“I see too many people do this and its advise I recently gave a client”, say Britanie Olvera, Building Team Solutions President. This client by the way was in dire need of hiring employees, they were turning away work. So, now is not the time to decide that your Service Manager is the ideal person to do all the resume vetting and interviews and here is why. This is what we uncovered and the plan we advised moving forward:

Unless you have spent the time and energy making sure your quote “managers” or in other cases we have seen companies let their Receptionist, Admin or Payroll Clerk do the AD PLACEMENT, SCREENING RESUMES, and DOING INTERVIEWS.

Unless these people:

  1. Really have the time to focus on it and I mean make it their TOP JOB and priority. Meaning: not multi-tasking it and doing it a few hours a day in between their main job.
  2. Have been trained – versed and coached on recruiting and hiring techniques, resume reading, writing good copy for job ad’s.
    Given parameters, must haves, deal breakers and a guide to really scoring  (grading) candidates.

Then you might have an issue finding the quality you seek because you ARE NOT putting your companies resources into making this is a priority.

Are your employees the BEST asset your firm has… 99.9% of the time the answer is YES. Then why are you using the littlest amount of resources to do the job of RECRUITMENT AND HIRING?

We are not stating that people in your firm who have other jobs, cant recruit and interview well. The fact is that if they are busy with their MAIN JOB and their skills have to do with being an Admin, Production Manager, or Accounting Clerk, then how do you think they can possibly be able to really focus with intent and be ready to give 100% to recruiting or interviewing your next best asset? Can you get them there? It’s possible.

“Here are some things to ponder as I go over some of the issues I uncovered with our client this week,” says Britanie Olvera:

ASSESS AND CLARIFY INSTEAD OF LOOKING FOR PASS OR FAIL:

  • Pass on candidates and don’t even interview them at all….
    • I hear: “I don’t have time to waste” –  When we go thru a stack of resumes that was never called, that is the response we get  – when in fact you don’t have time to NOT interview and meet people, you need to build a pool of connections ALL THE TIME. An “A+ PLAYER is usually in the pile and not who you thought it would be (sometimes) and it often takes diligence and resourcefulness to uncover that resume”, says Britanie Olvera. You won’t find that “A+ Player” if your Admin or Manger doesn’t have the time to not just read, but call at least 75% of the resumes.
    • Yes, there are always people who are unqualified who apply. Yes, if someone applies for a Mechanical Engineer position and their resume only shows they have worked in Food and Beverage and no Engineering degree, of course you’re not calling them.
    • We am referring  to the 30% who get away in the pile. The 30% of the resume you don’t call, can easily generate another 20% of qualified candidates just by taking the time to call and ASSESS & CLARIFY.
    • Pass on paper—passing just because what you see or don’t see on paper (experience or money). “I built a staffing model in 2000 to teach our recruiting staff  to CALL EVERYONE, because you never know who they are until you speak to them,” says Britanie Olvera!  And it paid off, even in the recession we grew year over year recruiting and staffing—so it works.  We didn’t staff and place candidates because we created a Pass or Fail stack, it’s because we made pre-screening and vetting a priority and we looked at every resume as a way to BUILD A TEAM!

HE/SHE WHO INTERVIEWS HAS THE LAST WORD… maybe:

  • Who is doing the actual interview?  This is easily a whole 4 hr training session. But let’s make it simple.
  • You can easily have a admin or receptionist call all resumes, but you need to EMPOWER & TRAIN THEM. Provide them with a script of questions to ask and a quick grading system. This person needs to be not only personable but excited about doing this, otherwise you have the wrong person doing it. This is the first CONNECTION WITH THE CANDIDATE and it will be the last if you have the wrong person doing these calls.
    • Tip: What’s great about a script is that its precise and its consistent. You get the important things asked and it prevents, mistaken identity from happening. Meaning its easy for someone to just say  “I didn’t like them” or  “not a fit” and it have nothing to do with quality or culture.
  • Call them quickly—within 24 hours if you can – 48 hours max.
  • All Passing or borderline passing should be given to the manager for next step—Onto STEP 2

SECOND STEP/PRE-SCREEN:

  • This is if you want to screen more thoroughly before an in person meeting.  This can be very powerful and tells your applicant this company doesn’t hire just ANYONE. A sense of exclusivity is highly desired by all. Again, be sure there is a script of questions and deal breakers you want answered or known BEFORE you bring them in for an in person. Again, continuity and streamlined.
  • Once again use a quick grading system. These questions should be more defined and deal breakers or questions to ask about technical skill experience. You can also discern motivation and culture as well with the right questions. This can be anywhere from 10 -15 questions.
  • Always ask what their time frame is and ensure its in line with yours.
  • Ensure the applicant knows the job description and salary range. Don’t discard them if it’s a miss, they might qualify for a different position (no you might not have time to interview them – but you do keep their resume and KEEP IN TOUCH).
  • Upon passing, let the candidate know an in person interview is next. Then, get it scheduled.

IS THE INTERVIEWER A GOOD OR BAD INTERVIEWER

  • To this day I am amazed at how many times a candidate will call me up after they have interviewed with our clients to tell me things like (taken from recent real accounts), say Britanie Olvera:
    • “They talked about themselves more than anything. I know about their wife, kids and extracurricular activities.”
    • “They talked about how burnt out they are.”
    • “They walked me outside for a smoke break with them & kind of bashed their boss for 30 minutes only then to tell me Id like working there and would fit in well.”
    • “They dropped a lot of F bombs.”
    • “They took several calls while I was there and spent more time on the phone than with me.”
    • “They didn’t really tell me much about the position.”
    • “They asked more about what I like doing for recreation.”
    • “We got along great, we went to the same college, we talked about that the whole time.”
    • “They didn’t really tell me about the firm.”
  • Bottom line: If your manager is a GREAT manager—but NOT a good interviewer- then he/she should NOT BE DOING your interviews. Let the candidates go thru a more formal interview with someone else and the manager can interview for personality and culture.

Your EMPLOYEES are your highest NET VALUE COMMODITY you have, you need to ask yourself how much intent and time you’re putting into how they are  RECRUITED, SCREEENED and HIRED.

And if all of this is too cumbersome and your business is so BUSY- DOING BUSINESS,  then this might be a good reason for your firm to outsource some of this initial Recruiting and Screening of candidates. A solid, reputable and knowledgeable Staffing and Recruiting firm who is knowledgeable and experienced in your industry, should be able to custom tailor a  recruiting plan for your companies hiring needs.  Makes some calls and seek the help you need to BUILD THE TEAMS your company desires to not only sustain but to GROW.

Tip: We suggest using the same process above to screen and interview for the right Recruiting and Staffing Company for your firm!