A sigh of relief, I am ready to hire; have things changed in the last few months?

You've had job openings, they have been put on hold and opened back up a few times but this time its for real, have things changed in the last few months?

Simply stated Yes - so here are some tips:

If someone has been laid off ask them what they have been doing since being downsized? I have been meeting with and networking with some incredible candidates who have created blogs, taken classes, created mentoring partnerships with previous supervisors and colleagues, been reading all kinds of books to improve their skills, background, enhance their took kit if you will. These are the people you want to be looking at.

If someone is currently employed, they are much more hesitant to make a move so make sure you are sharing enough about your business and the teams within in. Talk about the dynamics, the company brand, mission, vision and goals. Also, be prepared and discuss up front during the offer stage or right before, what happens if your company makes a counter offer? You should both be prepared for this to happen.

Make sure you are checking references and doing your due diligence, don't skip this just because the person interviews well and you like them, ask for samples of their work, consider a partial job shadow day where they spend 2 hours in your office.

Don't over interview - define your process in the beginning and lay out the expectations with a candidate . Continuous call backs, if it is not communicated appropriately up front may be flags to your potential new hire that you just aren't sure of them, which may or may not be the case but can lead to mis-hire or worse, a candidate could decline just because they felt that the process was not organized enough.

Happy hiring! Feel free to call me or shoot me an email with questions -Danielle