Recruiting an employee - Step 4: Interview and offer the job

Recruiting the right employee for your business can take time and diligence. the ultimate aim for any business that wants to grow its workforce is to recruit employees effectively. 

Here are the steps and the tips you need to recruit the right employee:

Interview and offer the job 

• Interviews should, where possible, be conducted by more than one person, again to avoid unintended bias. 

But, again in a small business, you may have to do the interviews on your own. 

It is also advisable to have set questions to probe candidates' skills, and help you measure their answers.

When carrying out interviews, you should make sure that you: 

• Are not interrupted by visitors or telephone calls 
• Ask 'open-ended' questions that cannot be answered by a 'yes' or a 'no' 
• Do not ask questions which may be considered discriminatory. 

Once you've decided who you want, send out a job offer letter. Remember, you are now on the verge of entering into an employment contract, a legal arrangement. It should set out: 

• The job title and offer of the job 
• Any conditions applying to the offer 
• The terms - including salary, hours, benefits, pension arrangements, holiday entitlement, and place of employment 
• Start date and any probationary period 
• What the candidate needs to do to accept the offer, including satisfactory references, or decline it. 

If the letter is to be the employment contract or part of it, it should say so and include the main terms and conditions. A Written Statement of Employment Terms and Conditions must be given to the employee within two months of them starting work. 

Make a note 

• Before the interview, make a list of the questions you want to ask. Keep all notes, including any made during the interview. They will help you to sift the applicants fairly. 
• Be prepared to give reasons for rejection to unsuccessful candidates who ask. 

Source: © ACAS

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