You’re recruiting for an important position at your company. After all those applications, resumes, and interviews, you’ve finally whittled your shortlist down — to one person.
So naturally, you begin doubting your decision.
- Did you have enough options?
- Have you done everything you can to review all the prospective talent for your role?
- Is this person the right fit?
If this scenario sounds familiar, here’s what you need to know.
First, there is no absolute number of people you must have shortlisted for any role, and having a single strong candidate for a specialist position is more common than you think.
However, the desire for choice and a candidate comparison to ensure the best hire is natural and seems hardwired for most people.
What if you’re wondering if you had enough choice and suffering from decision paralysis as a result?
Teddy Roosevelt said, “…in any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.”
If you still can’t shake the uncertainty surrounding your hiring decision, it’s time to review some key components:
- Your recruitment process. Did you research and target the correct audience through direct solicitation as well as ads? People who aren’t actively looking represent more than 50% of the total market, so focusing on ads only almost ensures missing the majority of the market. Even with direct solicitation, it often takes three or more direct solicitations through email, LinkedIn, phone, etc., to capture a busy prospect’s attention.
- Are you recording and reviewing the results of your prospects who’ve said, “No, thank you.”? If not, you may be missing common reasons qualified candidates are not moving forward, giving you critical insight.
- Does someone else at your company perform a similar role? If so, this employee could be used as a benchmark for the prospective hire.
- Is there anything you might do to validate any concerns you may have, and do you have processes to elucidate answers to any concerns? Further interviews, testing, or professional reference checks are some ways to investigate potential problems you may have.
- What are the risks in making a go or no-go decision on this prospect? Given the market research collected during your search, it may be possible to estimate the time it will take to fill the role with a different candidate. However, remember that you’ll likely be starting back at square one, so considering potential risks involved are critical.
Ben Franklin used to draw a line down a sheet of paper and write down all of the reasons for a critical decision on one side and all those against on the other. Mirroring his method can help you come to the best decision.
If you’d like some help with this and understand how you can overcome some of these issues, please contact us.