It’s so hard to get the budget to hire a new team member that each new hire should be just perfect. But a few days, weeks, or months after hiring, will your new recruit truly be a star? Here are 4 steps to hiring well, every time.

Step 1: Create a hiring profile

A hiring profile is simply a checklist of the skills the new hire must have. To be really useful, a hiring profile must go way beyond the usual recruiters’ shorthand of “3 years’ successful experience with enterprise customers using Oracle Financials”. What should the candidate be able to do after those 3 years of successful experience? Handle customer escalations flawlessly? Debug complex code? Mentor others? Deliver onsite support?

Be as specific as possible. If you want a support rep to deliver excellent customer service, what evidence would you look for? Good customer ratings? Few escalations? Or simply a good phone voice?

Don’t go overboard. Sure, you would like to find someone with experience with your specific product, but would other, related products be acceptable? You’d like someone with years of support experience, but would you consider someone with related experience, maybe as a trainer? Stick with the minimum qualifications to be successful with the job.

Include all aspects of the job. For a support rep, interpersonal skills are just as important as technical skills, so don’t just list operating systems and software skills. If you’re hiring a manager, include people management skills as well as business skills.

Step 2: Use multiple recruiting techniques

Placing a help-wanted ad is not always a wonderful way to find good candidates. If you are looking for people who are in high demand they probably already have a job and are not perusing job ads, so you need to get creative.

Make maximum use of your network and the network of other team members. Offer referral bonuses for candidates who are hired. People tend to refer high-quality candidates and give them plenty of information about the requirements so the candidates are well aware of what’s expected.

Use many recruiting techniques. Post jobs on your web site, let customers know you’re looking (be careful with this one!), use recruiters if you can afford it, leverage industry conference attendance, attend job fairs, work with local universities. Don’t rely on just one way to get candidates.

Step 3: Quality candidates against the hiring profile

Since you spent time creating the profile, get the most out of it by using it as a checklist from screening resumes to the final hiring decision.

Screen resumes against two or three key criteria that are easily identifiable from a job history. During the phone interviews, add a couple of items that can be checked on the phone. Only invite candidates who have the requisite skills to a face-to-face interview.

Prepare interview questions so you can gather additional information about the criteria you need. Don’t just chat with candidates or try pressure techniques: probe for the specific skills in the hiring profile.

Assign other interviewers a subset of skills from the hiring profile. Don’t waste candidates’ time – or yours – rehashing the same information about their last position. And make sure that each interviewer works with the hiring profile and prepares tailored questions in advance.

Check references against the hiring profile. If you are looking for a Java programmer, ask the references for evidence of programming skills. If you are looking for good time management techniques in chaotic environments, ask for examples. Check a few key items with each reference and you won’t need large amounts of time from any of them.

Step 4: Treat candidates as valued business contacts

Only a few candidates will be hired in the end, but each candidate will come away from the process with a vision of your support center. Maintain impeccable business manners throughout, don’t waste candidates’ time through overly numerous interviews, and keep them informed, especially when it comes time for a painful “no”.

I’ve had rejected candidates refer friends for the same position because they were impressed with the way we had treated them, even as we turned them down. Now that’s an unusual recruiting technique!

About the author
Francoise Tourniaire is the founder of FT Works, a consulting firm that helps technology companies create and grow their support operations. She is the author of “The Complete Guide to Hiring Great Support Reps” and “The Complete Guide to Hiring Great Support Managers”, two practical guides to conducting successful support searches that include hundreds of thoughtful interview questions. You can contact her at 650-559-9826 or flt@ftworks.com.