On The Job <B>Hiring Process Leads to Good Staffing Decisions</b>

Whether you're building a marketing staff, replacing departing employees or expanding the skill sets available for your firm, you'll make better hires if you use a few simple steps to clarify and control the process.

Knowing the work to be performed, the criteria for success, and the relevant competencies is crucial, both for the hiring authority and the firm. Having the right evaluation tools can help you identify the best candidates among the crowd of applicants. Instituting a specific procedure through which to move each candidate enables qualifications to be expressed and experiences to be analyzed, as well as making unique individuals more easily comparable.

However you determine the work that is required of a position, you must then put it into a well-defined job description that lists the tasks and responsibilities, defines reporting lines and salary, sets minimum qualifications and identifies desired skills. Be prepared to share this information with each candidate before the initial interview.

Develop An Application Screening Tool

You can streamline the selection of interview candidates by developing a simple form to help track applications and summarize qualifications.

The form should reflect the “Go/No Go” requirements for candidates by giving a place to list their degree and years of college and then each area of skill that they must possess in order to be considered. Check off each requirement that the candidate satisfies, and mark the item with a question mark if the resume suggests that they may meet the standards, but a specific question needs to be asked. No experience in the area means you leave the column blank. Have a space to make some brief notes about other information on the resume.

Number each resume as it comes in and write the number on the screening form. Then, review the resume, noting the requirements satisfied on the form. Make a comment or two about especially valuable skills or experience (“account rep and sales”), or to note concerns (“too much $”). Set the resume aside in an applicant file. When it is time to pick the people you want to interview, it is simple to run your eye down the form and determine which candidates have the most to offer. Select the numbered resumes out of your file and you're set to call for interviews.

Have A Fixed Interview Process

You need to develop a series of interview questions that illuminate the experience of the applicant. A dozen or less items will produce about an hours' conversation. Make your questions open-ended and ask about specific experiences or skills. Always probe with phrases such as: “Can you tell me more about that?” or “Do you have a specific experience in mind?”

Look For The Exception

When you review the notes from your final candidate interviews, look for exceptional information ' an answer or talent that sets a particular candidate apart. Re-read questions which elicited very descriptive responses and note where answers were too brief or omitted detail.

A rational and disciplined process gives you the richest possible set of facts. You'll be able to quickly cull information from a candidate's resume and interview. Then you can extract the data that best applies to your opportunity, and be confident in your hiring recommendations and decisions.

Russell Lawson is on the job in Richmond, VA, as a consultant to law firm marketing partners and staff, and edits the Jobs page on lawmarketing.com. Reach him at 804-240-8862.

Whether you're building a marketing staff, replacing departing employees or expanding the skill sets available for your firm, you'll make better hires if you use a few simple steps to clarify and control the process.

Knowing the work to be performed, the criteria for success, and the relevant competencies is crucial, both for the hiring authority and the firm. Having the right evaluation tools can help you identify the best candidates among the crowd of applicants. Instituting a specific procedure through which to move each candidate enables qualifications to be expressed and experiences to be analyzed, as well as making unique individuals more easily comparable.

However you determine the work that is required of a position, you must then put it into a well-defined job description that lists the tasks and responsibilities, defines reporting lines and salary, sets minimum qualifications and identifies desired skills. Be prepared to share this information with each candidate before the initial interview.

Develop An Application Screening Tool

You can streamline the selection of interview candidates by developing a simple form to help track applications and summarize qualifications.

The form should reflect the “Go/No Go” requirements for candidates by giving a place to list their degree and years of college and then each area of skill that they must possess in order to be considered. Check off each requirement that the candidate satisfies, and mark the item with a question mark if the resume suggests that they may meet the standards, but a specific question needs to be asked. No experience in the area means you leave the column blank. Have a space to make some brief notes about other information on the resume.

Number each resume as it comes in and write the number on the screening form. Then, review the resume, noting the requirements satisfied on the form. Make a comment or two about especially valuable skills or experience (“account rep and sales”), or to note concerns (“too much $”). Set the resume aside in an applicant file. When it is time to pick the people you want to interview, it is simple to run your eye down the form and determine which candidates have the most to offer. Select the numbered resumes out of your file and you're set to call for interviews.

Have A Fixed Interview Process

You need to develop a series of interview questions that illuminate the experience of the applicant. A dozen or less items will produce about an hours' conversation. Make your questions open-ended and ask about specific experiences or skills. Always probe with phrases such as: “Can you tell me more about that?” or “Do you have a specific experience in mind?”

Look For The Exception

When you review the notes from your final candidate interviews, look for exceptional information ' an answer or talent that sets a particular candidate apart. Re-read questions which elicited very descriptive responses and note where answers were too brief or omitted detail.

A rational and disciplined process gives you the richest possible set of facts. You'll be able to quickly cull information from a candidate's resume and interview. Then you can extract the data that best applies to your opportunity, and be confident in your hiring recommendations and decisions.

Russell Lawson is on the job in Richmond, VA, as a consultant to law firm marketing partners and staff, and edits the Jobs page on lawmarketing.com. Reach him at 804-240-8862.