If you’ve been working for and by yourself for a long time, you might be understandably both reluctant and nervous about hiring your first employee. You know you need to if you want the business to grow, but it is a big step, and you’ll want to know you’re doing the right thing. If this is how you feel, keep reading to get a good idea of what you need to know and understand before you take this step and change your business (hopefully for the better) forever.

What Will It Cost?

The most fundamental question you will need to ask yourself when you are thinking of making your first hire is what it is going to cost you. To start with, how much are you going to pay them? Take a look around at what other businesses are paying for similar roles. Can you match it? Exceed it? If not, you may not be ready to hire someone, or you may need to understand that the person you do hire won’t have the experience that someone else might and therefore they will expect a lower salary. It is going to be a compromise.

Remember also it’s not just the salary itself that you have to pay. You’ll need to pay taxes too, so add this on top of the salary, plus any benefits and perks that you are offering such as a vehicle. If you can’t afford to hire someone, what about using freelancers until you can? Otherwise, you might have to scale back, which would be a shame.

What Does The Resume Mean?

If you run your own business then it is unlikely you will have written a resume for a long time; perhaps you have never written one. When you ask for applicants for a job, you’ll be sent lots of resumes to read through. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, and how they should be set out or what should be included, how will you know who the best candidates are?

The best thing to do is to go to My Perfect CV and look at the examples there. This will help you to see who has sent in a good resume and who has not taken the time they should have. The cover letter is also important as although the resume will have all the useful facts and figures, the cover letter shows personality, and the two combined will give you a fuller picture.

The Interview

Just as the potential employee is going to be nervous in their interview, you might be too, especially if you have never done it before. This is why it is vital that you prepare in advance. You should know exactly what questions you want to ask and tailor them to each individual. Have some generic questions that you can ask everyone, and then have some that are specific to the person sitting across from you. This shows that you have taken the time to read their resumes, and it will give you a better insight into how they think and act.

You will need to be confident throughout the interview and give a good impression of the company. Even if you think you have found the ideal applicant, if they don’t feel comfortable with you or the work you do, they might decline the job if it is offered to them.