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Hiring Digital Workers for your Team: A How To Guide

Is part of your team virtual and not resident in the same physical office?

Are you using VA's (Virtual Assistants) or long-term contractors?

How do you hire when you can't physically "meet" and interview someone?

It's all about digital techniques to vet potential hires in this digital age!

In this episode of the Halftime Mike podcast, I dive into my techniques for vetting and hiring digital workers. These are workers that will not be physically in the same location as me. I go through my process and share stories from experiences for why I do what I do, and what matters.

Learn from my experiences and get a streamlined process for your business!

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Dive into Hiring Digital Workers for your Team

It's becoming more and more common to use virtual assistants, digital contractors and freelancers, and to have remote workers that are part of your team but not at your physical location. This changes and challenges the hiring process! No longer will you physically have someone in the office for an interview. You need to be able to do it online, and you need to assess their digital skills. There are crucial steps to take in hiring digital workers.

That's what this episode is about. I dive into my processes and techniques for hiring digital workers remotely. I have used this with contractors, VA's, and full-time team members including developers, bookkeepers, and sales account managers.

TIP #1

Whatever small quirks or mistakes you see, magnify those x10 when looking at hiring digital workers. Now would you hire them?

[Tweet "Whatever small quirks or mistakes you see, magnify those x10. Now would you hire them? via @Mike_Gingerich #digitalhiring"]

What do I mean by this? Let me explain...

Key Items in the Digital Hiring Process:

Job Description must be detailed
- Including tools/software, they must be able to use or have experience in
- If you use Google Hangouts, include it. Skype? Include it.

Test 1: Require a Digital Response
- Require the resume' as a upload or attached via an email submission. (It's a small first test of skills and following details)
- Do they follow instructions?
- Did they offer any introductory cover letter?

Review the Resume' Ruthlessly
- Weed out those that have mistakes in their resume'. If they don't thoroughly review their resume', they won't do the same in their work with you!
- Look for their "Objective". Is it tailored to your position? If not, strike them!
- Is the experience and skills listed tailored to your position? If not, strike them! You want people that took the time to review your needs and are demonstrating how their skills match the specifics you outline! This shows the ability to "digitally translate" material and adapt.
- I have never seen a person IMPROVE their attention to detail, writing skills, grammar, and presentation after or beyond what they give on their resume'.
- My experience says what you get here is what you can expect at best in the future.

[Tweet "I have never seen a person IMPROVE their attention to detail, writing skills, grammar, & presentation beyond what they give on their resume'. @Mike_Gingerich"]

Test 2: Ask a question via email
- This is important! Why? It gives you the chance to evaluate their email communication skills. By asking a question, you should get a response, and it should be coherent, thorough, and reasonably timely.
- This is a true "test". Anyone should be able to give you an error-free resume' with others proofing it, but when you email you get to hear from them more quickly. How they write is how they communicate! I often follow-up their response with another question to have a bit of a dialogue to learn more about them.
- Their communication as a worker will not improve over this communication! They should be at their best here. If they have any gaps, strike them!

Research them online!
- Yes, Google them. And use Google images to be safe too.
- Yes, find them on social media sites and review their profiles.
  - I review posts on Facebook as much as I can based on their privacy settings. I also evaluate comments and posts by friends. You are evaluated by the company you keep! It's a way of getting to know them by getting to know who they hangout with!
- If anything online is questionable...strike them!

[Tweet "You are evaluated by the company you keep! #digitalhiring via @Mike_Gingerich"]

Test 3: Setup a small test to evaluate their skills
- Typically a paid contract project that is relevant to what they would be doing
- Some specific work that gives you ability to review how they would perform for you
- Be specific in what they are to do
- Ask them when they can have it completed and back to you
- If they have any gaps in this, any, strike them!

If they pass this test, then move to the first interview!

The actual interview is part 2 and will be continued in the next podcast about hiring digital workers because it's enough content for an entire episode itself!

As you can see, I'm detailed and quite clear cut in this process. My experiences have taught me not to veer off this path and never to soften. It will never get better than what you are given in these initial steps. Whatever gaps you see would be magnified when they work for you. I've tried to look past "small" things, and things that I "wondered" about, and those things have come back to bite me every time.

Someone that misspells in a resume' will misspell in proposals, contracts, email, and code. Someone that is too informal in their communication with you will be like that with you and clients even more so later on. Someone you don't click with, you will not grow to "click" with relationally later on.

By taking the steps outlined above you are testing their digital skills as well as their personal skills. This leads to a successful hire!

Remember: Hire slow, fire fast.

RESOURCE LINKS:

Next Doable Task:

It’s always about taking away learnings and applying them!

What’s your key takeaway that you need to do in the next 24 hours based on listening to this?

If you are having trouble deciding, my tip is to review how you are measuring and monitoring your social media reporting. Are you taking the time to evaluate?

What's your biggest takeaway from my process and tools? Share below!

Next Doable Task:

It’s always about taking away learnings and applying them! What’s the key takeaway that you need to act on in the next 24 hours based on listening to this episode on hiring digital workers?

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Why the Halftime theme Mike?

I’m an Indiana Hoosier native where basketball is the top sport. Every team heads to the locker room at halftime to evaluate the first half and create a updated plan for the second half. That plan includes adjustments based on reviewing what worked and what didn't. The “halftime” is a key review point where the game stops, the team pulls away to huddle in the locker room away from the fans, and they come out prepared and ready to succeed in the second half.

That’s what this podcast is all about, taking the time to pull away for a bit to evaluate, learn, and set some strategies for your business to succeed in the second half. Join me by subscribing and let me be your “business halftime” to help you find great success going forward!

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