How To Hire The Best Salesperson, Designer, And Programmer

It is no secret that a well-formed professional team is a key to the success of a project. Therefore, hiring personnel is one of the most difficult and responsible tasks of a manager. First of all, problems can arise if you need to find a professional in an area in which you yourself are not very good. Learn how to hire the best design, programming, and salesperson in this resource.

How to Hire the Best Designer

If you know almost nothing about the graphic design industry, but your team really needs such a person, then heed these tips. Here are 10 steps to help you make the right choice.

Decide on your requirements and expectations

First, think about what tasks the new team member will have to perform. Explain this in as much detail as possible in your job description in order to immediately weed out applicants who do not have the relevant skills.

Determine what skills the candidate should have

Please note that the manager still has to understand a little about the specifics of the work of a graphic designer. This is necessary in order to understand what skills a new employee must necessarily possess. For example, you have to figure out if you will be using stock photos, or if the designer has to do them himself.

Ask unexpected questions

A designer must be able to work under stressful conditions, so ask some unexpected questions during the interview. For example, you might ask a job seeker to quickly formulate suggestions for improving the design of an existing product.

Don’t rely solely on portfolio

Choosing a new employee solely because of a good portfolio is not a good idea. The point is that you cannot know in what conditions the designer worked before. Probably, in the realities of your project, he will not be able to demonstrate the same level.

Conduct real-world testing

Select a few of the best candidates and test them under conditions that will be as close to reality as possible. It will be great if the test consists of several diverse tasks. For example, ask applicants to design a new logo from scratch and then complete an existing project.

Host a video conference

Instead of conducting a phone interview, offer job seekers to chat using Skype or Google Hangouts. Video communication will be useful not only for you but also for candidates. This way they will be able to share their experiences in more detail and showcase their work.

Ask the candidate about their expectations

Find out what the candidates’ team and workplace requirements are. Probably, even a talented designer will not be able to fully reveal his potential in the proposed conditions. For example, perhaps he is used to working with completely different equipment and software. Find out as early as possible to avoid future misunderstandings.

Tell applicants about your brand and target audience

Please note that it is important to do this before final testing. The fact is that this information will help candidates find their bearings faster and reach their full potential. Also, be sure to answer all the questions of the applicants, no matter how tedious it may be.

Look for a specialist with relevant experience

Graphic design is too broad a field, so someone with a good portfolio and references may not always be the best candidate. It is better to take a closer look at applicants who are not so in demand in the labor market, but have experience in similar projects.

Find out what inspires candidates

Before hiring the best talent, ask all candidates what inspires them. This could be the work of another professional, books, websites, and more. The fact is that this information is very indicative in terms of the prospects for the further development of the designer.

How to Hire the Best Programmer

In whatever field you work, today it is almost impossible to do without the services of a programmer. The main problem is that the overwhelming majority of managers do not understand anything about coding at all, so they cannot assess the professionalism of candidates for the position. Here are some tips to help you make the right decision in this situation.

Consult a professional

You definitely won’t be able to quickly understand programming, so it makes sense to ask a professional for help. If you check your contacts, you will surely find at least one person who is a little familiar with coding. Ask him what to look for in the first place when studying the resume of candidates.

Try to master the theoretical foundations

It will be great if you at least master the basic terms. The fact is that an unprepared person simply will not be able to conduct an interview since he will not understand what the candidates are talking about. If you spend a few hours getting ready, you will feel much more confident.

Ask the right questions

Even if you do not know anything about programming, you should ask a series of questions, the answers to which will tell you a lot. Here are the key points that you should definitely clarify.

Work experience. It is important to find out not only the number of years spent in the profession but also the real circumstances in which the applicant worked.

Time. Be sure to find out how much time job seekers are willing to devote to work. The fact is that at the initial stage, it is unlikely that it will be possible to get by with a standard 8-hour working day.

Personal preferences. Find out where the job seeker feels most comfortable. He is probably used to starting work too early when the rest of the team is just waking up. Such nuances can be a serious problem.

Leadership skills. Try to understand if the applicant has the potential to help them become a team leader in the future.

Offer favorable terms

It may surprise you, but in fact, it is not you who choose the programmer, but he you. The fact is that today there are 4-5 open vacancies for every professional coder. Therefore, really high-quality personnel go to companies that are ready to offer the most favorable conditions.

Start with the basics

Don’t give every candidate too many details about the company. As mentioned above, programmers are in great demand, so the likelihood of losing an applicant even after a successful interview is quite high. Talk about specific tasks that the candidate for the position will have to solve. The rest can be discussed after the conclusion of the agreement.

Explore the portfolio

You do not need to have any deep knowledge in the field of programming for this. Just test the products the applicant has worked on. Perhaps this is the best way to understand how good a candidate is professional.

Don’t believe the words

Many people who have mastered some basic programming course consider themselves to be real professionals. Therefore, make the test assignment a must for anyone looking to get in for an interview. As practice shows, this weeds out about half of the applicants.

How to Hire the Best Sales Person

CareerBuilder’s research found that sales-related positions are the hardest for companies today to fill. The fact is that there are really a lot of salespeople, but there are too few real professionals among them. These tips will help you get the right person on your team.

Focus on your best employees

Think back to the best salespeople you’ve ever worked with. Try to highlight the main traits that made it possible to achieve success. Probably, these employees quickly navigated in stressful situations or knew how to properly organize time. Make a list of the skills that really sell well and use that list when considering candidates.

Assess the ambition of the applicants

In the realm of sales, the limit cannot be reached. This profession requires constant development and acquisition of new skills, so very ambitious people who want to achieve the maximum become good salespeople. If the applicant has not read a single book on sales techniques or attended any lecture in the past year, then it is not worth wasting time on him.

Assess the growth prospects of candidates

In order to grow, the salesperson will have to leave the comfort zone. Your task is to understand if the person is capable of doing more than in the previous job. This is one of the key factors that allow you to assess the long-term prospects of the applicant.

Offer competitive terms

As we have already found out, there are very few promising salespeople, so you must offer truly competitive conditions for candidates. Otherwise, qualified specialists will go to other companies, and you will have to work with mediocre professionals.

Don’t make a decision alone.

To determine the most promising salespeople from the responding candidates, there are too many nuances to consider. Therefore, you should not make a decision on your own. Ask the best salespeople to attend the final interview. This will allow you to choose not only the best candidate but the person who will become a good team member.

Be prepared to make concessions

If you have found a really promising specialist, but he is somehow not satisfied with the proposed conditions, then make every effort to reach a compromise. You cannot let go of a good salesperson, since there is a serious shortage of personnel on the market.

Take your time

Do not rush to close the vacancy. If the company can operate normally without a closed sales position, then be patient to wait for a really high-class specialist. Keep in mind that a mediocre job seeker will not be able to significantly improve performance in any case, so there is no point in hiring him.

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