Most business owners are running hard and pressed for time. Often this can lead to making hiring decisions "on the fly" with regrettable results. Learn how to avoid making hiring decision mistakes when under pressure.

Most of us can relate to a hiring decision gone wrong. A key employee suddenly leaves with little notice, you're already burning the candle at both ends, so you quickly post a job ad on one of the popular web sites, interview 2 or 3 candidates that fit the bill, and you "go with your gut". You make a hiring decision. What could possibly go wrong?

If you're starting to get the impression that I've learned this the hard way, you would be right! One of my former businesses was a small CA practice that I built up from zero to over 300 clients with 5 employees. One key staff member was my Accounting Supervisor. I had hired this individual on the basis of a recommendation from a colleague. After a brief interview and having determined that the "chemistry was right', I hired her. It took me far longer to uncover all the mistakes that were being made than the time I spent hiring her. In fact, when I was finally forced to make the difficult decision to let her go, the remaining 4 staff members all marched into my office to tell me "if you did't fire her, we were all going to quit!" Yikes!

The moral of the story: Even a small CA practice with 5 employees needs a hiring process. And yes, that means creating a process that I as the owner must follow, regardless of how much pressure I'm under. Lesson learned! That individual nearly cost me me the loss of my entire staff right before income tax season. My business would have suffered badly not to mention the professional embarrassment that it would have caused.

1. Create a detailed job description.

A detailed job description is a critical component of defining your requirements. It also should make clear to the prospective employee what their role and responsibilities will be if you decide to hire them. It is the first and most important piece of the hiring process because it should convey all of your needs and expectations. Take the time to do this in detail. It will be well worth it. A detailed job description should also indicate the level of experience, expertise and credentials required in order to perform the job.

2. Post the job on a number of web sites.

Post your job ad on a number of well-known sites, such as Monster, LinkedIn, Workopolis, and others. If there are job posting sites for a particular skill set, such as construction or accounting, be sure to include them.

3. Prepare interview questions ahead of time.

I cannot emphasize this enough: Do not "wing it" when it comes time to interview the selected candidates. It is worth preparing a set of at least 6 key questions that you will ask each of the candidates. Allow time in between interviews to document responses, impressions, etc. I found it helpful to create an internal standard form for recording all my interview notes.

4. Consider creating a technical proficiency test for the skills necessary to do the job.

After my experience with the Accounting Supervisor, I never again assumed that just because an individual had an accounting designation that they had the skills necessary for the Accounting Supervisor position. Therefore, I created my own technical proficiency test. It contained 10 technical questions that I would have expected them to know the answer to. I would leave them in an office with up to 15 minutes to answer the 10 questions. This proved to be one of my most valuable processes in the interview process. At least 1 CA was not able to answer even the most basic of income tax and accounting questions on the test. I therefore, avoided making another potentially costly hiring mistake!

5. Check all references and credentials.

Have you ever hired an individual only to find that they have not completed their degree? Faked their references? It is shocking to say the least, but it can and does happen to the best of us. Therefore, I urge you to conduct a thorough background and reference check, especially for employees that will be paid for their credentials. Verify degrees, professional designations with the appropriate institutions. In addition, it is important to check all references, and to call previous employers to: 1. verify that the person actually worked there, for how long and in what position, and 2. it is reasonable to ask HR or another company representative to provide a reference.