Finding the right person for your job posting can be a laborious process. After all, not only do you need to prepare the job posting and list ads, You need to schedule interviews and organize interview locations. In fact, Investopedia says that just the recruitment process can actually cost a company $3,500 in turnover costs—that doesn't include time and money for training and integration. If you need to hire an engineer, the process may have added difficulty as the demand for these positions is high and the supply is low.
Thankfully, educational facilities recognize the demand for STEM-based jobs, and more and more engineers are bridging the gap. However, if you are a small business, it may still be hard to balance this demand as well as the hiring costs involved. Here are some tips to help you with the hiring process.
Know Exactly What You Need? Seek Out Engineers Instead of Letting Them Come to You
While you can put your job posting on sites like Monster.com or Indeed.com, it may get lost in the fray of larger companies. Instead, actively seek out engineering job boards and take a look at engineer resumes. If you have a one-time project, or you don't need an in-house engineer, let these professionals bid on a job.
Seeking out engineers and providing very specific instructions on the work required can help you speed up your hiring process. Many engineers specialize and have niche interests, so you will be able to find more serious candidates on these engineering boards than a broad-based industry database.
Develop Your Screening Process
Since interviews can be expensive and take up HR employees' time, a great screening process is vital. Screening helps you save money and streamline your hires since it doesn't require you to meet with the candidate at a physical location. Keep your screening to either phone interviews or emails.
Emails are great for smaller businesses, since you can send the candidate some basic questions to see if they will be a good fit for your company's culture. For instance, you could have dialogue boxes where they could answer questions like
How much training will you need and can you train others?
What basic and advanced skills do you have that meet the requirements for this job?
How much experience do you have?
How soon can you start?
Leave more in-depth questions for personal interviews. Besides a few basic questions, hold them accountable for their skills: require them to complete a quick coding test. If they pass the screening, great! You can proceed to the next aspect of hiring. If you have a good screening system in place, you'll weed out people you don't want to bother interviewing in person.
Found a Candidate? Take Questions and Testing a Step Further
Questions like "tell me about yourself? Or "what are your strengths?" are a little boring and almost too open-ended. Since candidates are at the interview stage of the process, you likely know that they have all of trappings of an experienced engineer.
You should focus on how this person will fit in with your company's culture and work environment. Develop questions that require your candidate to show poise, think quickly, and be creative—or even humorous. You can still ask experience-related questions, but add a personal bent to them. For instance, you could ask them to tell you about an article or technical book in their field that they've read recently. Ask them what they learned, if they liked it, and if it could apply to the business's needs or not.
If your candidate passes the interview with flying colors, the last step is a completed background check and drug test. You'll need to check with your state's labor department to make sure you follow employment laws and conduct these checks and tests properly. A person may do great in interviews, but background checks and drug testing ensure that the person is who they say they are.
If you keep all of these steps in mind, you'll be able to streamline the hiring process, save money, and hire an engineer that fits your small business's needs.
Share26 February 2018
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