Hire With Your Head summary

Most people recruit by writing a job description that contains a long list of desired skills or traits. That’s not the most effective method, however. It’ll only lead you to recruit average employees.

So don’t rely on job descriptions. Use performance profiles instead.

Many businesses struggle to develop a recruitment process that’s efficient. Some even have entire departments devoted to recruitment. That can really eat up your resources.

Many companies forget what the true purpose of a recruiting department is supposed to be. Recruitment should be about finding the best candidates in the shortest period of time at the lowest possible cost.

Some employers use interviews as tests to see whether the candidate will fit in with the company or not. If you catch yourself doing that, stop. It’s not a good use of an interview.

An interview should really be about testing to see if the person can do the job well. So use performance-based interviews instead.

We’ve seen how first impressions can be deceptive in interviews. It’s easy to get hung up on emotional prejudices when hiring – you should actively strive to avoid that.

So here are some good tips for staying focused on the right things during your recruitment process.

Interviews are important, but don’t hire anyone because of their interview alone. That shouldn’t be the only way you assess your candidates. Take care to check them out thoroughly. If not, you’ll just waste more time and resources training and firing someone you shouldn’t have hired in the first place.

If you’re serious about a candidate, always do a reference check. A lot of interviewers skip this stage when they make up their minds too quickly.

Some people get confused about where the recruitment process actually begins and ends. In fact, it starts the day you announce the vacancy, and continues until the final interview.

In the beginning of the recruitment process, the candidate is selling and the company is buying. The candidate has to earn the job by “selling” their skills and abilities. They have to prove they fit your profile.