Episode 76. Are They Invested? How to Hire Someone Who Cares.
For some people, a job is a job. Do not hire one of these people! When you’re building a company from the ground up, it’s crucial that you hire someone who cares and will be invested in your business’s growth and success.
I’ll bet you didn’t know that large organizations spend a crazy amount of money on hiring - the average is over four thousand dollars per job in the U.S..1 Not gonna lie, that’s making Dream Hire Bootcamp + Dream Team Toolkit look veryyyyy affordable. But why do they do this? Easy. To save money!
Yes. They spend money to save money. In case you haven’t heard, a bad hire costs a minimum of 30% of their annual salary. This means the more critical the role is to your company (i.e. they get paid more), the more money you’re throwing down the drain if they turn out to not be a good fit.
Save yourself in the long run (literally and figuratively) by finding hires who care. Find people as excited about your business as you are. Trust me, if they don’t care… they aren’t a good fit. There are plenty of people out there with visions and passions that align with yours; you just have to be knowledgeable about how to find them!
FIRST THINGS FIRST. DO THEY CARE ABOUT THEMSELVES AND THEIR CAREER?
Does this person switch jobs and careers frequently without a compelling reason? What are their personal aspirations? Have they shown loyalty to past commitments and their own personal development? Don’t ignore resume red flags that prove a candidate’s history of jumping all over the place and not in the interest of building themselves up professionally.
HIT ‘EM WITH THE “WHY DO YOU WANT THIS JOB?” IN THE FIRST INTERVIEW.
Make sure the answer is not a 110% self-serving one. Imagine someone is interviewing for a sales rep position at a chocolate distributor and says “I’m in it for the free chocolate!” Clearly, that’s not what we’re after, although that could be an obvious perk. Top-ranked candidates express a passion for serving others. For example “As a chocolate sales rep, I could help share this incredible product with my community” is an acceptable answer. How can this potential hire help you help your clients?
YOUR CORE VALUES MATTER; FIND THEM IN YOUR CANDIDATES.
Diversity among your team is encouraged, but there has to be a shared synergy for the shared goal. Find team members who will bring the energy you’re looking for and will support the vision you’re building. Maybe your core values are “Geekiness, Accountability, and Innovativeness” and you personally value team members who show ambition, humility, and hustle, which are a few qualities recruiters typically want to see in candidates.2
When interviewing, get a feel for if the candidate matches those values and qualities. Ask open-ended behavioral questions that will allow them to showcase some of these attributes:
“What do you do in your spare time? What are your interests and hobbies?” These questions shed light into their personal drive and what they care about most.
“Talk about a time you created a project from start to finish and what you learned in the process” This question will show how they work, what they value, and their ability to create caring solutions.
Even while looking at resumes, scan for interesting extracurriculars or achievements that may resonate with you and what you envision to be a part of your team. Making sure values and positive qualities align is key to ensuring a candidate will be invested in your business.
ASSESS FOR THEIR WILLINGNESS TO LEARN
Are they willing to learn? See if your candidate will step up and offer to learn certain skills they may lack while on the job. Make sure your interview questions are tailored to detect candidates’ level of willingness to work hard and be a positive addition to your team. Willingness is the key ingredient to invested and caring team members. Ask team members about something they’ve learned recently that got them really excited or what books they’ve read lately to gauge the willingness to learn in their daily life.
RECAP
In a nutshell, you can do this! It’s completely possible to find invested, caring team members who are as fired up about your business as you are! Hire smart and utilize these tips in the hiring process to save you time and money in the long haul.
Remember to:
Check-in and confirm if a candidate is invested in themselves and their careers. They won’t be ready to commit to you if they can’t commit to themselves and their success.
Make a list of qualities you value in yourself, your business, and existing team members. Seek those qualities out in candidates and ask open-ended behavioral questions that will help you get there.
Be sure to ask “why do you want this job?” as soon as you can. This is a telling question that is key to knowing a candidate’s intentions and level of care.
Seek willingness in candidates to see if they are willing to invest in your biz.
