We listed it on our website and shared it on our social networks (Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn), Indeed and (horror of horrors) Craigslist. We knew that most job-seekers were going to be on top of identifying every possible source of local job leads, so there was no reason for us to go overboard in paying to spread the word. As it is, we received more than 40 applications during a month-long listing period. And to our hire Jesse’s surprise (and ours), she actually did find us through Craigslist. Sometimes, it pays to be cheap.
Don’t Focus Too Heavily on the Interview
While a lot of recent research has found that how an employee performs in a job bears little resemblance to how well he or she did in an interview, we considered the interview stage one of the most important when hiring a candidate. Why? It helped us see how they would relate to both us and to our clients, and enabled us to see how well they could think on their feet.
While we could see past some interview-related nervousness, we could tell from the interview what each candidate’s overall attitude was like. We ruled out some candidates here because, even if they’d looked good on paper, they seemed too brash and arrogant, or too submissive and deferential in person. We needed someone who could come in as a peer and level up quickly to a high-level role within our company. We didn’t just want an admin assistant. We wanted someone who could step in on any task and be proactive in getting things done. Jesse had the kind of down-to-earth confidence that we were looking for. We knew she’d easily be able to step in and work directly with our clients and our freelance team, and she’s done an amazing job at it so far.
Obviously, there are a lot of rules we followed because they just make good sense: check references, verify work history, make a written offer, etc. But by trusting our gut where it counted, we were able to find a great employee who could help take our business to the next level.
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