The right hire: 5 tips to make it happen


Some entrepreneurs are counting down the days before they’re in a position to make that elusive first hire. Then, when it comes, it’s a daunting task.

After all, this is the point where you now have a huge, fixed cost added to your business. In other words, it means that you suddenly have a lot more financial pressure – and guaranteeing that you hire the right person is crucial to make sure that you come out of the other side successfully.

Of course, for many businesses, this is a recurrent process, and they will testify that it still never gets any easier. There are so many variables at play, but there are also several steps you can take to increase your chances of success.

This is going to be the focal point of today’s article, as we look at five tips to make sure you hire the right person for the job.

Don’t just hire someone who’s like you

One of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make is hiring someone who’s just like them.

Of course, it’s important to have a good cultural fit, but you also need to make sure that you’re complementing your skillset, not duplicating it.

For example, if you’re a great salesperson, then you might be tempted to hire another salesperson. But if you’re not so strong on the delivery side of things, then it might make more sense to hire someone with a background in operations or delivery.

Define the role clearly

Another common mistake is not taking the time to clearly define the role that you’re hiring for.

This might seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how many entrepreneurs have a hazy idea of what they need from their new hire.

Not only does this make it harder to find the right person, but it also increases the chances that you’ll end up with someone who’s not a good fit for the role and, potentially, increase the risk of running into unfair dismissal issues amongst others.

Use a structured interview process

When you’re interviewing candidates, it’s important to have a structured process in place.

This means having a set of questions that you ask every candidate and scoring them against each other.

This will help to take some of the subjectivity out of the process, and it will also give you a way to compare candidates against each other.

Granted, if you’ve been in the hiring game for some time, you can probably take a more flexible approach. However, if you’re just starting out, a structured process can make things much easier to manage.

Check references

Once you’ve narrowed down your candidates, it’s important to check their references.

This is your chance to talk to people who have worked with the candidate before, and to get a sense of what they’re really like.

Many regard this as an outdated practice, but it’s another step that can provide a layer of reliability to your selection process.

Make a decision and stick to it

Finally, once you’ve made your decision, it’s important to stick to it.

Of course, there’s always a chance that you might have made a mistake, but it’s important to give your new hire a chance to prove themselves. Most new recruits tend to take some time to settle into a position; try not to judge them too quickly and instead invest in a robust onboarding process.