According to a Society for Human Resource Management survey, it takes a little over $4,000 on average to hire a single employee, and it takes about 42 days from start to finish.
So if you’re unsure about how to hire between two candidates, it can be a weighty decision to make, especially if your business doesn’t have a lot of margin for error.
Let’s look at some common hiring tendencies that can lead you away from the best candidate in this situation.
1. Weighing personality too heavily
Depending on the interview format (in-person, video call or audio), candidates’ personalities can be hard to judge in just a few meetings.
Personality as a selection criterion can be misleading and usually isn’t the best factor on which to base your final hiring decisions.
2. Over-emphasizing cultural fit
If you over-emphasize cultural fit when you’re hiring, it’s easy to forget the primary goal – choosing someone who will help your business do its mission better and maybe even stretch you a little bit.
3. Trying to duplicate a prior employee.
If you’re hiring to replace a high-performing employee, you may be convinced you need to find someone just like that person to fill in the gap.
But in reality, it’s better to think down the road, ask yourself, “Is there something that we can gain from this one hire that is going to make a difference for us in the future?”
One candidate will appear as your top choice, and you’ll be ready to hire. However, there’s an alternative solution to choosing between two strong candidates – if it’s possible, hire both. Two strong candidates are more powerful than one, so hiring both people is a great solution if you’re growing and have the money. If you’re committed to just hiring one candidate, remember this idea: “break the tie, but not the bond.” Maintaining a relationship with the other candidate makes it more natural for you to reconnect should another opportunity open up later.
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