Hiring your company’s first employee is an exciting yet daunting task. After months of working by yourself to build your business into what it is, you have finally decided you need some help. But as nice as it may be to have an extra pair of hands around, it also means you have to put trust into someone else that they can get the job done. Which is exactly why you shouldn’t settle for just anyone for your first employee. You need to make sure that the first person you hire for your business is a perfect fit. You need to make sure that this person is not only qualified, but understands your vision and wants to see the success of your business as much as you do. There are certain qualities you want in an employee for a small business, so here is what to look for when hiring your first employee:
You might interview someone and immediately think they’re a perfect fit for the job. They’re qualified, their references check out, and they seem like a good match for the company. While those are all good qualities to see in an employee, it is also important that you see potential in them. You want them to grow with your business. Someone who has potential has both the experience for the job and the passion for the business.
When you’re hiring the first employee for your business, you want to make sure you bring on someone who you will mesh well with, especially if it’s just going to be you two working together. You can get a good sense of someone’s personality through interviews, so it’s crucial you conduct multiple interviews before even considering bringing someone on. It is also important you run a pre employment background check to further evaluate a candidate’s character. Running a background check is imperative to protect against hiring someone who isn’t who they say they are.
Even though it might just be you two for the time being, you still want to look for someone who is a team player. You’re likely going to bring on more employees down the road, so try to get a good feel if this person will work well with others. Working on a small team means collaborating on projects and doing things as a group. You don’t want to hire someone who only knows how to work by themselves.
Since this is your first employee, it’s unlikely that everything during the onboarding process will go as planned. There will probably be some mishaps and confusion, especially when they first start working. But that is expected with a smaller business. So, a good quality to look for in the first employee you hire is patience. You want to hire someone who will understand that working for a small business isn’t easy and things tend to take longer than usual. Throughout the interviews, if you get the sense that a candidate is impatient or restless, you may want to look elsewhere. Patience is key for success. You can’t build a successful business overnight!
Although you might be hesitant to hand over some of your responsibilities to your first employee, it is an important step in growing your business. You want to look for someone who is not just qualified for the job, but has a great personality, is patient, and overall has a strong passion for the business. You’re going to be working alongside this person every single day, so you want to make sure they are a good fit.
