3 Ways to Pre-screen Employees Before you Hire

Hiring people is tricky business. It involves a lot ofthe candidate, there is more than just one
trust and faith in whoever you decide to hireperson’s opinion making the decision to allow
because you are asking someone whom youthis person to join the team of to refuse them. If
don’t know into your business and your life.three of you feel uneasy about hiring them, it is
How will you know if they will do a good job? Willprobably not a good sign.
they steal, come to work drunk or only be able3. 90 Day Introductory Period
to do half of their job? Several businessesSeveral companies already perform the 90 day
prescreen employees by making them undergo aintroductory period for all recent hires as
series of tests to make sure the people they areinsurance, just in case the person doesn’t
hiring are truly who they say they are.work out. 90 days is a fairly long period of time
1. Drug and Alcohol Prescreening With a Drug andto get a real feel for someone and see what their
Alcohol testing devicehabits are, who they socialize with and what their
New drug and alcohol testing devices are changingperformance is like before you commit to hiring
the way employers prescreen possible candidatesthem for the long haul. The introductory period
for new positions. New alcohol and drug follicle haircan also be a good thing for the new hire in case
testing devices are helping a variety of employersthe job is not a good fit for them as well. Like
feel confident about who they are hiring. Newthat old saying: “you are interviewing the
technology developments are now available toemployer just as much as you are being
test how long a potential employee has abusedinterviewed.”
drugs or alcohol for up to 12 months! Previously,Depending on the job a person is applying for will
an employer may have had to rely on a urinalysisdetermine how extensive their prescreening will
test, a much less sophisticated test to tellbe. An employer looking to hire a pilot, a surgeon
whether or not a potential candidate was aor other highly skilled position will likely give a
chronic abuser or not when the test only revealedthorough investigation of a candidate’s
a week’s worth of data at most.background including extensive drug and alcohol
2. References, Interviews and Second Opinionstesting. Whereas a landscaper or furniture
Having your candidates go through more than onedesigner for example may not be handling
interview and by several different people can givephysically crucial equipment as a driver or
you and your organization a good feel for how amachinist. As an employer you have the right to
person will fit within your company. Everyone hasrefuse hiring anyone, thus protecting yourself and
biases and opinions based on first impressions andyour customers.
with a second or third person getting a feel for