An open position creates a vast pool of candidates, some qualified, some not. Finding the right person to fill your open position can be an overwhelming task. Especially in a highly-technical field like precision manufacturing, finding qualified employees can prove challenging.
Follow these tips to find the perfect candidate for your open position.
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Outline Your Organizational Culture
Company culture is one of the main drivers in how the goals of an organization are developed and executed. It’s essentially the functional heart of your business. Finding new staff members that align with your company culture is at the core of finding and bringing on the best talent.
Thoughtful analysis of how your work environment impacts workflow is crucial before the interview and review of new potential staff members.
This doesn’t mean that everyone within your organization is like-minded – but, your team should have a clearly defined goal set and work passionately together to achieve those goals.
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ID Your Current Top Performers
Determine what is already working and try to build from that when considering new hires. Talk to your human resources department to gather insight on successful key performance indicators (KPIs).
Ask yourself, what are the traits that enable your top people to be successful? Is it education or drive? Is it communication or interpersonal skills?
No matter the KPI, seeking out candidates with similar traits will build on your current success. Align your interview questions to ask more about behaviors directly related to your identified work behaviors.
Create an Employee-Focused Job Listing
The job posting itself is one of the most important elements of hiring. When writing a job posting, focus what a new employee will get out of working with you, not on what you want from an employee. That doesn’t mean that you won’t list job requirements, experience and education – but it does mean that you will lead with the why and then get into the what.
An employee-focused job listing contains the following:
- Candidate-focused language. For example: “You will join a fast-paced, energetic team of doers.” vs. “Candidates should be able to work with others in a group setting.”
- A clear job title. Use the same terms your ideal candidate would, not any company-specific buzzwords.
- Information on company culture. Use your research from earlier to define your company culture.
- Salary range, benefits, hours. This is the information that are typically the top questions a candidate will have.
- Key responsibilities, desired qualities and required qualifications. Be clear on what’s a “nice to have” vs what’s a non-negotiable.
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Ditch Outdated Interview Styles
When conducting interviews, it’s better to tailor your interview questions to focus on the traits you want to attract as an addition to your team. Avoid the general questions and focus your questions on skill sets related to the position. Also, aim at a conversation-styled discussion, rather than drilling out questions for the interviewee to answer.
A conversation-focused interview will open the opportunity to get to know the candidate beyond their answers. A more free-flowing organic discussion also allows the interviewer to determine if the candidate would be the right fit for the team and company culture.
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Partner with an Experienced Manufacturing Recruiter
Make the most of your time by working with an agent or employment service that specializes in manufacturing. Knowledge of the industry, language and job requirements are crucial in matching employee and employer effectively. However, general staffing agencies won’t have the experience to provide that level of specialized placement. A specialized manufacturing recruiter – like Strom Minnesota – will help find the right candidates for your highly-skilled position.
Looking to fill contract, temp, or ready-to-hire positions? Strom Minnesota can help. Using our database of thousands of skilled workers, we can match ideal employees for you – with 0 work on your end.
Strom Minnesota is an engineering and technical recruitment agency that specializes in high-skilled job candidates for highly technical positions. We facilitate contract employment, project staffing, temp-to-perm and direct hire opportunities. Industries served include IT, engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and manufacturing. We are affiliated with Strom Engineering, a national staffing and recruitment agency.
