Forum Moderators: LifeinAsia
It is time to expand and I am looking to hire my first web developer. I am looking for some general advice about hiring someone for the first time. I won't need any tax/paye information as I have an accountant that will take care of that.
How was your experience of hiring someone for the first time? What would you do differently now that you have been there done that?
All advice, stories and past experiences are welcome!
[webmasterworld.com...]
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If you have any kind of doubt about how it would be or what he must do, my best advice: don't do it.
1) Have a document made up of all responsibilities.
2) Make a to do list of all jobs that need done & daily tasks.
3) Have a practical interview with a few small tasks that would help find the brighter ones.
4) "Always take up references." - Essex_boy
5) "Your first and second employee, will take a deep cut into your profits." - minnapple. So on that note find a way to measure the success of the employee.
6) "There are two types of people that you don't want to hire, a friend or a relative." BananaFish
Any more?
So most of the above points are based around management and finding the right person. What other information would I need? (links to UK gov websites?) for example sick days, being late, holiday pay, employee handbook(?), contract... all these types things? I am going to set up a meeting for Business Gateway as they might be able to offer me some advice too.
Now if it is a super positive experience and this person really does start pulling your business way up and you like their work and attitude you can always hire them on a permanent basis from the staffing company. While it is a little more money to go this route it also has a lot less risk of you hiring directly the first time.
Make decisions on staff very quickly. Work out if they are what you need in the first few months. Don’t prolong this process. It will be painful and expensive if you do. And the biggest cost won’t be the salary it will be the lost revenue in not getting the job done. If they’re not working out then move on and move on quickly.
Thanks for the quote callivert I will keep that in mind.
So far I have contacted job center plus (the government job people) as they can post around the job for free. i have also posted the job to several free job websites/boards. I wish to get together many CVs, rate them and then get several in for an interview.
I will let you all know how I get on and what I do.
Glad someones listening.
Once hired a guy suspected of murder, a quick reference check MAy have shown that up. (he was a poisoner, so no one let him near their drinks/food)
"There are two types of people that you don't want to hire, a friend or a relative." BananaFish - Agree with that, one firm I part owned had a friend on, as a result I couldnt be a ruthless as I needed to be at times as I didnt want to fall out with him. Not a good idea.
[edited by: Essex_boy at 6:08 am (utc) on Sep. 19, 2008]
he was a poisoner
Don't let him make the coffee in the morning :)
he was a poisoner
Don't let him make the coffee in the morning :)
You've got me thinking...maybe work-release program hirees would make great customer service reps for dealing with fraudsters and trouble customers...and excellent negotiators with tough vendors. :o)
I was sure I could do a good job of screening people, and could manage effectively. Four years later I find myself agreeing with him. Half of the really good people that I have hired didn't seem anywhere near that good in the interview process. I have found it is really hard to judge a book by its cover.
As for the other advice:
1) Have a document made up of all responsibilities.
2) Make a to do list of all jobs that need done & daily tasks.
3) Have a practical interview with a few small tasks that would help find the brighter ones.
4) "Always take up references." - Essex_boy
5) "Your first and second employee, will take a deep cut into your profits." - minnapple. So on that note find a way to measure the success of the employee.
6) "There are two types of people that you don't want to hire, a friend or a relative." BananaFish
I agree with all the above, although most of the time checking references has been fruitless. People lie too much. I would also suggest that the document to guide the employee is written BEFORE hiring them. I have tried to do it after hiring with very little success.
I have also used temp agencies with good success. Let them spend hours and hours interviewing candidates while you keep working. Hiring the wrong person is much more costly than hiring the right person and paying a little too much.
Just a little update I have been advertising for the vacancy for around a week and got over 20 CVs and from that I found 6 to be of good quality. I Emailed the 6 to let them know they had an interview for next week (this Thursday now) and two of them got back to me and told me they have found a job already, bit of a shame I really liked one of them.
I have set up four interviews for Thursday and will let you all know how that goes. I have completed a full document of interview questions.
I also went out and bought two computers and also got a small office not far from my home. I have also wrote up a holiday sheet, holiday entitlement and a contract.
I found to get a good amount of CVs you really need to advertise the job on a large website I tried a few small ones however I started getting CVs when I advertised on a large Scottish website.
Will let you all know how I get on with the interviews.
Interview One - Never came, When I called him he said he had a new job and sorry for not getting in touch.
Interview Two: He didn't seem to have a great understanding of PHP, MySQL etc.
Interview Three: Late, Car broke down, but good interview.
Interview Four: 30 minutes late and when I called he never answered. So I will put him down as a no show.
The Joys.
Interview One - Never came, When I called him he said he had a new job and sorry for not getting in touch.Interview Two: He didn't seem to have a great understanding of PHP, MySQL etc.
Interview Three: Late, Car broke down, but good interview.
Interview Four: 30 minutes late and when I called he never answered. So I will put him down as a no show.
The Joys.
This is why a staffing agency would be such a great way to go. It gives you that "try before you buy" option that sounds like with any member of this group would be a great thing to do.
He is a nice person etc too, My accountant has added him to the payroll and everything looks like it is sorted.
Thanks for the advice and help everyone!
How many interviews did it take before you made a decision?
The first week was a bit shakey for the new guy as I unintentionally pushed him into the deep end. However over a month down the line everything is going well. He is a nice guy, likes the same type of music and the office is good too.
A few business owners said that since there are only two of us in the office it might be harder to make the job more fun as there is less social interaction simply because there is no one else in the office. However I don't feel this is a problem and we are getting on pretty well, going out for breakfast and lunch and taking some breaks every now and again to get out the office is working well.
So on the whole I am happy that I took someone on and now we need to start increasing revenue!
RJ
