Finding employees is easy; people are always looking for work. However, finding good employees can be quite a challenge. The 80/20 principle makes it clear that 80% of your results will come from 20% of your efforts, and this rule can be applied to the subject of hiring employees as well. When searching for potential applicants, always keep in mind that 80% will be completely worthless. They will either demand too much money, not work at a high level of quality, or be a combination of both.
To find employees, particularly over the web, you will want to do the reverse of what we discussed in earlier chapters. For instance, instead of going to Craigslist or Back Page in order to post your ad for jobs under the classified section, you can look for employees in these same areas. You can also find employees through forums, job sites, and freelance employment sites. All the sources discussed in previous chapters which you can use to advertise your services can also be used to find the services of others.
The real challenge that you will face as an employer is separating the good applicants from the bad. Fortunately, there are a number of ways in which this can be accomplished. First, when you advertise yourself as a company looking for employees, be sure to list the rates you will pay in the ad. The reason why this is important is because you will weed out those people who feel your prices are too low. If your prices are indeed too low, you will find that your ad won't receive any responses, and this will force you to raise your bid.
Failing to list the rates you pay is a critical mistake, and the reason for this is because you will get a bunch of people contacting you to find out how much you pay. You will then have to waste time answering all these inquiries, of which most you will never receive a response. By revealing your prices up front, this problem can be completely negated. While some people like to negotiate prices, I've never been a big fan of haggling. I find haggling to be unproductive; the time that you waste negotiating on price could be better spent on things which are much more efficient.
When hiring employees, always keep in mind that those who spent lots of years in school will want higher prices for their services. The problem is, as the business owner, it will often be more advantageous for you to hire someone who doesn't have years of schooling under their belt, since you can keep your cost of operations low. For many jobs, you can often find highly educated people who didn't spend years in school, didn't accumulate a large amount of debt, and who can produce quality work for competitive prices. These applicants are the most desirable.
In general, I find experience to be a lot more valuable than education when it comes to potential employees. An experienced employee is someone who has worked in the field, and they know how to get the job done. A college graduate may or may not be able to get the job done, and you won't know for sure until they're working under you. I also recommend testing potential applicants prior to hiring them in order to make sure they're the real deal. For instance, if you are hiring writers for a major writing project, and you are adamant on your projects being completed by a specific deadline, you could test potential applicants by requiring them to write an essay within a 24 hour time frame.
If they fail to complete the essay within the 24 hours, then you should dismiss them, because if they cannot complete the project within this time frame, then it means that they won't be able to complete the projects within the time frame of you or your clients. It is better to have them fail on a sample essay than to screw up an assignment with an establishment client that has a tight deadline. Another way to evaluate potential applicants is to test them in order to determine how well they follow directions.
The ability to follow directions is a skill which cannot be overemphasized when it comes to hiring employees. An employee who can't follow directions will cause endless headaches and financial losses for his/her employer. One technique that I use to weed out undesirable employees is to test all the applicants without them knowing it in the ad itself. For instance, when I write ads, I will often say things in the ad such as “please do not submit your resume, as we will not use this information to evaluate you. Instead, please submit a sample of your work.”
Despite putting these words in my ads, I always get this group of people who send me their resumes anyway. These emails are promptly thrown in the trash bin. Not only didn't these individuals not bother to read my ad, but they also don't know how to follow directions, which means if I hire them, they will give me headaches later on. As an employer, your goal must be to weed out the time wasters and losers while reserving your energy for those individuals who meet your qualifications. A simple test like this is a great way to separate good applicants from the bad.
Communication is another area where potential applicants must be carefully evaluated. An employee who cannot properly communicate with an employer is just as bad as someone who doesn't follow directions. When working with employees over the Internet, my general rule is that they have 24 hours to respond to the emails I send to them. I'm very strict about the “24 hour rule” and the reason for this is simple: when you're working with a virtual employee, there is no way for you to know for sure whether or not they're even working on your project unless they communicate with you quickly. The longer it takes for them to respond, the more likely it is that time will be wasted.
When working with people over the Internet, if you allow more than 24 hours to pass each time you email them, you will often find that you will spend days waiting on work to be done which will never be completed, only to realize this after this time has passed. If you have a project that must be completed within a specific deadline, this can be very detrimental to your success. In general, I recommend having multiple ways to communicate with your virtual employees in the event that the Internet is not available. This gives you additional levels of security and ensures smooth and open communication lines.