Myths About Hiring You Should Avoid

     The process of hiring staff can be insanely tricky.  The decision to hire a person or group of people is one of the hardest and most important as it is these people that will determine to a larelge extent how successful you start up will be and how much it will grow.  The decision should be given a lot of thought and planned out meticulously. 

Who is the right candidate? 

     Rookie entrepreneurs, usually due to their lack of experience,  can be a bit complacent and succumb to the errors in judgement due to the presence of preconceived notions and assumptions they didn't even know they had.  These errors can be avoided, and in picking the right candidate,  these myths should be discarded :

1.  There Is A Perfect Candidate Out There : 

The male folk who read this post probably know a thing or two about waiting for the perfect moment to talk to a girl they like.  They also know a thing or two about the disappointment that comes with knowing there is no perfect moment as it could all be gone in a flash.  In the same manner, there is no perfect candidate for a job.  During the early stages of your business's growth,  you'll probably be very, very choosy of the people you employ. By and large,  it's a good thing, as it helps ensure that only the most qualified candidates are considered. Overtime, you may find your self obsessed with picking out the prefect candidate which in turn will lead you to come up with a catalog of "musts" and "must nots" as the standard for selecting the right person.  You'll also find it increasingly hard to find qualified candidates who meet these standards . The idea of a "perfect candidate " is a myth.  Such person does not exist. 

2.  Hire The Right People,  And Every Other Thing Shall Be Added Unto You

It's the dream of every employer to select the right candidate and watch the business fly in cruising altitude on autopilot. The problem with that dream is that it is only a dream and the reality version of it has not been invented yet. Sure,  hiring the right people is a step in the right direction, a big step at that,  but it doesn't end there. You need to make a great team out of the people hired,  modify and modify and modify and provide the right training that will make your employees grow.  Even the most diligent of employees can be rendered ineffective in the wrong environment. 

3. It's Easy To Succeed Here,  Anyone Can Succeed Here

Company culture and ethics were made to ensure that the right kind of person gets the job.  Some employers are of the opinion that a longer leash equals more effective employees because everybody loves freedom.  While this may sound right and look good on paper,  sometimes it may be untrue and biased. It has been observed that some people work better and thrive in a strict and structured environment. 

4. Experience Translates To Qualification

Let's use Mike and Josh as examples here.  Mike is a lazy guy and has worked for six years as a salesperson.  Josh is also a salesperson, an enthusiastic one,  who recently graduated from college and finished his one year internship. Mike has experience but he is lazy and hasn't learnt much in his six years.  Josh's enthusiasm made him learn more in one year than Mike learnt in his six years.  In my opinion,  Josh with less experience is the more qualified of the two and certainly the best person for the job as a salesperson.  Granted,  experience translates to credibility in given areas,  but even experience cannot be chosen over talent and skills. 

5. Hire People  Because They Are Like You 

Maybe you are a leader,  and you are in love with your leadership skills, and you are in love with the way you think , and you are in love with your qualifications, and you are the best person you know,  You should probably hire someone exactly like you to work with you right?  Wrong. The fact that the person  will be like you does not mean you'll both work together productively.  If you think like that,  then your ego is feeding you delusions. Some people like you may actually be good for your business but what you really need is people that think differently,  people that challenge you and people that see things from a different perspective than you.  Yes men may not be the best men. 

6.  You're The Boss,  You Ask The Interview Questions, You Are Never Questioned. 

Oftentimes,  managers approach the interview sessions with the intent of knowing as much as they can about the candidates by asking questions, and questions and more questions to find out if the candidate is the best fit for the vacant position. They fail to comprehend that the candidates need to know if the company is a good fit for them too. These managers should encourage the candidates to be transparent and ask questions too.  The candidates may even save time by filtering themselves out of the running. 

7. It's Not That Hard To Find The Right Person 

The decision to hire is one that can so easily be procrastinated because jobs are scarce and thousands of resumes will fly in as soon as a vacant position is advertised. However,  thousands of resumes don't translate to thousands of qualified candidates. It may take months,  sometimes years, to find the right person and if you are in dire need of that service at that point in time,  you will find yourself settling for inferior service .

     As much as I would like to assure you that you will make zero mistakes from following the steps above, I can't.  Life can be unpredictable at times.  You'll have to move one step at a time, make mistakes ( because we all do),  learn from your mistakes and move forward.