The matter of hiring employees for your company, business or whatever thing you may need labor for is very important. For one thing, the kind of person or people you choose to hire will definitely determine the quality and quantity of service you are going to get. But more than that, there are other issues related to the people you hire that may become a thorn to the business. An error made at the level of hiring could become the reason why a company falls or goes out of business. So many people looking for employees to hire do not consider the things that have to be looked into. As you will see in the lines that follow, the prosperity or failure of a business is usually closely related to the persons you choose to hire. Newly hired employees could sometimes be difficult to deal with so it pays to take extra precautions when getting them. It goes beyond the things employers are well conscious of to those they may not think are even necessary to look into. Here are some vital issues to consider before hiring employees. You may have to include them in your company’s hire form.

Work Experience

Work experience is one of those things one will always find on employers’ hire forms. Leaving it out when looking for employees to hire is neither noble nor wise. Employers, however must understand the importance of considering work experience before hiring employees. If not, it will just be another item on the employment form that does not really affect your hiring decisions in the way that it should. Newly hired employees without a work experience may just be an extra burden to the company. A person’s work experience is a determinant of how much more he or she knows apart form what was learnt in school. It is used to judge how much information has been applied and how well the one seeking employment has understood and been able to apply what was learnt in school. This is important because there is a very big difference between knowledge gotten from books and that gotten by experience. Anyone can read something and understand it but those who have had time and opportunity to put head knowledge to action are the ones who really know the concept.

Experience, like they say is a better teacher and until someone has been given to the tutorship of experience it is hard to say what he or she can do or even how well it can be done. With experience comes right judgment and better actions. Experienced people can do more with a given amount of resources. They are usually more productive or efficient because of their familiarity with the job description over the years or length of time through which experience was gotten.

As you consider the experience of a person seeking to be employed, it is important to be especially conscious of certain aspect.

- Time spent in service. With regards to experience, people have different time lengths for which they have been putting knowledge to action. It is true that every individual has a different level of understanding and what may take one person about two years to master could take another person just 6 months. This means that time spent in service as far as work experience is concerned may sometimes be misleading, especially if one does not carefully consider other issues. It is safest to make considerations from a general perspective when hiring. This means assuming that those who seek the job position your company or business is offering all have the same level of understand and ability to master the skills required for the job. On this premise, it will be wiser to hire one who has been in service for the longest time. So make sure you specify the time spend in service in your hire form.

- level of specificity in service: Looking at work experience in general may mean little or nothing without considering the applicant’s level of specificity in service. The fact that someone has been in service longer than another may not necessarily mean that he or she is more skilled at the job. Skill is usually an issue of concentrating on a certain thing and putting in the effort to master it. let’s say you intend hiring a doctor for example and one person sends in his or her application with a description that says he or she has about three years of experience as a general practitioner. Another person may apply who has about two years of experience as a pediatrician. If the job requires someone who will be dealing with children a lot, it will definitely be wiser to hire the pediatrician with two years work experience than a general practitioner with three or more years of work experience. The issue of how specialized the applicant’s job experience has been in the past is very important. In fact more important than the longevity of that experience.

- Level of improvement gotten from work experience.

It may may be difficult to determine specifically how much improvements applicants have made during their service at their previous jobs, especially when it comes to certain jobs. If applicants can help it, they should bring a report of monthly progress from their previous place of employment to prove their level of consistency and dedication to improving. You can be sure that newly hired employees will be productive if they can prove from previous work experience their level of improvements. This is important because you are often going to see someone come in with a great work experience but looses his or her zeal for the job after the first two or three months. People can sometimes bring out the best in them when they need something but could also be very relaxed once it is gotten. At the time of employment, the worker may have stayed for a while without a job and is just interested in getting back to work and earning some money. However, that passion and excitement to put in his or her best will not last long if he does not really have it in him to be consistent and persistent with his duties. Find a way to know if he or she did make some improvements at their previous place of work and especially how consistent it was.

Dignity

Dignity is one thing you cannot afford to miss or ignore when hiring employees. The importance of hiring people of dignity these days has pushed some companies and businesses to even make it their main point of consideration. It matters little or nothing what level of experience or number of certificates the applicant has if he or she lacks dignity. Dignity is a big word and there is so much to it. Dignity determines commitment, faithfulness, truthfulness and other important things without which a person has no true value. Putting someone without dignity in a place of great responsibility because of his or her experiences or qualifications is like giving a child a car to drive because he or she has legs and hands and has been carried in cars by different drivers for some time.

Dignity is what makes a man or woman honor his or her employer and superiors, respect his colleagues put in the best every single day to see that the business or company prospers. It is the quality that keeps an employee from fraud and other forms of misconduct that could bring down the company. You will do yourself and the company better good to hire a man or woman of dignity and train him or her than hire one with a lot of training and skills who has no dignity. When looking for employees to hire, you must find a way to determine whether or not the job seeker is a man or woman of dignity.

Like the level of improvement gotten from past work experiences, it is quite difficult to tell whether or not a person has the dignity required for a job. That is why employers some times take applicants through a test that determines their resolve to hold on to dignity. Sometimes the employer could even go as far as asking the applicant or job seeker how far he or she will go to have a job. The answer to this and other questions that may follow will clearly show what a person is resolved to do or not do to either get or keep a job and it should help you make the right judgment as to whether or not a person should be hired.

Study Background

An applicant’s study background is very important to consider when hiring employees for a job. It should therefore appear on the hire form. Sometimes, it is tempting to just jump into the issue of work experience but that is a dangerous thing to do and for several reasons. Newly hired employees without the right study background will find it difficult mastering the skills they need for the job. Because of the pressures to get and keep jobs, employees usually have to face tough decisions. Some times people are employed in certain fields that are not related to their study background in any way. At other instances the study background of a person seeking employment is only half related to the job description. For example, one may have studied electrical engineering in college but needs a job as a telecommunications engineer. Matters will be even more complicated if the person was previously employed as a telecommunications engineer at another firm or company. If a person has been working with other companies for some time and he or she got on the job with certificates or a study background that is not directly connected to the job, there will be some form of limitation or the other. He may have had years of experience but will find it difficult to improve or become better at the job. Knowledge, especially specific knowledge is the foundation upon which any true career and skill can be developed. Without such knowledge you will only struggle at a certain level, finding it difficult to develop beyond that. This is why when looking for employees to hire, it is important to consider not just the experience gotten but the background education upon which that knowledge has been built.

Terrible blunders could be made by people who have had a lifetime of experience in a certain field because they were not well grounded in school before getting into the job.

Number of Jobs he or she is already into

It’s quite common to find people holding more than one job these days. And while that is not a wrong thing, it may be the main reason why an employee is unable to give in his or her best when taken for the job. Ask applicants about the number of jobs they are currently doing and the nature of those jobs. In some companies, it is totally unacceptable for a worker to hold two jobs at the same time. If that policy holds in your company, then such a person is already disqualified from getting the job even if he or she has the qualifications, unless the person is willing to let go of the others for the new job.

Other companies don’t mind having people who are already employed so long as they can commit themselves to their time of work and be committed. If this applies in your company, then you can hire applicants with such a status.

However, you must bear in mind that the nature of the other job(s) he or she is already into is something to consider. For example, someone who wants to work for a financial firm cannot hold another job that is physically or mentally exhausting. Employing a person with other jobs that impair or hinder their ability to give full attention to a financial job is a mistake that could negatively affect the lives of many people. If you judge that the job you are offering cannot be properly done with a tired mind or exhausted body, you can try making arrangements for the applicant to work with your company before going to serve at other places. That however will be if you really want to employ such a person. Look into the nature of jobs your applicants already hold and carefully consider whether or not he or she will be able to put in their best into the job you are offering. If not, don’t take the chance. You may regret the decision in future.

Gender of the applicants

Although the issue of gender equality is a con-temporarily hotly debated topic and women keep asking for even more equality as far as work is concerned, there are simply some jobs that ladies cannot or should not do. Others are not very good for men. It is not because of any form of gender bias but a matter or proper judgment. Some jobs like nursing and being a pediatrician are naturally good for women, not because men cannot do it but because women are naturally more patient and tender hearted than men. These are qualities that patients and children will definitely need. On the other hand, a job that requires intense physical exertion is not the type of thing you want to employ a woman for. Women are naturally fragile. The physical build of a man is designed to withstand such pressures and strains. A woman could develop serious health complications by getting employed in a job that is highly physically demanding.

Some jobs also require a high level of consistency and continuity. For such jobs, employing a woman could only lead to complications in the future. For example, if she gets pregnant, her position may have to be vacant for a while and this could cause things to come to a stand still, depending on the importance of the position she held. It may take several months before the same lady is able to return to work and perform her duties.

Age of applicant

of course this will appear on most hire forms. But there are actually reasons why the age of applicants should be made known. When a person needs a job, his age may not matter or seem to be a problem to him. But it should be something you consider very closely. People could definitely be too young or too old for a job. An elderly person may want to work in a company that requires intense physical exertion. Hiring such a person will definitely be a mistake, first because he may not be as productive as may be required and secondly, elderly people stand a greater chance of being injured in such work conditions.

On the other hand, younger people are usually too self confident. But confidence is not the same thing as ability. There is a good reason why even the government sets age restrictions to certain jobs. You could be sued for child labor or exploitation by employing someone who is younger than the age limit in your country. Don’t hire someone because he or she looks big or strong enough. Be sure to get the person’s real age and know whether or not he or she is right for the employment.

Reasons why he or she wants the job

People want jobs these days for different reasons and those reasons have to be looked into when looking for employees to hire. When newly hired employees come in with the wrong motives, it may pose a problem to team work. Sometimes, it is just about getting money and earning a living. That is noble but you cannot hire people because you want them to earn a salary. Another person may be after a job because friends and family like the profession or the pay package that accompanies it. That too is not bad in itself but it is a pointer to the fact that the person in question does not really know what he or she is doing. If given the job, there is a possibility that he may become weary of it and soon want to get into some other thing. This will invariably affect the company or business in general.

Why he or she may have left their previous job

A majority of people who seek employment have been employed somewhere before. There is at least a reason why he or she left the previous job. It could be as a result of relocation, because he was fired or maybe he just wants something that pays more. Of all these reasons, the most serious is when a person was fired from his or her previous job. It will be necessary to find out from him why he was fired and if possible, get confirmation from his previous place of work. Such background checks may be a head ache but they are necessary to keep you from making serious mistakes.

Health condition

It may be ironical to know that people could sometimes ignore their health in desperation. When someone is affected by the pains and challenges of poverty, he or she will be willing to even ignore his health to get the job. This may pose a problem to you and the company if he is hired.

Willingness and ability to engage in team work

Some jobs require a high level of coperation and team work between employees for the goals of the business to be realized. An applicant seeking a job may not have worked in such a setting before and that may become a problem for the team or company in die time. You may either want to hire some other person or take some time to brief this person on the importance of team work and how he should go about it.

 Social conduct record

It is usually important to consider the social record of those you employ, especially if the position for which you are hiring is very closely related to the the reputation of the entire business. Hiring a public relations officer with a poor social record could cost the company more than it was ready to loose.