How to Hire Your First Employee
So you have officially made the decision to start your own business. You had an idea, worked out all the kinks, got funding, and finally made it happen. You work like this for a little while, a lone team of just you, until there comes a time when you realize you need help.
And when that moment strikes, you hire your first employee. Hiring your first employee is an exciting yet nerve wrecking time. It means you have finally worked hard enough that you are capable of bringing someone else on the team.
But it also means you have to let your guard down and trust someone else to do the business. Your business is like your baby — you don’t trust just anyone to take care of it. Hiring your first employee is not something that should be taken lightly and it’s important to be thorough with the entire process. Bringing on the right person can completely change your business for the better, so you want to do it right the first time around. Follow these steps with how to hire your first employee.
1. Search In the Right Places
Since you have a new business, you need to do the searching and recruiting yourself. While this may take more time, it gives you the opportunity to sort through candidates yourself and ensure you pick someone who is the perfect fit. So to make this process go by a little bit quicker, you will want to search for candidates in the right places, like on recruiting websites. In addition to creating a job application form, you will need a job posting. Just make sure you explain in-depth exactly what you are looking for in an employee on the job posting.
2. Run a Background Check
After you’ve posted a job listing and received applications, then you can start sorting through them. But before you get serious about interviewing anyone, you must run a background check. A background check will show employment history, criminal history, and credit history, including tradelines. What is a tradeline, you ask? Tradelines show payment history on a credit report and any debt obligations. This is important to know about a potential employee of a small business because you want to make sure they are responsible with their own money before trusting them with yours.
Conduct Interviews
3. Conduct Interviews
You should never hire anyone before conducting effective and thorough interviews. You want to be absolutely positive they are a good fit for the team and are who they say they are, both of which you can tell through good interviews. You will want to be prepared with questions to ask them, as well as have the answers to any possible questions they may ask. It is always a good idea to have multiple interviews. Start off with a phone call and then progress to a video call or meeting in person.
4. Start Onboarding
So you have found the perfect candidate and have conducted enough interviews that you are confident they will bring a lot to the company. Now what? You must start employee onboarding. Onboarding is crucial to get the employee set up and established within the business. You have to figure out a schedule, salary, and any other legal matters before officially bringing them onto the team. Make sure you are diligent with this step to prevent any discrepancies later down the road.
If you have completed all the above steps, then congrats! You have officially hired your first employee! Hiring your first employee for your business is an exciting and terrifying process, but taking the proper precautions to make sure you do it right makes the experience a little bit more bearable.
