Small Business Success

[#1]

I read a newsletter this morning from MarketingProfs entitled "When Silence Speaks Volumes" and it reminded me of two things - this cartoon and a bad hire I once made. One is funny and the other... well, was not so funny.

I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir but businesses live and breathe because of the people in the business. So hiring the right people should be at the top of the "I need to do this right" list. 

Long story short, the best advice I can give when evaluating a candidate for employment is to not shortcut checking for references. This blog is worth a read. It provides an interesting way to get to the truth. "... call each [reference] around lunch time or after hours. The point is to call at a time when the reference will not be in the office (not a typo)." This way you can get a feel for how someone really feels about a reference by whether they actually call you back or now. Clever! 

Andrea Moe

Product Management & Marketing 

P.S. Found this interesting? You may also find these free 45-minute online sessions from HR411 worth your time as well. Click here.

[#2]

This is a great idea. Another increasingly common method for checking references is to simply Google the candidate. Depending on the type of position being filled, employers can get a good idea of the candidate's professional accomplishments and associations by how/if they rank on Google, outside of personal blogs, etc. So one question job seekers need to consider is "how Google-able am I?"  This is something we're going to talk a bit about in our social media session at Sage Summit in November.