about a candidate’s experience and their interest in the position without having to schedule a physical meeting. This is also a good way to figure out if the applicant can think on their feet and communicate in a personable, informative way. Be sure to take notes about their responses as well as your overall impressions.

When you decide to begin face-to-face interviews, prepare by reviewing each person’s application and any notes you’ve taken. Create a list of core questions you plan to ask each candidate so you can better compare their performance. Also, be sure to leave space in each interview for applicants to ask questions or voice concerns as these can demonstrate a nuanced curiosity or a lack of preparation.

Deciding Who to Hire

After carefully considering each applicant’s qualifications and your interactions with them, you may feel confident in who you’d like to choose. If you’re planning to hire multiple employees or if you already have a staff, consider how the applicants’ talents, experiences, and personalities might complement each other.

Now is the time to call each remaining applicant’s references and perform a background check, if you haven’t done so already. This can stand as a last chance to discover any red flags that might not have come up in the process so far. While these details might not eliminate someone from being hired, it’s best to have as much information as possible when making a final decision.

Make the Job Offer

You can choose to make an offer at the end of an interview, over the phone, or via email. However you choose to approach this, be sure to clearly state details related to pay, benefits, and a suggested start date. If you make a verbal offer, be sure to follow up with a written offer or employment contract containing these details as well as a job description and any other information vital to the position. If the applicant asks for more time to consider your offer, it’s best to limit this to three days.

Retaining Your Employees

Of course, once you’ve chosen the right person to join your business, you’ll want to make sure you can keep them on board. One way to do this is to provide adequate training for the position and encourage your new employee to grow. They should feel they are doing useful work that challenges them to use their unique talents. If you clearly state your expectations and keep open communication, hopefully you’ll be able to look forward to a pleasant, productive future with your new employee.