Hiring my first employee, experienced profile

[butlerservice]

Dear members
I am planning to hire my first employee. This is not as easy as I thought it was gonna be as people can hide their cons very well. I can't completely follow my instinct as people often talk the talk.

In my case, it's even more difficult as I am looking for an experienced sales/marketing profile with industry experience in the creative sector. The mission is to get someone who's well-connected, has some industry connections that can lead to jobs and knows how to develop well and blend in with my current company structure. I have a budget ready to pay this person for the first 6 months however I do not wish to wait 6 months before any jobs/money is coming in.

I'd like to know how I should prepare myself, how I should vet these people, what the best deal is (first two months part-time to be continued with a full-time schedule?)...

Also, finding an experienced profile and approaching them is the hardest part for me right now. I could easily find people that I believe could fit the bill but often times they are already working for another company. Should I only focus on profiles that are currently seeking or is it appropriate to approach hired profiles as well?

What are the most important things to watch out for? How do I welcome this person into my company/small office, etc.. it feels very weird because it is the first time I am doing this...
please share your advice and your experience

 

[The Byre]

Try each of the good ones for one day (paid of course).

Then hire the best two or three candidates for a week each first!

Then pick the best one for a trial period of a month.

 

[Gecko001]

I would probably concentrate a lot on why they are wanting to leave their present position. You might think that you will make the perfect employer, but if they are presently working for a larger firm, they will be taking a big risk by working for a firm where they will be the only employee.

I think first impressions and gut instinct are important. I once interviewed someone who when he arrived in my office said "hello mate". The next half hour in hindsight was a waste of time as all it did was confirm my first impression.

 

[butlerservice]

@TheByre what if it doesn't work out after a month? Also, what kind of tasks should I give them during the one day? It almost takes a day to explain the operational side etc... Any tips on things I definitely need to keep in check?

 

[StevePoster]

Hiring an employee is crucial to the business and you need to filter the best of the best in the candidates. If you want to know if they are fit to the position this will be according to their knowledge and experience. Especially their achievements on the related field and how they handle the job effectively.

 

[Webzsuite.com]

You should also look into the small detail... How will you convince to work for you, the highly skilled, well connected, experienced sales rep...

As we have spent a lot of time on HRM during my degree studies, I would suggest you to find some good course about HRM. Hiring, managing, getting the most of them is not that easy as it looks (i.e. Tesco struggles with overcoming fairly common mistakes in HRM for the 7th level staff for a long time, they are so bad that they were our case studies couple times).

 

[The Byre]

@TheByre what if it doesn't work out after a month? Also, what kind of tasks should I give them during the one day? It almost takes a day to explain the operational side etc... Any tips on things I definitely need to keep in check?

Employing people is a HUGE subject and not one I can cover in a posting. I would be learning, learning, learning and reading any and every book on the subject.

As for what to do if it does not work out. "Sorry, but it i not working out. You spend too much time, playing with your phone and texting friends and you have not sold a damn thing this month! Goodbye!" is a lot better than trying to make things work when the employee is obviously dead weight.

As for what task on a trial day - well, that depends on the business. You say 'creative sector' but could be anything from advertising to writing texts or selling soap. When I was interviewing journalists, I would give them an hour to write an article. When I was interviewing translators, they got an hour to translate a text. On the one day gig, they got a usual day's work. I your case, as you are looking for a sales person, get them to sell something.

Things to watch out for - wow! That's a long list. Texting. Chatting, instead of working. The killer is for the employee to explain to me why something didn't get done or didn't happen, instead of coming back with the job done.

The worst any employee can do IMO is to explain why he/she failed. And "I screwed up!" is far, far better than some brilliant explanation as to why it was not their fault! That is the biggest alarm signal (IMO) to watch out for!

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Try each of the good ones for one day (paid of course).

Then hire the best two or three candidates for a week each first!

Then pick the best one for a trial period of a month.

Totally unrealistic in real life, who is going to leave a company or use a weeks leave to do a weeks trial for a new company when they are already good at their job

Trial period is pointless anyway as you can just fire them up to the first two years of employment if required if its a straight job problem

If you are looking for large contracts then they do take a lot of time to quote and get a result, if you are just looking at say cold calling firms within a area then results should start showing very soon. A big difference in skills required for somebody out in the field and someone just doing telesales

Ask them to do a presentation about your company and look at what research they have done and how well they perform, if they have done their homework they should be able to sell you something you sell and also be able to talk about the history of the company, if they cannot then that's one less to worry about

Look them up on Facebook and see what their interests are and what others say about them

 

[The Byre]

Totally unrealistic in real life, who is going to leave a company or use a weeks leave to do a weeks trial for a new company when they are already good at their job

I have never had a problem, but then, I work in a field where there are several hundred candidates for every post!

Trial period is pointless anyway as you can just fire them up to the first two years of employment if required if its a straight job problem

This is very true!

Look them up on Facebook and see what their interests are and what others say about them

And if they are (very sensibly) not on Facebook/Linkedin, or any other daft 'Oo! Look at me!' social media websites?

 

[Gecko001]

I have known some small firms who have hired experienced sales/marketing people and it has seldom worked out. They have to be paid quite a lot to attract them. When they do come there is not much for them to do after the initial period of setting things up. Then they want to get involved in management of the firm.

Has the OP looked at the alternatives. Not just consultants and freelancers, but a junior admin. assistant who could take on some sales and marketing duties as well.

 

[Jacksonln]

Recruitment can be a bit of a lottery as you (initially) only have what the applicant says to you to find out if they are going to fit. Therefore, it is important that you have a clear idea about what you want from an employee and ask them questions that are going to elicit the information that you are interested in. Whilst asking them about their previous post and how they have managed situations may give you an idea about them, this is likely the stuff that they would have rehearsed. Think about the kind of situations that will come up in the role they are applying for and ask them how they would handle that instead. You can't expect them to know everything about your company or the industry sector, but their answer should still hold clues.

The other thing I think contributes to a bad hire is bad or non existent training. Make sure they understand how the company works, culture, processes etc. Be clear about your expectations, set goals etc. There is rarely a perfect fit - each employee needs a bit of cultivating.

However, at least if you get it wrong and they don't come up to scratch you can say thanks but no thanks. Recruitment is time costly enough without dragging it out if it clearly isn't right. Good luck!

 

[NickGrogan]

I have a budget ready to pay this person for the first 6 months however I do not wish to wait 6 months before any jobs/money is coming in.

This is probably the most important sentence.

What is your typical sales turnaround time? If it takes you 3 to 6 months from lead to paid, what makes you think a salesman will be quicker.

If it's a simple service and payment with order, then 6 months isn't an issue.

 

[butlerservice]

Hmm it won't be efficient to hire without a real risk of wasting time or money. Are there any more ways of vetting candidates?

 

[Ashley_Price]

Okay, take a step back.

Before you are even advertising, you should have a very clear idea of the ideal employee. Not just their skills, qualifications and previous experience, but their character, etc.

I used to employ people when I had the call answering service, and I was far more interested in their personality and how they would fit in rather than their previous experience, etc. And I ended up only ever having one bad employee. The rest were all brilliant. (Just to give one comparison, when I had the bad employee, if I was taking a holiday for a few days I would have to leave her copious notes on what to do if this or that happened. With the others, I didn't need to leave any notes at all.)

Once you have got this clear image you will find it much easier to vet people and find someone who you will be able to work with, and who will be interested in taking the business forward with you. And don't be surprised if the ideal candidate turns out to be someone you wouldn't have thought of hiring.

One of my best members of staff was a young female (mid-20s) who was coming back into employment after an extended period of sick leave due to mental health problems. If I had asked anyone else's advice they probably have told me not to touch her. But she was worth her weight in gold.

 

[Redd]

Interesting post this, I am currently in exactly the same position, I am swinging towards hiring a rookie. Somebody fresh, hassle free and most importantly hungry. I was a postman before I got into sales, with the perfect mentor I was top salesman in UK within 18months earning almost 7-8 times I was as a postman on a weekly basis, sometimes a whole lot more! A "good" (forget great) salesperson worth his salt wouldn't even consider your company unless you are an expert salesman/talker yourself, a good salesperson can earn 50-100k relatively easily in the right role, advertise for a trainee and teach them Your business, give them an incentive to sell and show them a career path, that's the route I am going down. Feel free to pm and I will let you know how it's going.

Ps...A rookie will command a much lesser wage also

 

[BTON Agency]

If you want experienced staff that can get you business from day one you need to see who works locally doing the job and offer them more money or a better incentive. Chances are if you put an ad on the website you will get somebody with either the wrong experience or not enjoying where they are (wonder why that is!).

Otherwise i would highly recommend the apprentice route, cost next to nothing, you get a grant which covers 3 months wages and you train them as you see fit - Downside is more time consuming.