How to Hire your First Employee

It’s nice being able to depend on yourself – guarantee the quality you have learned to expect, you have become consistent with what you do, no need to supervise anyone. For any business owner looking to expand, there may come a time when your own two hands just don’t seem to do enough.

You may have your client base expand so much that you have no choice but to turn down work or projects being offered to you. Maybe you start rushing through your work just to keep up with the demand and then customers are complaining with the shoddy results.

Eventually you have to begin looking out into the wild blue yonder and consider taking on some extra hands. The further you move along, the more difficult it will be to take on all the tasks yourself.

Evaluate the Position That Needs Filling

Before you start looking for employees, you need to first figure out where your first employee would be of most use.

Look at some of the tasks that you do yourself and think what can take the most out of your valuable time. Carefully figure out how some of that time can be better allocated if you have an employee taking care of those lengthier tasks.

What would be the necessary requirements for that position? Make an in-depth breakdown of what skills an individual should possess in order to perform those tasks effectively. This will come in handy when you’re creating a job description and position requirements. 

You may even opt-in to hire a jack of all trades type of individual. He or she may have their hands in a lot of small business functions and not just a single position.

Personal Network

For your first position, you may not even have to look too far to find the most optimal fit. Try networking within your circle of friends, and see what options are available out of the people you know or the ones they know.

If people you trust have any recommendations, well they just did some of the time consuming screening process for you.

Having strangers come in and be your first employee may not be so tempting for you in the beginning. Get comfortable bringing someone on board that is a bit more familiar and has positive reception among your peers.

Outside the Circle of Trust

So maybe your personal network didn’t pay off like you thought it would. What else can you do to find a compatible first employee for your business?

There are many online pages where you can post a job advertisement to help reel in those new recruits. Some major job boards such as ‘Monster’ can create a hefty stream of qualified and some not so qualified applicants for you to look through. In some cases, the quantity may be so great you could spend considerable amount of time sifting through the pile of applications.

Other options could include looking on relevant social media groups and blogs that have something in common with your operations.

Reaching out in those groups may provide you with a more manageable influx of potential employees.

Remember, internet can provide you with plethora of connections some will be more valuable than others. It’s up to you to choose the most optimal recruit.

Qualifications and References

Once you have narrowed down your choices, you want to look through their profiles. By profiles I mean whatever information they have provided you with – could be a CV, cover letter, motivational letter, etc.

Evaluate the applicants yourself. You may even want to outsource some HR help to aid you with the decision making process.

Reach out to some references that were listed. Keep in mind that a considerable amount of people stretch the truth or lie on their resumes. References like everything else, may or may not always provide you with honest feedback.

Feel out the individuals when it comes to the interviewing process. Go over some of the information that they have provided you with on their resumes. Double-check, and see if how they respond to your questions and if their answers match up with what was provided to you prior.

Hiring and Compensation

Well by now hopefully you have found the perfect match. Now you need to make sure the individual is aware of what the compensation would be for his duties at your company.

Individuals with hefty job experience will typically have more room to negotiate higher pay, so keep that into consideration. They may jump ship whenever a more appealing offer comes their way. Be mindful when coming with an appropriate offer.

Employment Insurance and Taxation

These legal intricacies can be tricky to cover all in this post. Many different states and countries deal with this in a variety of ways.

When you have settled on the right employee there are legal matters that need to be attended to. You need to be sure your employee has the legal right to work where you’re operating.

You will also need to be sure that you have set up payroll that is in line with what your jurisdiction requires of you.

In most cases you will also need to get employment insurance. This is incase an individual who is working for you gets injured on the job.

It’s Not Easy

Taking in the first employee could be one of the hardest jobs you do as a business owner. You have a lot of things to consider before letting someone on your team, while at the same time still operating your business.

Stay level headed and keep some of those things we covered in mind. The next time you employ someone, hopefully things will be a bit less hectic.