You’ve been a hiring manager for a while now, so you know how to review a resume with little more than a glance, right? Not so fast.

The reality that lies within the mass of application materials you receive is usually more complicated than you might think. There are several subtleties you can miss if you’re not careful. And that opens you up to the risk of making a bad hire, which could have a ripple effect through your entire team or even company.

When your job vacancy is posted, you should have an excellent grasp of how to evaluate a resume so thoroughly — and quickly — that you can compare candidates fairly, spot red flags and recognize potential diamonds in the rough. Here are our top tips to help get you there.

1. Quickly separate wheat from chaff

Even if you’ve written an effective job description and detailed candidate profile, you’ll likely have to review resumes from unqualified applicants. Create a checklist of the absolute minimum skills, experience and education required to do the job, and use this as a framework to efficiently sort the resumes into piles of yes, no and maybe. Then you can dig down to the more nuanced filters.

2. Watch for potential red flags

Some resumes contain warning signs of potential problems that may outweigh a candidate’s abilities and experience. These are the biggest red flags to look for as you evaluate resumes:

  • Unexplained employment gaps — As you’re reviewing an applicant’s work history, look out for long breaks between jobs. While there could be a perfectly reasonable explanation, such as military service, any serious candidate should be prepared and willing to explain these gaps in an interview.
  • Excessive job hopping — Job hopping is more common in younger generations and can be a sign of ambition. But too many employers in too short a time span could indicate an uncommitted worker. People do leave jobs quickly for good reasons, but since you’ll be spending significant resources on onboarding and training new hires, you need to know it’ll be worth the effort.
  • Static career — A resume with a series of jobs with no increase in responsibility could suggest a lack of career direction or drive.
  • Careless mistakes — Given all the online resources and books devoted to resume writing, there’s no excuse for a resume that’s difficult to read, poorly organized or littered with typos. Candidates who submit messy documents demonstrate a lack of attention to detail, a real liability in most fields.
  • Extraneous information — An interesting hobby or two requiring relevant skills could make a candidate stand out from the crowd. However, resumes that over-emphasize personal interests suggest the job seeker is looking to fill space or that they view their career as a side activity.

3. Look for tailored messaging

Some resumes may pass your initial review but fail to impress as you dig deeper. If the resume and cover letter appear generic, it’s likely the applicant is sending the exact same document to multiple employers. Serious contenders customize their resumes, emphasizing those skills and qualifications that are most relevant to the job description you posted. When you review resumes, look for ones that have been clearly crafted with that specific job posting in mind.

4. Pay attention to word choice

Some candidates use ambiguous language to camouflage a lack of experience or knowledge. Phrases such as “familiar with” and “participated in” can leave you with more questions than answers. Someone who was “part of” a team devoted to identifying cost-saving opportunities may have played a key role in the effort — or simply took up space during meetings. Also watch for jargon and buzzwords that are designed to make a candidate sound smart but may cover up a lack of expertise.

5. Get the details

Great candidates don’t just tell. They show. Rather than simply describing their duties, savvy job seekers include examples of how they added value to their company: by saving money, streamlining a process or negotiating discounts with vendors. This might be represented as data, percentages, dollars or other expressions of quantitative impact. Your mission when hiring new staff is to improve your firm’s bottom line, so don’t settle for resumes that are heavy on the right keywords but short on specifics.

6. Be rigorous but not rigid

While a checklist is helpful for narrowing down applications in an objective way, try to keep an open mind. Not everyone has followed a traditional career path, and their experience could be all the richer for it. Be sure to differentiate between essential qualifications needed to do the job and knowledge that can easily be gained in-house.

It can help to zoom out from the fine details and critique resumes in their broader context. For example, even in a tight job market, an employment gap isn’t necessarily a deal breaker. It could, in fact, disguise a candidate who has off-ramped to care for a child or aging parent, or who went back to school to pursue another career path. An applicant with that level of responsibility or inner drive, even if they aren’t yet proficient with the latest cloud software, could be a better fit for your team than someone who has a long resume but casually moves from post to post. The bottom line: If a candidate piques your interest, they might be worth pursuing even if their professional background is non-traditional.

7. Take the current hiring market into account

As you consider how to evaluate a resume you’ve received, remember the possibility that the perfect candidate may not be out there, especially during periods of low unemployment. That’s why managers should hire as much for potential as they do for skills or job history. Sometimes it’s best to find employees who fit with your corporate culture, and let professional training take care of any gaps.

While reading a mountain of resumes can feel like a daunting task that you just want to get through, don’t lose sight of the little things. Those are what could make the difference between adding a great team member and having to start the hiring process over after a couple months.

It's time to fill that vacancy on your team and the pressure is on to find a job candidate who has all the skills and professional experience you need. But can you determine that from just an interview? It’s possible — if you pose smart queries. Here are 15 of the best questions to ask an interviewee.

1. What do you know about our company, and why do you want to work here?

You’d think with the easy access to information online today, most candidates would do their homework, but that’s not always the case. Some applicants may not even know what type of business the company engages in. Ask this interview question and you’ll find out quickly who is sincerely interested in working for you — and who isn’t.

2. What skills and strengths can you bring to this position?

Did the interviewee blindly apply to your opening or did they consider how they match your needs? This question can help you find out. Applicants should be able to think critically about how their abilities will benefit your unique team.

3. Can you tell me about your current job?

This is a great interview question to ask a potential employee that can help you evaluate communication skills, while gaining insights into an individual's background that goes beyond the resume.

4. What could your current company do to be more successful?

This inquiry can give you a sense of whether interviewees see the big picture at their organizations. It may also reveal why they really want to leave their current jobs.

5. Can you tell me about a time when you had a disagreement with a boss or colleague and how you handled the situation?

This is one of the best questions to ask an interviewee because you’ll get a sense of their conflict resolution abilities. What tone does the person use when talking about the other people involved? Were they able to handle the situation described appropriately? Did they find common ground? Emotional intelligence is keenly needed in almost every job.

6. Do you work best alone or on a team?

What kind of work will the candidate be performing if they’re selected for the position? This question helps determine if they’re suited to the types of assignments they’ll receive. Someone who enjoys solitary work and long stretches of uninterrupted time may not thrive in a position that requires collaboration or multi-tasking.

7. Why are you leaving your current job?

Does your job opportunity provide an alternative to the factors (lack of professional development, management problems, etc.) that made them unhappy in their current role? If so, showcase those benefits. But keep an eye out for candidates with unrealistic expectations.

8. How would your co-workers describe you?

This top question to ask an interviewee can help shed light on the candidate's soft skills and how they might work with the other members of your team. Understand the strengths of your current staff members and be on the lookout for a candidate who will complement those.

9. How would your boss describe you?

This may give you a sense of the candidate’s relationship with previous managers. Reliable? Prompt? Efficient? Keep in mind, though, who you’re asking. The answer will be simply their opinion of what the boss might have said. That’s why it’s still critical to check references. Request a list of contacts and give former employers a call to hear how their impressions align with the candidate’s.

10. Where do you see yourself in five years?

A job candidate who has professional drive and lofty career aspirations is valuable. Look for someone who is engaged in their career and has clear goals, and consider mentioning how your organization can help them achieve those objectives. Finding a prospect who is interested in career advancement and sees opportunity with your company increases the chances that they’ll be happy in the long run.

11. Can you describe how you handle tight deadlines?

Does your team frequently face challenging time constraints? Do you need someone who can work quickly and accurately while under pressure? Ask this interview question of a potential employee and you’ll at least get their opinion as to how they handle stress and whether they can keep up with the pace of work at your organization. You could also follow up by asking if they’ve ever missed a deadline and, if so, how they handled the situation.

12. In your most recent role, was there a time when you had to overcome a significant challenge?

Use this question to get a sense of an interviewee’s critical thinking and analytical skills. You should also pay attention to how the candidate describes their behavior when faced with a challenge. Did they struggle or did they come up with an action plan and see it through?

13. What’s the most interesting project you’ve worked on in a past position?

Ask this interview question to determine if the applicant would likely enjoy the work available at your company. Do the types of tasks they find fulfilling align with the job description for your position? Making sure employees find their work professionally satisfying is one of the most important factors in retention.

14. What’s one fact that’s not on your LinkedIn profile?

Here’s an open-ended question to ask an interviewee that can help you uncover some interesting insights. Similar to asking, “What do you think I need to know that we haven’t discussed?” it could spark some conversation about a hobby outside of their 9-to-5 life or even a compelling story that reveals more of their strengths and motivations. This question can help you understand not just what a job candidate has done, but why.

15. Do you have any questions for me?

This question typically wraps up the interview. Most candidates who are interested in the job will be prepared with a few relevant questions for a hiring manager. However, if the discussion was long and detailed, the candidate may have already asked their questions. In a case like this, it’s okay if a candidate doesn’t have a list of questions at the end of the interview.

As COVID-19 forces more people to work from home — including hiring managers — remote job interviews have become increasingly common. While most managers have previously participated in online meetings of some type, not all of them know how to conduct a video interview. Here’s some advice to help you prepare, and make the most of, a remote interview.

1. Don’t try to wing it 

Online interviews require some preparation. As the interviewer, it’s up to you to set expectations with the candidate beforehand about the remote interview details. Figure out who will place the call, what online meeting platform you’ll use, and give the interviewee the names and titles of any other people who may be joining the interview. Clearly communicating the details of the meeting will put the candidate at ease and make the entire process run more smoothly. 

2. Prepare your technology to avoid glitches 

Conduct a technical trial run of your video conferencing platform — common ones include Skype for Business and Zoom — a day or so beforehand, giving yourself enough time to adapt if anything isn’t working. Check your computer camera, microphone and internet connection, and make sure you know your login information, especially if you haven’t used the videoconferencing application or tool in a while. If you’re using your laptop or tablet, check your Wi-Fi connection and ensure your equipment is charged and ready to go. 

3. Have a backup plan 

What if, despite all your preparations, the platform you planned to use doesn’t work? Make sure you have the candidate’s email and phone number handy so you can easily connect. You might end up having a phone conversation instead of a video interview in this case.

Another common issue, especially if you or the candidate are working from home, is bandwidth. If more than one person is online in an apartment or house at the same time, it can cause delays or other issues with video conferencing tools. While not ideal, one way you can try to address this issue if it happens is to turn off the video function on the application you’re using during the interview. You’ll still be able to talk to each other on whatever platform you’re using, just without the visuals. You also might try to schedule the interview at a time when fewer people in your home are online.

4. Minimize distractions 

Switch off alerts and chats during the interview and put a note on your door saying you’re not available. Avoid having remote interviews in high-traffic areas of your home. In addition, try to reduce movement during an online interview. If you’re constantly shifting or walking around, it can make it hard for the other person to focus on the conversation. 

5. Look professional 

Dress as though you’re going to work, even if you’re at home, and make sure the background the candidate will see during the remote interview is free of anything distracting. Many videoconferencing applications allow you to set a blank background.

6. Come prepared 

Have a printout of the interviewee’s resume and your list of questions. You might want to log in a few minutes early so you know all the technology is working and you’re not rushing when the interview begins. 

7. Pay attention to facial expressions and tone of voice 

Keep your voice calm and speak clearly, but also be sure you smile and laugh when appropriate, just like you would in person. You want to demonstrate to the other person that you’re engaged in the conversation.  Also leave a few seconds at the end of sentences or after you ask a question to minimize talking over each other. Remember to look at the camera when you’re speaking, not your own image or the other person’s image, as tempting as that may be.

8. Have a strong close

When remote interviews conclude, tell candidates what’s going to happen next in the process and ask them if they have any questions. Be sure to thank them for their time as well. 

Ultimately, you are representing your company during an online interview. Knowing how to effectively conduct a video interview will help you leave candidates with a positive view of both you and your business. 

In any economy, knowing how to hire an employee with the skills and experience you need means knowing how to manage a headache. The hiring process is typically costly, sometimes disappointing and often a time suck. Today, in the challenging business environment we now operate in, that same hiring process can be downright daunting.

Sure, the talent pool for many sectors isn’t as tight as it was just a few months ago, but that means an attractive job posting will likely yield a sky-high stack of resumes to sort through. Once you settle on your top candidates, and that might take hours or even days, you’re looking at a series of phone vettings, video interviews, skills testing and reference checks. All this at a time when you’re already slammed with work and juggling the challenges of managing a remote team.

And not to pile it on, but you really need to get it right. Making a bad hire means more disruption for your team — as well as a waste of yet more valuable time and money.

So, how to hire an employee when you’re busy, stressed, distracted and just want someone good in that role right now? Glad you asked. We have five helpful suggestions, and one “Best of Show” tip, to attract and hire the talent who can deliver maximum value to your organization.

1. Focus on the job description

The COVID-19 pandemic has scrambled the economy. General unemployment figures have spiked even as some sectors still compete in a tough hiring market — and several roles are becoming ever harder to staff. Whatever the state of your hiring market, and whatever position you’re hiring for, writing a detailed, compelling job description will be critical to your success in recruiting top talent.

If it’s a new role you’re trying to staff, carefully consider the tasks you want the employee to take on in both the short term and long term, and the levels of education and experience your ideal candidate should possess. If you need to hire an employee for a vacated role, take the opportunity to evaluate whether you want to make changes to the position. Chances are you’ll want to add or shift some responsibilities, especially if the job description has not been updated recently.

As you write your job description, keep in mind that not all talent is going to be top talent. Include enough information to attract job seekers who are well-suited for the position, without being excessively long or too specific. But give enough detail, too, to discourage the under-qualified. List the skills, experience and certifications you absolutely require, and briefly say how success will be measured for the successful hire. You don’t want to spend time reviewing dozens of resumes that don’t come close to your needs, and no job seeker wants to spend time applying for a role they won’t come close to being considered for.

2. Cast a wide net

When you’re ready to start recruiting candidates, cast your net deep and wide. You want to post the opening on your website and on job boards that cater to your company’s industry, of course. But you should also share the job ad on your company’s social media accounts.

You may also want to ask your team members, as well as trusted contacts in your professional network, for referrals. They can often be a great source of promising leads, including professionals who may not be actively looking for a new job, but might be open to considering a new opportunity.

3. Don’t short-change the resume review

Evaluating resumes and other application materials is a tedious and time-consuming part of the hiring process. But being thorough in your review is a critical step in determining whether a candidate’s qualifications align with the criteria for the available position.

During your review, look for keywords and phrases that match those in the job description. This will show whether the candidate studied your posting and took the effort to speak directly to your needs. Carefully review candidates’ technical skills, but also look for evidence of their soft skills, be it in the clarity of their writing (as demonstrated in their resume and cover letter), or in the details of their professional history (experience presenting at team meetings, for example, or in cross-departmental collaboration).

Finally, consider how impactful the job seeker was at their current or past role. Do they clearly explain the added value they brought and how they helped meet company goals? Don’t short-change yourself here. You want to hire an employee who can slide into your open role and make a difference from the get-go.

4. Go deep in the interviews

As you did when reviewing resumes, zero in on both technical know-how and interpersonal qualities during the job interview. Open-ended and hypothetical interview questions allow the candidate to discuss their experience and skills, while giving you opportunity to assess their analytical and verbal skills, tact (how they talk about a current or past employer, for example), diplomacy (how they describe interactions with other teams) and other soft skills. Stay friendly, stay engaged, and ask follow-up questions when you need to.

Pay attention, too, to how well the candidate prepared for the interview by testing their knowledge of your company and industry. You can’t expect them to have read your annual report or know the full history of your company, but they should have an understanding of and appreciation for the firm’s mission and product. Aim to hire an employee who embraces the company, not just the job and pay-check.

While your conversations will naturally take different courses, be sure to ask all candidates the same general questions to keep the playing field level. And explain what makes your company and its corporate culture special. Remember, interviews are a two-way street: You want to find the most qualified person for the job, but a candidate will want to be equally excited about joining the team.

5. Determine the right salary range

In any business environment, offering a competitive compensation package is key to attracting top talent. You can use Salary Calculators easily available on trusted websites to easily adjust those national average salary ranges for your market.

Even in a hurting economy, a candidate is going to take a day or two to consider a job offer. There also may be some back-and-forth negotiation, especially if you’re trying to secure a highly skilled and experienced professional or staff a specialized position. Be patient and be fair: You don’t want to hire an employee who will be anything but delighted to start their first day on the job. Once the candidate has accepted, make it clear that the final offer is contingent upon any reference or background checks you need to complete. 

Conducting an interview looks easier than it is. And that’s precisely why many hiring managers don’t always prepare as well as they should for this critical step in the hiring process.

Giving little thought as to how to prepare for an interview can lead to costly hiring mistakes. These include missing the opportunity to recruit a talented professional because you didn’t ask the right questions, failing to make a positive impression on the candidate, or both.

It’s even more important now to refine your approach to interviews because you may need to hire some or all job candidates remotely. If you haven’t mastered the basics of how to conduct a job interview in person, you’re unlikely to deliver a compelling performance in a remote interview.

So, don’t wing it. Here are six things to do before conducting an interview:

1. Revisit the job description

Thoroughly review the job description, which will drive the job posting, even if you were the one who originally created it. Things can change so fast in the current business environment, key elements could now be out of date. If you skip this step, you could end up attracting the wrong people for the job.

The job description should describe the desired technical and soft skills as well as outline all current responsibilities and expectations. If you’re unsure about anything, ask people in the organization who have most recently worked with someone in the role for their input.

2. Closely review the candidate’s work history

One mistake hiring managers often make when conducting interviews is asking candidates to repeat information they’ve already provided. This not only makes you appear unengaged with staffing the position, but it also eats up valuable time in the interview. It will leave little opportunity to dig into questions that can help you evaluate whether the potential hire would succeed in the role.

So, prior to your meeting, thoroughly review any information the job candidate has provided to date. That includes their resume, cover letter and online profile. Note any areas requiring clarification, such as puzzling job titles or unexplained gaps in work history. When conducting an interview, you may also want to hone in on non-work activities that may reveal aspects of the candidate that could have a bearing on job performance.

3. Create a general structure for the process

Sketch out a basic schedule that will allow you to cover all the key areas you want to address during interviews. A well-organized process also shows candidates that you respect their time.

As for scheduling the interview, be flexible. You might think, with so many people working remotely now, finding a time to meet during the day would be easy. But for some people, it’s more challenging. For example, a best practice prior to the pandemic was to schedule interviews early in the day, before work would kick into high gear. However, if people are managing children at home, the morning may not be an ideal meeting time.

So, if possible, offer a few time slots for the candidate to choose from. To simplify things further, you might even consider using an online appointment scheduling tool.

4. Prepare and memorize your must-ask questions

Write down the items you know you’ll need to ask the candidate about based on the job description and your hiring criteria. Try to commit these core questions to memory. Then, you can focus on maintaining eye contact with the candidate, whether you’re meeting in person or by video. That can help you create an interview experience that’s more conversational and relaxed.

5. Use a mix of question types

In addition to your must-asks, leave room for other questions that can help you develop a better picture of the candidate overall. Try using some combination of these interview question types:

  • Closed-ended questions call for a simple, informational answer — sometimes just a yes or no. An example: “Have you worked in an industry different from ours?”
  • Open-ended questions require thought and oblige the candidate to reveal attitudes or opinions. For instance: “What interests you most about this position?”
  • Hypothetical questions invite the potential hire to resolve an imaginary situation or react to a real one. Here’s one: “If you had an opportunity to revise your early career path, what would you do differently?”

6. Practice how to conduct an interview

Just as you expect candidates to be polished during job interviews, they expect the same of you, too. The job market may be a bit more challenging for candidates at the moment, but that doesn’t mean in-demand professionals aren’t going to be selective about their next career move. Your tone and degree of professionalism matter.

This can take practice. You could rehearse with a colleague over a video call, practice with a friend or family member at home, or run through a mock interview in front of your webcam or a mirror. This process will help you build more self-awareness of your communication abilities. At the same time, this will clue you in to opportunities for improvement.

If you want to identify the best candidate for a job, you have to ask the right questions during the interview. And that takes preparation.

You need to evaluate not only the job candidate’s skill sets and experience but also how the interviewee thinks. That requires you to ask both closed-ended questions and open-ended questions.

Other types of questions can produce even more nuanced information to help you with your hiring decision. Here are four types of common questions employers ask, including when to use them and pitfalls to avoid.

1. Closed-ended interview questions

This type of job interview question calls for simple, informational answers — sometimes just a yes or no. These queries can help you quickly gain factual information.

Here are some sample closed-ended interview questions:

  • "How many years did you work for your last employer?"
  • "Have you ever worked in a different industry?"
  • "What's the longest you've worked for any employer?"
  • "Are you comfortable working remotely?"
  • "Do you have much experience with social media?"

When to use them: Closed-ended job interview questions work best if you're trying to elicit specific information or set the stage for more complex questions.

Pitfall to avoid: Asking too many closed-ended questions in rapid-fire succession can make interviewees feel as though they're being interrogated, especially if you fail to link them back to the job criteria.

2. Open-ended interview questions

Open-ended interview questions require thought and oblige the job seeker to reveal attitudes or opinions. For example, a behavioral question asks the candidate to relate past on-the-job experiences to situations they’re likely to encounter again in the new position.

Here are sample open-ended interview questions:

  • "Can you describe how you handle tight deadlines on the job?"
  • "Can you give me an illustration of how you improved productivity at your last job?"
  • "Why do you want to work for this company?"
  • "What are your methods for avoiding errors?"
  • "What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?"
  • "What's the biggest challenge you've ever faced in any job?"
  • "What direction do you see your career taking in five years?"
  • "What does your ideal job look like?"
  • "What could your current company do to be more successful?"

When to use them: Ask these questions frequently throughout the interview, but intersperse them with closed-ended questions.

Pitfall to avoid: If you're not specific enough when phrasing the question, the applicant’s answer may veer off track, especially if you don't intercede and provide clarification.

3. Hypothetical interview questions

These job interview questions invite the candidate to resolve an imaginary situation or react to a given situation. Check out these examples:

  • "Let's say a project you supervised didn't meet the goals you set. How would you respond?"
  • "If you noticed a decline in employee morale, what would you do to improve things?"
  • "If you were the hiring manager for this position, what skills would you be looking for in a candidate?"
  • "Let's say you were given a generous budget for employee training. What would you spend it on?"
  • "If you were asked to improve communications across your previous/current company, what steps would you take?"
  • "If you had an opportunity to revise your early career path, what would you do differently?"
  • "If you could have anyone in our industry as a mentor, who would you choose and why?"

When to use them: These kinds of questions are most useful when framed in the context of actual job situations.

Pitfall to avoid: Don't place too much emphasis on the specific answers a candidate gives to hypothetical answers. What you’re really looking for is a glimpse into the interviewee’s approach to solving problems and overcoming obstacles.

4. Outside-the-box interview questions

On the surface, these job interview questions could seem bizarre, but they may actually yield revealing answers. Consider these curveball queries:

  • "From what you've learned about this position, how would you describe it to a 6-year-old?"
  • "Who would play the lead role in a movie about your life?"
  • "What's the most important thing people don't understand about you?"
  • "If you could be given any superpower, what would you choose?"
  • "How would you explain social media to someone who’s been stranded for 30 years on a desert island?"
  • "If you could take one trip through time, where would you go?"
  • "What's the most difficult problem you've ever solved?"

When to use them: Employers have used these types of interview questions to see if the applicant can think outside the box. But most hiring managers should approach them with some caution. You may gain insights into a candidate's creativity and thought processes. But you might simultaneously seem unprofessional — if not a bit odd — if you don't handle these job interview questions carefully.

Pitfall to avoid: Don't overuse this approach. If you decide to ask this type of interview question, do it just once. A series of curveball questions may send your candidate scrambling to end the interview.

Interview questions employers ask (but should avoid)

A final word of caution: There's another category of job interview questions that is best to avoid entirely: leading questions. They're asked in a way that makes the answer you want obvious. For example:

  • "You know a lot about team building, don't you?"
  • "I bet you're good at setting long-term goals. Right?"
  • "Is this the job you're most interested in?"

If you use these kinds of job interview questions, you're not likely to get an honest answer — just the answer you want to hear.

Most hiring managers know that they have to look beyond a job candidate’s technical qualifications when staffing an IT role. Soft skills and initiative, for example, are equally important factors to consider. And to get that kind of insight, you’ll need to put aside the resumes and come up with a thoughtful set of interview questions to ask your top candidates.

Predictable interview questions like “Where do you see yourself in five years?” probably won’t tell you much. Neither will a series of “yes-or-no” questions. To determine whether someone is a good fit for the job, you want to draw them out, ask a mix of technical and situational questions, and listen closely to not only what they have to say but how they say it. 

You want to know if this person has the technical skills and drive to succeed at the job — and the interpersonal skills to thrive on your team? Here are 17 tech interview questions to help you reach a decision: 

1. What online resources do you use to help you do your job? 

Most IT workers turn to websites such as StackExchange or Github when they need help with something. Serious professionals will have their own selection of websites, online communities, social media feeds and other resources specific to their interests. The answer to this question will give you an indication of how engaged the candidate is with the broader IT world. 

2. How do you keep your technology skills current? 

Tech professionals work hard to keep their knowledge base current by reading blogs and forums, taking online courses, joining hackathons and plugging away at personal IT projects. This tech interview question can help you gauge the candidate’s enthusiasm for the profession, as well as open up a conversation about professional development. 

3. Pretend I’m not a tech person. Can you explain [a relevant technology] in simple terms?

IT plays a crucial role in almost every company, so the ability to communicate with non-technical people is a must. You can assess candidates’ communication skills with this IT interview question. Do they avoid obscure acronyms and jargon? How well can they break down a complicated process? Try asking a few “dumb” follow-up questions to get a sense of how they’d interact with non-tech colleagues.

4. What strengths do you think are most important in a developer [or another relevant IT position]? 

A question like this can reveal how the interviewee feels about the position and what they think they would bring to it. Some candidates may focus on technical abilities and IT certifications, while others may talk more about problem solving, attention to detail, communication and other general job skills. Look for IT candidates who give a balanced answer. 

5. What three words would your colleagues use to describe you? 

The answer can clue you in to a candidate’s personality trait that may not be readily apparent through their resume or traditional interview questions. It also gives insight into how the individual perceives themselves and the role they’re applying for. For example, if their answer focuses on their creative side but the position is very analytical in nature, the job may not be a good fit.

6. Can you tell me about a time when things didn’t go the way you wanted at work, such as a project that failed or being passed over for a promotion? 

Everyone deals with professional setbacks at some point in their career. What you want to know is how people handled — and what they learned from — those situations. The best employees are resilient, using setbacks as a springboard toward positive changes. So listen to not only the problem they mention, but also what they did after the disappointment.

What are your favourite and least favourite technology products, and why? 

In addition to learning whether prospective employees like the hardware, operating system and software your company uses, this tech interview question helps you evaluate enthusiasm and knowledge. Do candidates become animated when discussing the advantages and disadvantages of certain tools? Do they admire solid engineering, sleek design, intuitive user experience or another aspect of good technology?

What are the benefits and the drawbacks of working in an Agile environment? 

Most IT teams have adopted some form of Agile — currently the favoured SDLC methodology — which means lots of quick meetings and a steady stream of feedback from fellow team members. A candidate’s answer to this IT question can tell you not only their level of understanding of this popular environment, but also their attitudes toward collaboration and communication. 

How do you think further technology advances will impact your job? 

Advances in technologies continue to change most IT roles. How aware of that is the candidate you’re interviewing? Do they know, for example, that automated testing is a major part of DevOps, which allows for faster development cycles and quicker deployment? A candidate may talk about the automation tools they use or the challenges of working with machine learning and big data. They may also discuss AI projects they hope to work on. This question is a good way to start a conversation about trends and advancements in the field, and it will also give you insight into how the candidate perceives their role over the long term. 

10. Tell me about a tech project you’ve worked on in your spare time. 

You want to hire an IT professional who devotes their personal time to side projects. Why? These are people who are driven and curious, which, in turn, keeps their skill set fresh. Ask how they stay motivated, what interests them about the project and what their ultimate goal is. If they can demo a website or app they’ve built, all the better. 

11. What was the last presentation you gave? 

Today’s tech workers can’t be lone wolves. They have to discuss changes with teammates, coordinate with other departments, advocate for platforms they prefer and much more. While not everyone has to love public speaking, your new hire should be able to conduct research, put together a solid presentation and persuade stakeholders why X is better than Y. 

12. What are the qualities of a successful team or project leader? 

Always be on the lookout for leaders, even when you’re not hiring for a management position. The nature of IT work means individuals will frequently have to take responsibility for delivering projects, and this requires leadership skills such as organization, motivation, positivity, delegation and communication. 

13. What skills or characteristics make someone an effective remote worker? 

This is an important question to ask given the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote workers must be self-starters who are able to work with little supervision. They need excellent communication abilities as well as self-discipline and stellar time-management skills. Not everyone has those qualities, and not everyone thrives working outside an office. You want to be sure your new hire will be both productive and comfortable if working off-site.

14. What would you hope to achieve in the first six months after being hired?

The answer to this tech interview question depends on the role. A developer, for example, may hope to have developed a small project during that time, while a tech manager may want to have analyzed internal processes. A candidate’s response will give you insights into their overall understanding of the position. If their goals and ambitions don’t match the job description, this may not be the right position for them.

15. How do you handle tight deadlines? 

IT teams often face daunting time constraints. You need someone who can work efficiently and accurately when under pressure. Ask this interview question of a potential employee and you’ll at least get a sense of how they deal with stress and whether they can keep up with the pace of projects at your company. You could also follow up by asking if they’ve ever missed a deadline and, if so, how they dealt with the situation.

16. How do you manage your work-life balance?

With on-call duties and multiple pressing deadlines, some tech workers struggle with the always-on, workaholic culture of this field. While you want dedicated team members, you should also seek employees who know how to relax and take care of themselves. Burnout is a very real problem in IT, and top performers have good strategies in place to prevent that. As a follow up to their answer, you could talk about how your company supports a healthy work-life balance — something that can be very tempting for candidates with multiple offers. 

17. Why do you want to work for us? 

Individuals who truly want the job will have done their research and be able to talk about your company’s values, products and services, and approach to technology. If they can’t articulate at least a few reasons your company would be a good match for their skills and ambitions, then they haven’t done their due diligence to properly prepare for the interview.

Remember to allow time at the end of the interview for candidates to ask you questions. This is not only beneficial to applicants — it also clues you in to what matters to them. For instance, you may reconsider your interest in a prospect if they seem overly concerned about salary and vacation accrual during the first interview. Or you may be impressed when someone asks questions that demonstrate their business acumen and thorough understanding of your company’s strengths and weaknesses.

Hiring a software developer? You should know the role has evolved in recent years, but the qualities of a great software developer remain the same. They should have top-notch programming skills, laser focus — and that dash of ingenuity that enables them to find elegant solutions to knotty problems.

But today’s software developer is also a team player. Moving on from the lone wolf coder personas of legend, the dev world has switched to methodologies like Agile and DevOps, which emphasize teamwork, communication and collaboration.

This can still be a tough position to staff: Competition for software developers may not be as intense as it was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the demand for top talent is still strong. And in this challenging business environment we now all operate in, you can’t afford to pass up on the best — because, let’s face it, your competitors won’t.

Here’s what you need to know about hiring software developers today:

Decide what kind of developer you need

Software developers come in many varieties, but most fall into one of three broad categories:

  • Front-end developers — The front end is the part that the user interacts with, whether it’s a website, an app or another type of interface. Developing the front end usually requires knowledge of scripting languages like JavaScript, as well as a talent for design.
  • Back-end developers — If the front end is the software’s chassis, the back end is the engine. Back-end developers typically work in a compiled language like Java, C++ or C#. In addition, these developers generally have a good understanding of database technologies, such as SQL.
  • Full-stack developers — Full-stack developers do all of the above. In an enterprise setting, full-stack developers might help with application design, project coordination and more. There are other kinds of software developers, including those who specialize in middleware, security and big data. To define the role you want to recruit for, think about the type of software you’re building and the additional skills you need on your development team.

Craft a winning software developer job description

When advertising your open position, you need to give potential candidates a clear sense of what your ideal software developer looks like. Things to consider include:

  • Essential technical skills — These are the main programming languages software developer candidates need to know on day one. Working these into the job description title is a good way to catch the eye of developers who might skip over a more generic headline. If you know that your developer will be working mostly in Java, a posting titled “Java Developer” makes more sense than one labeled “Software Developer.”
  • Nice-to-have skills — You may choose to list some additional skills that are useful but not essential: working with Docker or Amazon Web Services (AWS), for example. No candidate is all-knowing, however, so make sure the nice-to-have skills don’t come off as must-haves.
  • Your team environment — Development is team-based these days, so you want candidates whose work style fits your company culture (and vice versa). Is your team Agile? Planning to pivot to DevOps? Do you work nine-to-five, no exceptions, or do you often go into crunch mode, with everyone putting in extra hours to meet a project deadline?
  • Soft skills — These can be as important as programming skills, especially in a collaborative environment. Outline the nontechnical skills that are essential in this position, especially those relating to communication, empathy and teamwork. And in this age of social distancing, your new hire has to be as effective and comfortable working from home as they would be in the office.

Make the most of interviews

Because software developers need to be well-rounded team players as well as coding wizards, it’s common to evaluate a diverse set of skills over two interviews:

  • Technical interview — Ideally, this should be a face-to-face or video interview with an experienced developer on your team. If that’s not possible, provide the candidate with written questions to test their programming chops.
  • Personal interview — Personal interviews can be conducted by any manager or HR professional. If the interviewer has zero coding skills, you can test the developer’s ability to explain difficult concepts to a layperson. And like any other interview, you’ll look at personality, soft skills and employment history while sizing up the candidate for corporate culture fit. Try not to leave much time between the first and second interviews. Keep the candidate interested — and keep your hiring team on track. You want to assess each candidate’s attributes while still fresh in the mind. A week or two delay between interviews can muddy the waters and you risk losing out on a great hire (or making a bad one).

Offer a competitive salary

Even in an uncertain economy, candidates for software development roles expect to be offered an attractive salary.

Team up with a recruitment specialist

Hiring software developers can be a laborious, time-consuming process. Writing a thoughtful job posting that hits all the right notes, sorting through the stacks of resumes that’ll likely yield, vetting the candidates and calling references can all take weeks — this at a time when you have to focus on your business like never before.

The good news is that you don’t have to go it alone. InQTive Solutions can not only find you highly skilled candidates fast, but we can help with the initial interviews, job descriptions, determining the right salary range and much more. And long before the COVID-19 pandemic, our recruiters have been helping firms across the country staff a remote workforce. In these hectic times, that means we can bring in the talent while you keep your eye on the ball.

In most industries, if your company doesn’t have an app, you’re already behind the competition. If users can’t access your products or services with a simple tap on their phone (or another device), they’re likely to gravitate toward a brand that does offer easy mobile engagement.

Some of those brands have not only survived but thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hunkered down at home for weeks on end, millions of people have grown more attached than ever to their mobile devices. Both the number of apps downloaded and the average amount of time people spend on them have spiked. Clearly, developing killer apps could help your business. On the flipside, rushing a shoddy one to market might damage your reputation. For the execution to match your vision, you’ll need a first-rate app developer. Even in the current economy, this can be a challenging position to hire for. But a compelling job post, a careful vetting and the right salary can go a long way to attract top candidates and land your first choice for the role. Here are tips on how to hire an app developer today:

Step 1: Build up a profile of your ideal developer

Most people associate apps with mobile platforms, but they’re in everything from cars to TVs. So before you start hiring, talk with all of your internal stakeholders to precisely define what you’re building, who your users are and what those users need in your app.

Once you have the blueprint for the kind of app you need, you can define your app developer’s must-have skills. These developers have a wide range of proficiencies and backgrounds, so this isn’t a one-size-fits-all job. Knowing what you can't live without helps you identify the candidates that best suit your project.

Ask yourself questions like these:

What platforms will your app run on? The consensus in the developer community is that it’s quicker and easier to build an iOS app than an Android version. Android is an open-source platform, offering limitless flexibility — along with limitless compatibility headaches — whereas iOS is a closed ecosystem with a tight set of rules. If your app will ship as iOS-only, you can consider developers with less all-around experience.

What kind of users is your app targeting? Know your audience — then look for a developer who understands what makes them happy. For example, if your app is a virtual wallet aimed at affluent iPhone users in their 20s and 30s, you’re unlikely to get any traction without a slick user interface (UI). But if you’re building a video-sharing app for teens, a colorful, artfully messy interface could be just what gets your app into the top 100.

Are you starting from scratch or rebuilding an existing app? If the former, there’s a good chance you’ll be looking for an all-rounder — someone who can write clean, readable code to deadline and understands what can make or break the UX. If the latter, you might be more in the market for a specialist — someone who can overhaul those features of the app you’ve identified as weak links. For example, if users love the UI but complain about the app’s load time, it makes sense to hire a programmer with a track record in optimizing and streamlining unwieldy code.

Step 2: Write a tight and appealing job description

To attract the right app developer for your project, the job description needs to be more than just a laundry list of technical skills. This person will be working closely with you and colleagues across departments, so you want someone who shares your excitement for the product and will mesh well with you and your team.

A good job description for an app developer should do the following:

  • Define the product and timeframe — Even if your app is top secret, try to give developers a sense of what they’ll be building and how long they’ll be building it. This gives you the best chance of attracting someone who will be passionate about the project, and it helps filter out under- or over-qualified candidates. Just because someone has the coding chops to build a complex photo-sharing app doesn’t mean they have the temperament and experience to shepherd it through a year-long development process.
  • Identify essential and nice-to-have tech skills — Regardless of the app, you’ll be looking for candidates fluent in languages such as Java, C# and Swift. Skills such as database configuration, security protocols and working with particular APIs may be needed. It’s also worth asking yourself: What skills are missing within our current development team? This could be a chance to fill those gaps (but be clear in the posting which are a nice-to-haves, and which are required skills).
  • Emphasize soft skills — Some of the smartest people struggle to explain their thought and working processes. That’s fine in some contexts, but if you want your app developer to collaborate with social media managers, the marketing team and so on, you’ll need someone with excellent communication skills in both technical and non-technical discussions. And in this age of social distancing, your new hire has to be as effective and comfortable working from home as they would be in the office. A successful history of teamwork, self-motivation, time management and communication skills are a few of the personal attributes to consider adding to the job posting.
  • Ask for a portfolio — A resume will show the candidate’s work history, tech stack and education. The resume, along with the cover letter, can also give a sense of the candidate’s writing skills and attention to detail. But nothing demonstrates technical skills and output like a strong portfolio. Ask the tech and design experts on your hiring team to review your leading candidates’ work examples before you schedule interviews.

Step 3: Dig deep when assessing candidates

When interviewing app developers, the most important questions are the ones you ask yourself. Does this candidate have the necessary technical skills? Will they be a good fit for the organization? And, more specifically, are they right for this job?

Because technical skills are the easiest to assess objectively, you should cover them first. Ideally, one of your experienced developers will conduct video interviews with candidates, putting them through their coding paces — often by using an online coding editor that lets people collaborate on problems and solutions in real-time. For insight into the candidate’s workstyle, the interviewer might ask them to talk through a project in their portfolio. 

Assessing whether candidates are a good organizational fit and have the necessary soft skills is trickier, and best covered in an interview separate from the skills test. Prepare thoughtfully and thoroughly. You’ve already included desired soft skills in the job posting, so yes-or-no questions such as “Are you a good team player?” will tell you very little. Much better to come up with a set of questions that will both draw out a candidate’s professional knowledge and personality. “Tell me what you love most about building apps,” for example, or “What are your favorite and least favorite kinds of app (and why)?”

Finally, you need to know that a candidate shares your vision and enthusiasm for the app. You can do this in the interview by expanding on some of your ideas for the product and asking for the developer’s creative input. This will test not only how thoroughly the candidate prepped for the interview but also how comfortable they are with offering constructive criticism.

Step 4: Make a competitive offer

If you want to hire an app developer and keep them, then you’ll have to offer a fair and competitive salary. We’re in a tough economy right now, but in time things will pick up. You want an app developer who’ll be as excited to join the team as they will be to stay on should competitors come calling.

Whether you’re making a full-time hire or bringing on a project professional, make clear what perks and benefits are also included in the compensation package. A positive message about the workplace culture can also carry weight with app developers who might be considering another opportunity.

A final tip: Seek expert help when hiring app developers

There's a lot to do, and a lot to think about, packed into those four steps. If you’re strapped for time, specialized staffing agencies like InQTive Solutions can help you find top talent fast. Beyond access to the skilled candidates who’ve registered with our firm, our recruiters have an expansive network and know which app developers are open to new opportunities. In addition, it’s the recruiter’s job to spot industry and salary trends before anyone else, which can help you close the deal quickly.

In this challenging business environment, there’s no need to get bogged down with writing job descriptions, vetting resumes, conducting interviews and reference checks, and benchmarking salaries. Bring in the staffing professionals who do that for a living, so you can get back to the business of running your business.

Web developers obviously need strong technical abilities. But when hiring a web developer, candidates’ soft skills can be just as important as their tech prowess.

During a time when many IT professionals are working at home, abilities like communicating clearly and tactfully with colleagues within or outside of the department who are also remote can determine whether someone flourishes or flounders on the job.

To avoid the high costs of a bad hire, you may want to reexamine how you vet job candidates. Here are 16 of the best web developer interview questions, the first 10 of which relate to soft skills.

1. Can you tell me briefly about some projects you’ve worked on and the approach you took from start to finish?

Web developer interview questions like these will help you learn about the candidate’s work style — how they gather requirements, solve problems, manage user feedback, handle QA and collaborate in a team setting. You’ll also gain insight into whether they pay close attention to user experience.

2. Pretend I’m a tech novice. Can you explain what ______ is in plain English?

Your newly hired web developer will likely work closely with other departments, which means they’ll need to interact effectively with their non-techie colleagues in marketing, sales, corporate communications, and other areas of the company. Ask candidates to expound on a topic all web developers should be familiar with, and look for their ability to communicate in non-jargony terms. Here are some concepts to choose from:

  • MVC model
  • Responsive design
  • AWS/Azure
  • APIs
  • Microservice architecture

You could also ask them to compare and contrast related terms, such as UI vs. UX or front end vs. back end, for a lay audience.

3. Have you ever given a presentation?

IT plays a strategic role in many companies, so public speaking is a good skill to have in a web developer. You’ll want to hire a web developer who is comfortable presenting. Bonus points to those who’ve given presentations to large non-IT groups. Follow up with questions on how they gathered and organized information, and what they did to keep the audience’s attention.

4. Who is your role model in the world of tech?

Do they admire innovators? Talented engineers? Great designers? Entrepreneurs who’ve made billions? People who do good in the world? The answer to this question can tell you much about a candidate’s ambitions and values, helping you decide whether they’d be a good or poor fit for your company culture.

5. Name a website or app that annoys you. What’s wrong with it?

This web developer interview question asks about the candidate’s awareness of current issues in web development, as well as their own problem-solving abilities. A good answer is one where they do more than just gripe about someone else’s work. Skilled web developers will offer real solutions to practical issues, such as how to improve load times or optimize the user experience.

6. What do you do when an application stops working?

Problem solving is at the heart of web development, so listen to how candidates talk about fixing things that go awry. Do they break down the situation and analyze potential causes? Do they know when to ask for help and where to go to find answers? How do they respond if their first idea for a solution doesn’t pan out?

7. Tell me about a time you’ve had to respond to negative feedback.

Web developers have to deal with a barrage of comments from beta testers and actual users. The ideal candidate for this position needs to know how to take that feedback, analyze it and turn it into action. Listen to how they walk through the issue and arrive at a conclusion.

8. Have you ever been blamed for something that wasn’t your fault?

This is a challenging question, but it’s a good way of gauging the candidate’s attitude toward teamwork. If an interviewee is quick to throw colleagues under the bus, that’s a red flag. You want to hire a diplomatic web developer who doesn’t get frustrated quickly and who will work toward a solution.

9. What are the biggest challenges of working on the front end of an application?

Web developers work closely with the rest of the development team. They need to understand how data is structured, what functions are available, how APIs are called, and how web services are configured. Candidates should be able to discuss the entire development lifecycle, and show an understanding of where they fit in. This question will help to differentiate between a web developer and a web designer who knows a little Java.

10. Tell me about the projects you’re working on (or have worked on) in your spare time?

Technology moves fast. When hiring a web developer, you’re looking for someone who invests some of their own time in growing their skills and staying on top of emerging trends. Candidates should be able to discuss some personal projects, either past or present, and possibly even show you their work.

11. What APIs have you worked with?

All candidates should have worked with APIs for well-known commercial services, such as those offered by Twitter, Slack, Dropbox, and the suite of APIs offered by Google. Candidates should be able to talk about how to call API functions and integrate results into their design. Advanced candidates may have helped to develop and document their own APIs, and they will be able to talk about how they worked with the development team to create secure, useful interfaces.

12. What do you think will be the biggest trends in future web development?

This is an open-ended question, and candidates may talk about technologies like Motion UI, AI-powered customer service chatbots, voice search, Google’s improvements to their Accelerated Mobile Pages technology, emerging cybersecurity threats, or advanced analytics techniques. Whatever they focus on, ask them how they think this will improve user experience, what challenges the technology presents, and how they think they might integrate the new technology with their current work.

13. Which content management systems have you worked with?

Some of the most popular CMSs are WordPress, Joomla and Drupal, all of which are open-source systems written in PHP and based on a relational database like MySQL. To elicit more information, ask interviewees if they’re involved in the relevant open-source communities and whether they’ve ever made any contributions.

14. How are your SQL skills?

Web developers may not interact directly with a database, but it’s important that they understand how data is structured. Any practical SQL experience, such as having worked as a database administrator, is highly valuable. 

15. What’s the biggest difference between developing for mobile and desktop?

Most people browse on mobile, but the majority of development work happens on a desktop. A suitable candidate should know how to develop for both, and they should be able to sound off on crucial differences, such as screen size, touch input, limited multitasking, and variation in browser plug-ins. They should also understand how to create a great user experience on any platform.

16. Can you find the error in this code?

It’s common practice to ask candidates to write code by hand during an interview, which isn’t an ideal setting. An alternative is to print out a piece of code — such as a Java class and the JavaScript that invokes it — with strategically placed errors and ask interviewees to debug it. This is a quick way to establish both technical knowledge and their attention to detail.

Asking these 16 web developer interview questions should help you narrow down your list of candidates to those with not only the best technical skills but also strong interpersonal qualities. Having both has been a great way to get ahead for IT web developers in recent years.

What is it about an app or any other piece of software that makes users fall in love with it?

It’s a subjective question, to be sure, but most answers — speed, appearance, easy navigation — have something to do with the user interface (UI). A great UI can be the difference between a competent product and a killer app, which is why UI design is one of the most important roles in the creative field.

It’s also a multifaceted one. Looks matter, of course, and from the color palette to the typography, UI designers are responsible for making a product that’s pleasing on the eye. But they also devise intuitive user interactions, craft style guides, make mockups and prototypes, build and manage design systems, and optimize products for responsive web design (RWD).

As you’d expect, creative professionals with this kind of skill set are in high demand, and competition for the hottest talent is fierce. But there’s a lot you can do to increase your chances of landing your first choice for the role.

Create a top-notch job posting

Just as a well-designed UI draws in users of an app, a tight, well-crafted job posting engages the attention of the best candidates.

Assuming you want your designer to hit the ground running, clearly state what software they’ll be using on day one, as well as the kinds of products and platforms they’ll be working on. Software skills the designer may need include:

  • Prototyping — MockFlow, Balsamiq, Axure RP, Framer X, InVision Studio, ProtoPie
  • Editing or creating still images — Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
  • Creating animated images and text — Sketch, Adobe After Effects
  • Interaction design environments — Principle

Engineering and design are becoming increasingly specialized, so it’s safer to assume designers don’t write code than to assume they do. If the position requires coding skills, state this loud and clear in the job posting, along with any markup and programming languages the designer needs to know.

Some additional topics to address in your job posting include whether the position is full-time or project-based, if any special credentials or certifications are required, the level of formal education preferred and details about your organizational culture.

Finally, work with your team to make sure the job description prioritizes must-have skills and qualifications. If the posting is a laundry list of nice-to-have attributes, it risks driving away talented candidates who can’t tick every box.

Dig deeper at the interview

A good resume and portfolio tells you a lot about a candidate’s hard skills, qualifications and experience. They tell you less about their soft skills — their ability to communicate ideas to team members, for example, or to compromise on their personal vision for the benefit of the project.

These and similar interpersonal skills are crucial for UI designers, who work closely with software developers and user experience (UX) designers. By asking the right questions during the interview, you can probe a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses in these areas. Some examples:

  • What are your favorite and least favorite things about UI design?
  • Do you think UI designers will become more or less important as technology evolves?
  • From a design perspective, what’s your favorite piece of software, and why?
  • Pretend I’ve never used a smartphone, and explain to me why UI design matters.
  • What kind of work environment do you thrive in?
  • What do you learn from more, your mistakes or your successes?
  • How do you think the UX designers and software developers you’ve worked with would describe you?

It’s a good idea to mix broad questions like these with ones that focus more narrowly on a candidate’s work history. Pick out a couple of interesting projects from their portfolio and ask questions such as these:

  • If we asked you to work on a similar project to this one, what would you do differently?
  • What makes this particular user interface special? 
  • Was there any moment on this project when you disagreed with your software developers or UX designers? If so, how did you resolve this?
  • How did delivering this project on time affect your work-life balance?

Make a good offer — and make it fast

It’s a tight job market out there, with plenty of opportunities for UI designers — who may well be juggling multiple offers from different companies. If a candidate impressed you with their resume and interview, chances are they’re impressing other employers too — so it’s important to move quickly to make them an offer they can’t refuse.

The Creative Group 2020 Salary Guide states that the median starting salary for a UI designer is $80,000, rising to around $128,000 for the most experienced and qualified candidates. These are national figures, though, and salaries can vary according to location. Use our Salary Calculator to determine what UI designers can expect in your city and state.

If you can’t match the salaries being offered by your competitors, you have other options. From bottomless coffee to flexible schedules, tempting perks and benefits can sway creative professionals. Get creative yourself and think about what might appeal to UI designers in particular.

They are likely to embrace emerging technologies, and have the ability to self-learn, so opportunities for professional development may help your job offer stand out. In addition, you could promise them an all-expenses paid trip to their choice of one or two of the many annual UI-related conferences.

From pulsating billboards in Times Square to viral clips on YouTube, video surrounds us every day. It helps that anyone with a smartphone can shoot a video — then trim, rotate and overdub it using apps that cost less than a cheeseburger.

So if anyone can edit a video, why hire a video editor? Truth is, there’s a world of difference between manipulating a clip for fun and delivering a professionally created video project on time and to spec.

Many people may know that FLV, MOV and AVI are video formats, but only a pro knows which one is best for what project. They also understand that milliseconds matter in time-based media, and are prepared to watch, rewatch, arrange and rearrange scenes until the execution perfectly matches the vision.

Your company’s video projects need to attract attention in a crowded field of media, and a great video editor can make them do exactly that. Here’s a guide to recruiting a professional who can help take your creative team to the next level.

1. Craft a solid job posting

The point of any job description is twofold: You need to clearly lay out the details of the position while making top talent eager to join your company.

Before waxing lyrical about the exciting projects you’ve got lined up and all the perks your company offers, let candidates know the basics.

  • Job duties and responsibilities — Will your hire be editing short clips for social media, long-form content for marketing purposes, feature-length films or all of the above? Will they also be tasked with shooting video or creating content such as motion graphics and still images? Digital design and production is made up of increasingly specialized fields, so if you want your video editor to do more than edit video, make that clear in the job posting.
  • Education and experience required — If you want someone with a college education, spell that out. While many video editor candidates have a bachelor’s degree in film production or related disciplines, not all do. Practical experience is also crucial in this role, so your job description should clearly state how many years of video editing you expect candidates to have under their belt.
  • Tech background expected — Familiarity with video editing software such as Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere and Media Composer is a given, but you should specify the required level of experience and proficiency. And if the job goes beyond simply editing video clips, highlight additional software requirements in the job description. Common examples include:
  • Photo retouching/editing — Adobe Photoshop, GIMP
  • Creating motion graphics — Adobe After Effects, NUKE, Motion, Fusion 9
  • Composing sound/music — Pro Tools, Adobe Audition, Sound Forge, Audacity
  • 3D modeling — Cinema 4D, Maya, Blender
  • Perks and benefits — The competition for creative talent is fierce in the current market, so tell candidates what makes your company a cut above the rest. Highlight benefits packages and unique aspects of your organizational culture. And don't forget to mention popular perks like flexible work schedules, on-site childcare and telecommuting options.

2. Interview for technical prowess and soft skills

To explore a candidate’s hard skills beyond their resume during the interview, it’s best to avoid closed-ended questions that have only one response, such as “Are you highly proficient at Final Cut Pro?” Instead, choose one or two samples from their portfolio and ask them to walk you through the execution of those projects. What software did they use and why? How did they decide on the compression format for the final output? If they were starting the project all over again, what would they do differently?

And while technical skills are essential, the interview is also an excellent chance to evaluate the soft skills that matter to you and your team. Do candidates know when to compromise and when to stand their ground? Can they work effectively in a collaborative environment? How do they respond to criticism?

It’s hard to grade soft skills in an hour-long meeting, but a carefully crafted set of interview questions can shine a light on them. The following examples can give you a peek into candidates’ working styles and problem-solving abilities and whether they’re team players:

  • What kind of working environment brings out the best in you?
  • If you suddenly realized you couldn’t meet a deadline without compromising on quality, what would you do?
  • Do you feel like you always get the credit you deserve on projects you’re involved in?
  • Give us an example of a project you weren’t happy with. What did you learn from it?

3. Get hiring help from the experts

A drawn-out hiring process can hurt your company in more ways than one. For starters, the more time it takes you to staff open video editor positions, the longer you hinder your team’s ability to meet project deadlines and even win new contracts. In addition, InQTive research shows job seekers lose interest in positions if recruitment takes too long, so stalled hiring can make you miss out on top talent.

A specialized staffing agency like The Creative Group can save you time and energy by helping identify the best candidates for your company. Recruiters have the inside track on available creative talent in your area and can review resumes to zero in on the right applicants. They can also keep you looped in with industry trends and salaries, meaning you stand a better chance of making talented video editors an offer they can’t refuse.

4. Close the deal with the right offer

Creative professionals know their worth and won’t hesitate to leave the negotiating table if they feel undervalued. The Creative Group 2020 Salary Guide shows that the median starting salary for video editors is $64,250. Keep in mind that this national figure can vary depending on factors like skills and experience, your company size and where you’re located. For example, creative salaries in New York City can be 40% higher than the national average. Use our Salary Calculator to find out what video editors expect to earn in your city and state.

Running a large organization requires managing a lot of moving parts and people, which is why finding stellar enterprise resource planning (ERP) analysts is essential. 

ERP analysts implement ERP systems, which provide a one-stop, 360-degree view of a large company, including core business processes such as design, material, production, delivery, logistics, human resources and finance. 

ERP systems can smooth information flow, ensure accuracy, cut down on delays and speed deliveries to customers. Gone is the need to check with a slew of departments to find a bottleneck, such as where an order might be mired. When implemented properly, ERP systems make this information available with a keystroke. 

Maximizing these systems requires hiring ERP analysts who have both coding expertise and project management skills. To help you identify these candidates, here are 12 targeted interview questions to ask.

1. What are the core components of the average ERP? 

Every ERP system has a transactional database, management view, analytics and reporting tools, and workflow management. There are also additional components, such as human resources and logistics functions.

The answer to this straightforward question provides insight into how candidates see the structure and purpose of ERP. You’ll also gain insight into their aptitude for breaking down complicated topics for non-technical audiences.

2. Tell me about a successful ERP implementation you were involved with.

Listen for key details such as how candidates analysed a problem or need their company was experiencing, designed a solution and communicated with stakeholders.

3. Tell me about the most difficult interface challenge you faced and how you dealt with it.

You also want to be mindful of the ways candidates reacted to challenges they faced during the rollout.

4. Explain how an ERP project you worked on addressed the integration among discrete ERP modules and other software platforms within the organization.

ERP analysts tackle these issues by using interfaces. This is an extremely technical task that can involve configuring third-party APIs (application programming interfaces) or creating unique interfaces from scratch. This question will provide insight into candidates’ technical abilities.

5. Tell me about your programming background. 

Building and configuring an ERP requires a range of programming skills. The core of an ERP is usually built with Java or C++, though PHP or Ruby may also play a role in the setup. All ERPs will have a relational database that can be queried with SQL. 

Some systems also have their own high-level proprietary language. If you’re working with an SAP setup, for example, your analyst will need to know ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming), while for Oracle, they may need EnterpriseOne.

6. What are data dictionaries, and why do we need them?

Data dictionaries contain definitions for the types of data used in a relational database. For instance, if your ERP was storing job candidate details, each record might contain names and addresses as text strings and phone numbers as numerical values.

Data dictionaries are especially important for cross-function projects. They tell users exactly how to input data, even if they’re not familiar with the system. They also help development teams to agree on data requirements with business units.

7. What’s the difference between SAP and NetSuite?

Ask candidates to explain the difference between any two systems, and you’ll learn more about their understanding of both. Some key contrasts between these two major ERP platforms include: 

  • SAP is on-premises with cloud functionality. NetSuite is cloud only. 
  • NetSuite is automatically updated. SAP is manually updated.
  • NetSuite’s analytics tools are user-friendly. SAP is more powerful but can be harder to use.
  • NetSuite employs open architecture that makes integration significantly easier than when you’re working with SAP. 
  • SAP uses customizable modules such as Financial Accounting, Enterprise Controlling, Inventory Management, Human Resource and Production Planning.

8. How have you dealt with conflicting requests from different functional areas?

From an ERP standpoint, an organization has up to five main functional areas: finance, management accounting, manufacturing, logistics and human resources. Soft skills are a must because functional areas often disagree, catching ERP analysts in the middle. Outstanding ERP analysts are excellent communicators with experience in project management and change management. Look for candidates who can provide real-world examples of times when they’ve balanced conflicting requests to find compromise.

9. How can an ERP analyst improve the speed of an implementation?

SAP ASAP (Accelerated SAP) is common industry best practice for bringing ERP projects live. While ASAP was developed by SAP, the methodology is platform agnostic and will run on any operating system.

There are five key steps: 

  • Project preparation 
  • Business blueprint
  • Realization 
  • Final preparation
  • Go-live and support

Most ERP analysts will have used some version of this methodology in the past and should be able to provide examples of that.

Some candidates will also have experience using Agile methodology to create a more dynamic implementation process. Still others have worked in DevOps and may focus on the continuous deployment approach.

10. Tell me about your experience with ERP training programs.

Training is one of the most important aspects of change management projects such as ERP implementations. Users need to know how to do their jobs using new systems and also understand the ways updated functions can make life easier.

Ask candidates to describe their past experiences with training company employees. As in the question above, look for evidence that they have strong soft skills, especially in areas involving communication, empathy and teamwork.

11. Have you ever had trouble bringing a project in, at or under budget?

ERP deployments and upgrades can be expensive, with costs that easily surpass initial estimates. For example, the project manager may need to invest in additional modules, develop bespoke interfaces or scale up their usage of cloud services.

This question helps establish whether candidates understand how technical decisions can have financial consequences. Awareness of these matters is especially germane if new hires will have project management duties.

12. How will technological advancements impact ERP?

Transformative technologies — such as those identified in our Jobs and AI Anxiety report — will impact ERP in myriad ways. For example, robotic process automation (RPA) is becoming highly sophisticated, removing a lot of manual intervention from workflow processes. Likewise, Internet of Things (IoT) systems are creating huge volumes of data related to areas like logistics and manufacturing.

As much of this information passes through the ERP, sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) will be required to analyze and react to the incoming data. ERP analysts will need to become experts in AI and machine learning, and will require understanding of the big data structures that make it all possible. Top candidates will know and mention this need.

A closing tip for hiring managers: In-demand ERP professionals know they have multiple opportunities and won’t wait around for a company that drags its feet in making a hiring decision.

We usually associate scientists with esoteric academic research rather than the nitty-gritty of business and commerce. But data scientists are different.

First of all, they don’t wear lab coats. Though more importantly, they have expertise with managing and interpreting data that’s immensely valuable to companies — which is why demand for these professionals is so high in today’s recruitment market.

What does a data scientist do?

Up until recently, firms were hamstrung by a lack of data. Marketing, finance, logistics — all these departments worked with limited information about customers, employees, processes and systems.

Over the past decade, however, commerce has transitioned from an era of data scarcity to one of abundance thanks to technologies like social media and the Internet of Things. When analyzed intelligently, this data can yield previously unobtainable insights, from market trends to customer behavior models — and can greatly improve business strategies and workflows.

In other words, data scientists make all this data talk. Specific tasks within this broad description may include:

  • Guiding a company’s analytics strategy
  • Finding insights in data by applying statistical models
  • Using machine learning and AI to improve analytics
  • Working with product owners to improve data collection strategies

Data scientists also act as advocates for data-driven decision making within their organizations. They regularly give presentations to senior leadership, and these reports can have a huge impact on the direction of the business.

How to recruit a data scientist

With data scientists, there are usually more job openings than available candidates, but we know a few tips to help you find the right person.

1. Make sure your company culture is ready

Big data has changed everything, and many companies are struggling to catch up. Some are still in a relatively early stage of the digital transformation process, which is as much about culture as it is about technology.

If you’re hiring a data scientist as part of your plan to reach digital maturity, first consider whether your company is ready for the data-driven approach. Is there an analytics infrastructure in place? Is the IT department ready to support analytics projects? Can the leadership team respond to data insights and make bold decisions accordingly?

Without widespread acceptance of a data-driven philosophy, your data scientist will struggle to make an impact — and they’ll figure this out during your recruiting process. Talk things through with the relevant teams to ensure everyone’s ready to embrace analytics.

2. Create an eye-catching job posting

To create the perfect job description, consult with your colleagues to decide what kind of data scientist you need. This means agreeing on some key details, such as:

  • Education level — A master’s degree is generally the minimum, although some positions may require a Ph.D.
  • Background — Do you need a mathematician with coding skills, or an IT expert with a solid grasp of statistics? Does your ideal candidate have corporate experience, or do they come from an academic background?
  • IT skills — Data scientist positions always require experience with big data structures. But the role may also require programming skills, as well as a knowledge of machine learning.
  • Communication skills — Data scientists must often communicate difficult concepts to nontechnical people. Good communication skills and knowledge of Microsoft PowerPoint are must-haves.
  • Other soft skills — The role may require certain other attributes, such as the ability to work well in a team. Some job descriptions specify that the candidate must be a highly ethical and discreet person, as the role often involves working with very sensitive information.

What will make your ideal candidate apply for the position? Your job posting should outline why this is a great opportunity for the right person. Talk about your team structure, your goals, your organizational culture and your commitment to professional development to draw in the best candidates for your company.

3. Get the interview right

Interviewing data scientists can be tricky, since candidates may come from a range of backgrounds, from software development to pure mathematics. A good rule of thumb is to avoid asking technical questions you don’t know the answer to. If your candidate has a background in inferential statistics and you want to dig deeper, make sure there’s someone in the room who can speak with authority on the subject.

Each candidate should present a portfolio of their past work, which you can discuss during the interview. If their portfolio contains group projects, be sure to clarify exactly which elements they contributed.

4. Make an offer they can’t refuse

Salary is the most important element of any job offer package. On the other hand, salary isn’t everything. Smaller employers can compete for top talent by offering attractive perks and benefits, especially those that make it easier to maintain work-life balance, such as telecommuting and flexible schedules.

On the other hand, salary isn’t everything. Smaller employers can compete for top talent by offering attractive perks and benefits, especially those that make it easier to maintain work-life balance, such as telecommuting and flexible schedules.

Professional development opportunities can also help attract great candidates. Engaged employees are always looking for ways to improve their resumes, either by notching up new qualifications or working on interesting projects.

5. Speak to a recruitment professional

Data science is still an emerging field, and you may struggle to find suitable candidates. A specialized staffing agency like InQTive Solutions can help put together an appealing job listing and find suitable people to interview. You may also find that it’s easier to bring in a data scientist on a project or consultancy basis. In this case, a staffing agency is practically a must. A good agency will have a roster of qualified consultants who can get started right away.

6. Waste no time

However you manage the hiring process, try to complete it as quickly as possible. If you’re keen on someone, it’s safe to assume your competitors are too. Talented candidates may be pursuing several opportunities — and are likely to accept the first attractive offer they receive. With your company’s digital future on the line, make sure that offer comes from you.

The hiring process for accounting roles is more challenging than it was just a few months ago. The candidate pool may not be as tight, but now you need to locate, interview and hire skilled talent remotely — an unwelcome complication for an already swamped hiring manager. You’ll also find that current circumstances mean some of the accounting interview questions and answers you need to consider are different, too.

In the not-too-distant past, you would have considered whether a job candidate would be a good fit for the office culture. Today, you have to gauge how effective they’ll be working from home (more on that topic later in this post). And the questions you use to assess a candidate’s technical knowledge and abilities — and get a general sense of their soft skills — have to go just as deep as they ever did. In this challenging economy, you can’t afford to make a bad hire.

Here are 21 accounting interview questions you should consider asking your top candidates to cover their skills, experience and suitability for remote work.

1. What is the difference between accounts receivable (AR) and accounts payable (AP)?

When you’re interviewing entry-level job candidates for bookkeeping or accounting clerk openings, you want to test for basic skills. Questions like this one will reveal whether potential hires understand accounting fundamentals.

2. When a company is using double-entry accounting, what elements of a given ledger must be equal?

This is another relatively simple question. Job candidates with some accounting training or experience should have no trouble with their answer. As with the question above, how applicants reply will show whether they’re ready for an entry-level job at your company.

3. What are two or three types of special journals?

This is another basic question, but you could also present a few journal samples for the applicant to read and explain as a skills test. How a candidate responds will help reveal their ability in identifying mistakes or omissions.

4. If a company has three bank accounts for processing payments, what is the minimum number of ledgers it needs?

Use this question to explore a candidate’s knowledge of ledgers and as a launch pad for further discussion of skills related to the available position. A good response will reveal that the applicant has thought through how accounts relate to lines of business and generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

5. What methods have you used for estimating bad debt?

Accounting interview questions like this one can help bring to light how the applicant has approached a routine process with previous employers. For recent grads, this line of inquiry allows them to apply theoretical knowledge in venturing educated guesses, which could open a dialogue about how your company handles this issue.

6. Why is it easier for someone to perpetrate fraud using a journal entry than with a ledger?

Accounting professionals, particularly those who have managed ledgers or had jobs as full-charge bookkeepers for more than a couple of years, should be able to speculate on this scenario. A candidate with more formal training specific to auditing or fraud analysis will likely explain this thoroughly and be able to provide examples.

7. Which enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have you used?

Most professionals, especially those with experience working for medium to large organizations, will have some experience with Hyperion, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Oracle Enterprise Manager or other ERP system. Discussion of these tools, how the applicants learned them and put them to work, and what applications your company uses will reveal how much, if any, training might be needed. (For entry-level candidates, you might turn this into a discussion of future training possibilities.)

8. What is your experience with developing business metrics?

This question can help you evaluate entry-level business or financial analyst candidates all the way up to mid-career professionals who aspire to roles that come with budget and staff oversight responsibilities.

9. If a private company with break-even operations received a $10 million investment, how would you develop a strategy to spend or invest that money?

This is an example of a situational interview question. Here, you’d be gauging an applicant’s ability to think through a scenario like one that might be faced in a more senior finance role.

10. What challenges have you faced in leading a team through an analysis project?

As with the previous interview question, the answers to this inquiry will give you a hint as to the candidate’s critical thinking skills. It will also elicit a better picture of their leadership potential.

11. What do you consider the top three skills of a great accountant?

You want to hire someone with numerical abilities, but not necessarily a mathematician. You also need someone with analytical know-how and who can communicate effectively with others. Look for responses that show a recognition of the importance of general business knowledge, technology expertise, customer service orientation and specialized experience that might apply to the role.

12. Can you give me an example of how you would explain a complex accounting process or finance data to someone in HR, tech support or another team?

Here’s where you’ll learn about a candidate’s communication skills. Look for an ability to simplify and present information to people who may not speak the language of “FIFO” (First In First Out, a method of valuing inventory) or “EBITDA margins” (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization).

13. When you buy a piece of equipment for a company, what is the impact on the three financial statements?

This is another basic accounting question that lets you assess a potential hire’s understanding of cash flow statements, balance sheets and income statements. Before they reply, the best interviewees will have threshold questions for you, such as, should they answer for the time of acquisition or for some time in the future, and how is the equipment financed?

14. How do you define big data, and why is it important for accounting teams to have expertise in it?

You may not need big data experts right now, but hiring someone who has knowledge of data retrieval, interpretation and analysis will be useful down the line when you decide to build up your team’s skills and expertisein this area.

15. Describe a time when you’ve made an accounting error and how you handled it.

Rather than making a judgment on the mistake, look for the lessons learned. Did the candidate take responsibility for the error? How did they manage the situation? Were they proactive in making things right?

16. How do you minimize the risk for error in your work?

This is the second part of the previous question. The best responses will shed light on the candidate’s process for reviewing their work and minimizing miscalculations.

17. How do you differentiate between auditing and accounting?

If you’re interviewing recent graduates, you’re looking to see how well they paid attention in class, rather than a deep level of expertise. Look for an ability to explain the fundamentals of key roles and processes in finance and accounting.

18. What accounting software are you most familiar with?

While it may be ideal to find expertise in the same accounting programs you use at your company — Excel, Hyperion, IBM Cognos, QuickBooks, ERP and so on — it’s even more valuable to find someone who is software savvy and able to get up to speed with a variety of programs.

Some companies have embraced cloud financial solutions, and while experience in online-based software and services is valuable, the ability to get comfortable with the new technologies is worthwhile, too. And, of course, the ability to work effectively with, or quickly learn, collaboration tools is a big plus, particularly in remote work environments.

19. What criteria do you use to assess the reliability of the financial information you receive?

Look for answers that show high performance standards. Perhaps the candidate has designed methods to check for bookkeeping errors or quality control in the data entry process. What you’re looking for are answers that help you evaluate attention to detail and accuracy.

20. What do you think of recent updates in the accounting standards?

Unlike questions that probe problem-solving abilities or relevant skills, this one explores knowledge of current industry practices. Have they had training in new tax changes? Their responses will help you determine their commitment to the profession they’ve chosen and their ability to express themselves.

21. What are the three attributes that make you an effective remote worker? And what are the greatest challenges of working off-site?

Remote workers must be self-starters and work with little supervision, they need strong communication skills, and they have to be comfortable with your team’s technology (or show they can quickly pick it up). This is an important consideration at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has sent millions of Americans home. Make sure that your candidate will be both productive and comfortable working remotely. And don’t kid yourself — this is nothing to take for granted. Yes, many people might thrive working off-site. But for many others, even high performers, the home just isn’t an ideal work environment. 

Once you’re comfortable with their remote readiness and get through all the accounting interview questions and answers, reflect on what you’ve learned about the candidate’s soft skills. Do you have a good sense of the potential hire’s level of empathy, tact and diplomacy, for example? What about their verbal skills? Even if you interviewed the candidate by video, you should have an impression of their personality and their ability to express themselves.

Consider, too, today’s unpredictable work environment. Of all the hard and soft skills you interview for, adaptability and a willingness to embrace new challenges may be two of the most critical ingredients for an accounting professional’s success.

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the need for highly skilled bookkeepers who can help companies keep pace with the critical process of bookkeeping during this challenging period of business disruption.

If bookkeeping is not handled effectively, receipts and paperwork will pile up. Bills will be paid late. Invoices won’t get submitted on time. And company expenses won’t get tracked.

A good bookkeeper can save you time, provide useful business reports, share insights and alert you to red flags, and help you manage your cash flow.

Following are some tips for finding a talented bookkeeper to help support your business during this critical time, and to work remotely, if needed.

How to hire a bookkeeper

The first thing to decide is whether you need to hire a bookkeeper full time or engage someone on a temporary or temporary-to-hire basis. You could use a specialized staffing agency to find highly skilled candidates who would be the best fit for your company until you’re ready for a full-time hire.

InQTive recruiters look for bookkeeping candidates who are self-starters with solid communication, organizational and customer service skills. Technology expertise typically includes experience and proficiency with applications such as Microsoft Excel or QuickBooks.

Meanwhile, here are answers to six questions you might have about hiring a bookkeeper for your company.

1. What do bookkeepers do?

Typical duties include these essential bookkeeping tasks:

  • Reconciling bank statements
  • Processing payroll, accounts payable and accounts receivable
  • Posting and updating journal entries
  • Performing month-end closings
  • Tracking fixed assets and preparing depreciation schedules
  • Preparing the trial balance

Bookkeepers are expected to use their problem-solving abilities to resolve discrepancies, communication skills to produce easy-to-absorb reports and work well with other team members, and soft skills to work with vendors, suppliers and customers.

2. How can you identify the best candidates?

Bookkeeping practices vary between industries, so look for a track record relevant to your line of work. A bookkeeper who has worked only with fashion retailers, for instance, may not have the knowledge and experience to do an equally good job for an air-conditioning company. In other words, the relevance of a candidate's experience is often more important than the duration of experience.

You also want to be sure that your bookkeeper has experience with the recordkeeping system and software your organization uses, or you'll need to provide training.

To assess whether a bookkeeper will be able to work effectively in your industry, ask some of these job interview questions:

  • Tell me about your previous bookkeeping experience.
  • What were your primary responsibilities?
  • What kinds of financial reports did you prepare?
  • What types of accounting systems did you use?

3. Do you need to look for certifications or memberships?

Bookkeepers in the United States are not legally required to obtain a license, but they can participate in several voluntary certification programs. When candidates are certified or licensed by the National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers (NACPB) or the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (AIPB), it generally means their knowledge and skills are up to date. Ask them if they carry any certifications.

The same is true of professional memberships. Bookkeepers have to pass the membership criteria of a professional organization before they're allowed to join. So, you can take professional memberships as an indicator of your candidate's professional status and commitment to his or her career.

An active membership in a professional group also helps a bookkeeper stay current with news, trends and best practices in the industry. Also, members sometimes carry professional indemnity insurance through these groups, which offers added peace of mind for you.

4. How will you know if a bookkeeper embraces accountability?

A good bookkeeper keeps your books clean and makes it easy for you to review and query the entries. A bad one leaves your books in shambles and runs away at the first sign of an independent audit. So, it's no use hiring a bookkeeper you can't trust. Do your due diligence and ask for reference checks from accountants who have worked with your bookkeeping candidates.

For added assurance of transparency and accountability, you might want to try values-focused interview questions to get a sense of which candidates are the most honest and reliable, such as:

  • Can you tell me about a time when someone claimed credit for work that you did? What did you do about it?
  • Has your trustworthiness ever been challenged? What was your response to the situation?
  • Tell me about a time when you made a mistake. What did you learn from it?

These questions should give some insight into how the candidate thinks and processes challenging scenarios in a professional environment.

5. What are the top benefits of hiring a bookkeeper?

Peace of mind? Yes, that’s one thing. What are some other advantages of hiring a bookkeeper?

  • Fewer data entry mistakes — Not only can bookkeepers fix errors in financial transactions, but they also can keep them from happening in the first place. A bottom-line benefit for your business is that you can avoid paying late fees. And, when your invoices get sent out quickly and accurately, you get paid faster.
  • Numerical clarification — If you see anything irregular or aren’t sure about your profit and loss or any bookkeeping matters, a bookkeeper can help resolve those issues.
  • Simpler tax season — Uncategorized expenses? You won’t have that with a good bookkeeper, and you won’t miss any tax write-offs, either.

How are bookkeepers different from accountants?

Bookkeepers are expected to do the day-to-day recording of receipts, invoices and other transactions. Hiring an accountant will provide business insights based on bookkeeping information.

Bookkeepers are expected to do the day-to-day recording of receipts, invoices and other transactions. Hiring an accountant will provide business insights based on bookkeeping information.

If you’re like most business owners, you’re not interested in recording all the details of every financial transaction yourself. You can hire a bookkeeper to do that. When you need high-level business advice and official reports, then you need an accountant. Both professionals will be trusted with the details of your business finances so you can do what you do best — running your business.

How we can help you hire bookkeepers now

InQTive has years of experience placing bookkeepers with clients on both a temporary and full-time basis. And our recruiters are well-versed in helping companies hire remote workers.

InQTive can help the people we place securely access necessary data and applications, including virtual desktops. For workers who lack the necessary equipment at home, we can quickly provide technology tools to help them jump into action immediately.

Our highly skilled bookkeepers can work remotely from anywhere. With fewer geographic constraints, we have a larger talent pool than ever to draw from. We can find remote bookkeepers who are the right match for your specific needs. And we can help you with the hiring process from beginning to end.

Let us assist you in hiring a bookkeeper who can help your business stay on top of receipts, invoices, expenses and more during this hectic period of business activity.

There’s no way around it. Your company needs someone to supervise your accounting staff and bookkeeping efforts, prepare financial statements, and analyze balance sheets and income statements. But this is a tough job market. Even if you think you know how to hire a senior accountant, it’s not going to be easy to find one.

The time and effort you put into recruiting for your senior accountant position will be worth the investment. The challenge is knowing what you want, competing for top talent and vetting candidates, all without dragging out the hiring process.

“Just a few days can make a difference,” says Jill Smith, a InQTive Finance & Accounting vice president in Des Moines, Iowa. “This is a candidate-driven market, and if your hiring process takes too long, you might miss out on exceptional talent.”

So, you know you have to push the accelerator, but where do you start? Read on for tips on how to hire a senior accountant.

1. Write a solid job description

Senior accountants typically have more than three years of general accounting experience and at least a bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, business administration or a related field. Accreditations such as a CPA or a certified management accountant (CMA) are also preferred.

That’s all standard detail to include in your senior accountant job description. Beyond that, you’ll want to write an accurate description of the job responsibilities and required qualifications. Need an accounting professional with an in-depth knowledge of accounting principles and technology, financial statements, risk assessments and budgets? Put it in your post, along with the specific skills you’re looking for. This will help sort out unqualified applicants and appeal to those you most want to meet.

But you have to walk a fine line here.

A senior accountant might be expected to have a strong background in a number of applications, including finance-specific software such as Microsoft Excel, cloud-based systems, project management software and data modeling programs. The more skills and experience you require, the smaller the talent pool and the greater your competition.

Rather than look for the perfect candidate, decide which qualifications are must-haves and which are nice-to-haves. Be realistic, and try to be flexible, especially if you can offer training and professional development. “In today’s market,” Smith says, “companies should choose high-potential candidates who have the most critical skills, and then make a commitment to help them succeed as senior accountants.”

2. Make it a good fit

Besides the skills, experience and education you’d like to see on a resume, a job description should provide a realistic idea of your organizational culture and what it’s like to work at your company. Is it a loud, boisterous office setting, or a quiet, corporate environment? What is the stress level, and how does the company encourage work-life balance? What kind of training and opportunities for career advancement does the company offer? What are the company's core values?

“Show candidates how they can grow professionally if they work for you,” Smith says.

Not only is this an opportunity to showcase the advantages you offer over the competition, it also helps job seekers decide whether yours is the kind of company they’d like to work at. This kind of self-selection can spare you a lot of time vetting applicants who wouldn’t be a good fit.

3. Work with a recruiter

A specialized staffing agency can help you with that job description — and so much more. The best recruiters know the candidate marketplace in your industry and geographic area. They can effectively evaluate experience, skills and culture fit, saving you time and money as they streamline the hiring process.

With insider expertise, recruiters can also reach into their extensive networks and draw on talented professionals who aren’t aware of your open position and may not even be looking for a new job.

“Many qualified senior accountants are happy in their current roles and would need a compelling reason to make a move,” says Carrie Lewis, a InQTive Finance & Accounting vice president in New Orleans. “Those are the passive job seekers we can help you target.”

4. Offer the right salary and benefits

If you want to compete for the best senior accountants, you have to offer a competitive compensation package. The same can be said for retaining your top performers.

Stay current on prevailing salary and hiring trends by reviewing leading industry resources. The 2020 InQTive Salary Guide for Accounting and Finance Professionals provides starting salaries for more than 190 positions, including senior accountants. The guide also shows you how to localize the national figures for your market.

For example, the salary midpoint (or median national salary) for a senior general accountant is $80,500. To adjust that figure for the San Francisco Bay Area, apply the market variance rate of +41%. Where cost of living and demand for talent isn’t as high, the area’s variance rates will keep the market’s average starting salary closer to, or even less than, the national midpoint salary. (InQTive’s online Salary Calculator also gives local market rates for specific roles.)

It’s not just going to be about salary, of course. Company culture, discussed above, as well as benefits, perks and other incentives can all play a significant role in your success in attracting and keeping top talent. “If your company offers additional benefits, such as bonuses, flexible work arrangements or extra vacation time, that may convince top prospects to work for you,” Lewis says.

5. Interview for hard and soft skills

You can’t just “wing it” during the interview. Prepare for it like you would any other major decision. Think about what you want to know about the candidate — and if anyone else will join the interview, decide who will ask what.

Your accounting interview questions might discuss how up to speed a candidate is with tax code changes, what their experience is in completing complex financial projects with tight deadlines and how they go about preparing budgets.

But you’ll also want to take stock of communication skills, problem solving abilities, customer service, adaptability and other soft skills. Technical skills are obviously important, but a senior accountant is going to have to collaborate with co-workers and across the business, if not manage a team. This is your opportunity to assess confidence, personality and work ethic, and how the candidate would mesh with current staff.

6. Follow up with professional references

Don’t dismiss this part of the hiring process as just a formality. It’s an important step to expand your understanding of the candidates' qualifications, and the impact they've had at an organization, beyond the resume and interview.

You might start by asking a former manager about a technical skill or strength the candidate possesses. For example: “I understand Kim took care of budget preparation and analysis for your company. Can you tell me more about her duties as staff accountant?”

Take it a step further by asking about a potential limitation, such as how the candidate might do in a more senior role: “She hasn’t had any experience managing accounting staff, which is part of the job description for a senior accountant. How do you think she’ll perform as a manager?”

A final word

While timeliness is an important consideration when hiring a senior accountant, so is careful deliberation. After every interview and reference check, ask yourself: Would this person be a good match for the company, and would the company be a good match for them? Does the candidate have the skills you need on Day 1, and can they pick up those “nice-to-haves” through training and development in fairly quick order? There’s no perfect candidate — not in this competitive hiring market, anyway. But when you find that diamond in the rough, Smith says, “Make your job offer, then do everything you can to keep them.”

As more managers realize that wooing great job candidates takes significant time and effort today, many organizations are adding human resources professionals to their teams to help out with the recruiting process.

Human resources specialists support recruiting, onboarding and talent management programs. In addition, they may take responsibility for employee engagement, create wellness initiatives, develop training and team-building programs, and enhance organizational culture.

With this focus on people management, it’s essential to find the right person to serve as a human resources specialist for your company. However, low unemployment rates and a shortage of skilled candidates have made that difficult.

So, what HR roles should you spotlight now in your hiring, and how do you attract the top candidates? Here’s what you need to know:

Human resources specialist roles and salaries

Keep in mind that to attract the best candidates, it’s crucial you’re offering salary and benefits that are on par with industry trends. Here are three common HR specialist roles, along with their responsibilities and the starting salaries you can expect to pay for each position.

  • HR assistant — These employees take on critical functions in the hiring process, including conducting internet research to identify potential candidates, scheduling interviews and interviewing applicants by phone. They may also review resumes, help plan new employee orientation programs and maintain employee records.
  • HR recruiting specialist/coordinator — Recruiting specialists manage the internal and external postings of open jobs, evaluate candidates to ensure they meet company hiring standards and prepare employment offers. They may also oversee applicant tracking, conduct recruitment analysis and facilitate other HR projects.
  • HR benefits specialist/coordinator —  These professionals oversee the enrolment and management of company benefits plans. They help register new employees, serve as the primary point of contact for benefits-related questions or concerns, and work directly with vendors to resolve any issues that may arise.

When to hire a human resources specialist

Determining the right time to bring in specialized HR professionals depends on the needs, schedules and budget of your organization. Also, depending on your industry and market, you might find different types of expertise in demand.

Here are just a few examples of when and where a human resources specialist can benefit your company:

  • High workloads — If the amount of work is increasing at your organization, new employees or project professionals may be required to handle the additional responsibilities. That’s a sign you’ll need a human resources specialist to help with hiring, rolling out updated benefits packages or new employee programs, especially if you’re creating and staffing multiple roles.
  • Sluggish staffing — If your favorite candidates are getting snatched up by other companies before you can make an offer, you’ll want to bring on a human resources specialist to help ensure you’re conducting interviews and extending offers in a timely manner.
  • Benefits enrollment — Many organizations also need assistance with benefits open enrollment, which an HR specialist can provide. In California, for example, HR specialists with this experience are in particularly high demand.

How to find your best hires

Because of the increased competition for HR gurus, strategy is key when staffing these positions. As you search, keep the following tips in mind:

  • Be specific — Knowing how to write a job description that’s carefully crafted can give you a springboard to identify candidates who match your requirements. Job descriptions should contain an outline of all the skills, experience and personality traits you’re looking for. This is also your chance to sell your company to candidates, so tout factors that will entice top HR talent, like on-site childcare, career advancement opportunities and how great your organizational culture is.
  • Get referrals — Friends, family members, professional contacts and existing staff are valuable resources when looking for accomplished HR professionals. You might even offer incentives, such as gift cards or bonuses, to employees who provide referrals leading to promising new hires.
  • Look for balanced skill sets — Along with HR expertise, a human resources specialist should have outstanding soft skills. Particularly valuable today are collaborative abilities and an aptitude for problem solving. Also essential are strong communication skills, including a capacity to work well with others and clearly explain HR matters that can be confusing to employees, such as benefit elections or how pay periods are structured.
  • Keep an eye toward the future — Transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are reshaping HR as they change processes and take over routine responsibilities like scanning resumes and data entry. You’ll need HR specialists who are tech savvy and adaptable to help you in this age of digital disruption.
  • Don’t wait for a unicorn — Keep in mind that the perfect candidate probably doesn’t exist. Spending time looking for someone who ticks every box could cause you to miss out on a wealth of talented individuals who would shine in your company. Instead, be open to providing on-the-job training to develop additional skills required for the role.
  • Make your offer quickly — Today’s candidates know they’re hot commodities, and many have multiple job offers on the table. If you drag out your hiring process, you will lose skilled HR specialists to your competition. Once you’ve pinpointed the candidate you want to hire, make an offer. At the very least, stay in contact with promising applicants throughout the process to keep them interested in the position.

One of the easiest ways to find human resources specialists in today’s labor market is to work with a staffing agency. Their experts have the experience and connections to find candidates who are right for your company.