Hiring is not a science. It can be time-consuming, emotional, frightening, dreadful and even costly if the wrong person is hired for the job. To make the process less challenging, Educational Seminars Institute (ESi) offers tips on how to hire the right person from its "Hiring 101" session for automotive repair professionals.
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The process should begin by developing a clearly defined job description and a required skill set for the open position. "We also suggest describing the personal attributes needed for the job, what if any leadership skills are essential, and the physical requirements," said Maylan Newton, ESi's senior instructor who leads the Hiring 101 session.
Prior to the interview, the business should establish a process for handing applications, develop a hiring package, and prepare a list of questions, including test questions to further assess the applicant's skills.
During the interview, Newton recommends asking open-ended questions and stresses the importance of letting the applicant do most of the talking. "As hard as it may be, the person doing the interview should listen more and talk less in order to learn as much about the applicant as possible," added Newton.
The next Hiring 101 session will be held Friday, March 8, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., during the VISION Hi-Tech Training & Expo in Overland Park, Kan. VISION will take place March 7-10 at the Overland Park Convention Center.
Newton will lead an additional management session during VISION on "Confident Selling: I Think I Can (?) or I Know I Can!" This session, scheduled for March 9, from 8:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., is all about confidence selling and the techniques, the attitude and the results to expect.
The Hiring 101 and Confident Selling sessions are both approved for credit by the Automotive Management Institute (AMI).
Bill Haas, ESi's automotive coach, will team teach the "Make More Money without Working Harder" class with Donny Seyfer, owner, Seyfer Automotive. This session, scheduled for March 9, from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., will show technicians how continuous process improvement can make work more manageable, produce a better product and increase their earnings.
For more information about VISION Hi-Tech Training & Expo and to register, visit the event's website, www.visionkc.com.
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