AACC Lunch and Learn focuses on employee recruiting, hiring

Published 11:00 am Thursday, September 29, 2022

The Andalusia Area Chamber of Commerce held its final Lunch and Learn of the year Wednesday with a representative from PRemployer serving as the event’s guest speaker.

“Today’s topic of discussion referred to techniques to employ when you’re interviewing and selecting employees for your organization. There are interview questions you should be asking and questions you should avoid from a legal standpoint. I would probably place the most emphasis on initiative, integrity, and honesty as three skills essential in order to be successful,” Vice President of Human Resources Dan Sinas said.

According to Sinas, finding the right candidate for a job is important.

“We all know that when you have a poor-performing employee that is detrimental to the organization, coworkers have to pick up the slack of the poor-performing employee. Because employees really are the most important part of an organization, they determine effectiveness or not as well as success or not success. It’s really important you place enough emphasis and time in selecting the right employees because bad decisions have bad repercussions.”

He does not put too much emphasis on a first impression because some individuals can be nervous. “I really place more emphasis with the way they answer the questions, their experience, and employment record. The first impression can certainly come into play if it’s really bad or inappropriate for the job. If you walk into a position for an office wearing dirty clothes, shorts, or sandals, that’s not a good first impression.”

Sinas feels employers should request potential applicants to fill out an application along with their résumé.

“A résumé is a marketing piece, so you’re only going to see what the candidate wants you to see. The application asks questions the company wants answered and not only do you want to see the answers, you want to see how they follow the directions on the application. Leaving questions blank and ignoring questions is sort of a red flag. While one is a marketing piece, the other is a document showing your history and who you are,” he said.

He added that employers should be thorough in their questioning of applicants to determine whether or not they are a good fit.

“Sometimes, I use the analogy, ‘If you’re dating somebody, you don’t get married after the first date. You don’t know anything about this person. When you interview for 10 minutes and make a hiring decision, you’re getting married on the first date because it is like a marriage with the organization. We all know when you’ve got a poor-performing employee, it impacts a lot of folks.”

His advice to an employer when going through the selection process is simple: take your time. “I’ve seen way too many interviews conducted very rapidly, and some do not do a second interview or background check including references. I think the most important thing is to treat this like the very important decision that it is, and don’t hire out of desperation. Desperate hires tend to turn out badly,” he said.

Sinas has spent his entire career involved with human resources.

“I see the importance of these things in terms of how they manifest with your organization, what your policies are, how you hire people, and how you treat people. I certainly want to share that with other employers to help them. This is why our company does it, and we like to be good community citizens offering our expertise when it’s requested.

For more information about PRemployer, which is based in Dothan, visit www.premployerinc.com or call 334-712-9939.

“We had a great turnout for today’s Lunch and Learn. Dan Sinas of PRemployer presented an informative and in-depth seminar on recruiting, interviewing, and selecting employees. We would like to thank Philip B. Box of Woodmen Life for sponsoring this event and to Ofelia’s Italian Restaurant for catering the lunch. We host these luncheons quarterly and cover a range of topics pertaining to the business community,” AACC Executive Director Laura Wells said.