Companies encounter many different issues when hiring for entry-level positions. There are few qualified candidates and a high turnover rate, which can be a huge financial burden for the company. Many college graduates aren’t sure where they can fit into a new company, and hiring managers often don’t know where to place these young employees. However, if you change your interview approach, you can attract candidates who are a good cultural fit and can be a long-term asset for your organization.
Hire Company Wide
One of the first mistakes hiring managers make is going to college career days looking to fill specific positions. This strategy is unsuccessful because most of these students don’t have on-the-job experience so they don’t know what job they are qualified for.
Instead, you want to have candidates apply for all positions within the organization. Then you can review their qualifications to determine what jobs are a good fit for candidates.
Look at Personality and Critical Skills
When filling entry-level positions, you don’t want look at what current skills they have that are an exact match. You can teach people the day-to-day activities of a position. What you can’t do is teach a person to have a good work ethic, work well with others or become an exceptional problem solver. There are also critical skills that are transferrable to your company positions.
Instead of having candidates complete standard applications that include job history and current applicable skills, create a questionnaire that involves everyday situations that require skills similar to what your company is looking for.
Matching Candidates to Jobs
Determine what skills are necessary to be successful for specific positions and then match candidates who have those skills with the right jobs. This way you will have an employee who is a good cultural fit, has the right transferrable skills and the right traits to be successful with the organization. These people are a good asset and worth training so they can grow with your company.
Long-Term Relationships for Long-Term Employees
If you want an employee who is hired for an entry-level position to stay with the company long term, then you need to create a long-term training strategy for that individual. And this strategy can start by finding a long-term employee who can help the new hire adjust to the company and grow in their position. A mentor can encourage the new hire to learn the skills necessary to be an asset to the organization and create relationships that will establish a cultural bond.
Hiring entry-level employees requires different hiring strategies than what you use for upper-level positions. By looking at personality traits and relatable skill sets, you can find a candidate who fits the culture of the company as well as openings within the organization. Pairing new hires with long-term personnel will help the younger employee learn how to navigate within the organization and build long-term relations with people in the company. This will help reduce turnover and attract quality candidates for your company.
If you are having difficulty finding quality candidates for your entry-level positions contact us. We can help you find candidates who are looking for long-term relationships and have the skills you need for your organization.