5 Things to Include on Your Hiring Checklist

No matter what changes businesses go through, one thing will always stay constant: the need to hire great employees. Hiring is a costly and time-consuming endeavor, and it is worth taking the time to make sure it’s done right the first time. One thing that can help with this is creating a hiring checklist, which can help you make sure you don’t skip any of the important steps when it comes to finding, hiring, and onboarding a new employee.

While this checklist can be as general or as detailed as you want, there are 5 big areas you want to make sure your hiring checklist covers.

• Write a job description. A clear, well-written job description will set the stage for a successful hire. This is your best bet for hiring someone who is well-qualified, a good culture fit, and skilled enough to do the job well. This will also make the hiring process much easier, as it will help weed out unqualified candidates. Use your hiring checklist to answer all the key questions your job description will need to address (necessary qualification/experience/skills, salary range, etc.), and then include an item on your checklist for actually writing the final description.

• Spread the word. What is your plan for letting people know about the open position? Are you using a recruiter, or posting the job yourself? What method do you want to use to make sure your ad gets the attention it needs? What resources do you need in order to create compelling ads? Make sure your checklist includes to-do items that address these issues and help you create a clear plan for getting the word out there.

• Interview. Make sure your hiring checklist outlines your process for narrowing your pool of candidates and then interviewing. Will you do an initial screening call, or base your decisions on resumes? How much time will you slot for each interview? Do you have interview questions prepared? Your hiring checklist needs to help you get everything in line for interviews before you’re frantically trying to pull it all together.

• Hire. When is your deadline for making your final decision? Do you have clearly outlined hiring processes? How will you present your formal offer to your new hire? When do you need them to start by? Your hiring checklist should answer these questions, along with any others related to the actual hiring process.

• Onboard. Once the new employee has started with the company, it’s important to have a plan in place for effective onboarding. Who is going to train them, and on what schedule? What paperwork needs to be completed, and by whom? Will there be any sort of special event to welcome the new hire? Include onboarding on your hiring checklist in order to make sure everything goes smoothly.

Related: 4 Leadership Habits that Kill Team Unity

A clear hiring checklist that includes these 5 sections will make all the difference when it comes to hiring. It might take a little more work up front, but the amount of time and money it will save you later makes it more than worth it.