Hiring ecommerce talent: making the decision on who to hire

“Hiring is a form of investing. You have to do your research and make sure you’re spending your resources on the right pick.”

When you’re hiring ecommerce talent, the process can be quite a challenge as you whittle down the potential candidates to find the perfect fit. After rounds of interviews, it will come to the point where you may have two left in the running to join your ecommerce team.

How do you decide between the top two candidates? What happens if the wrong decision is made? We have put together a few pointers to help you step back and really consider the choice before you.

What do you need from your potential ecommerce employee?

When this vacancy needed filling, you probably sat down at the start of the process to define what the role would look like. Pinpointing the skills and culture the potential candidates would have to demonstrate were probably hammered in right at the start.

It’s time to continue using these ‘must haves’ now that you’re down to the final candidates. We suggest applying them to each candidate, and perhaps create a scoring system based on them. For example, if there’s a particular skill that is an absolute essential, which of the candidates has the edge? They could very well all have this skill, but who has highlighted major successes from it? Setting ecommerce job interview tasks will really help with this too.

When you have gone through a scoring system, see who has scored the highest. However, while these hard facts are important, there are other aspects to consider.

What else to consider in the ecommerce hiring decision

As we said, it’s important to make sure of the skills & culture fit of the candidates in the ecommerce hiring process. You want to make sure they can do the job, right? Of course you do, but here are a few more things we think you should consider…

Thinking long term

Sometimes hires can be quite urgent, so you might think about the impact the new arrival will have right now. However, you need to think long term – not the first three to six months. Could they go on to become a great leader within the company? Are they going to bring about positive, long term changes? If you hire with a progress plan for this role in place, you can decipher who might stick to this plan best.

Enthusiasm

This one is pretty straightforward! Who has shown the most enthusiasm and desire to excel in this role? Who is open to achieving great things while continuing to learn as they do so? A person who wants to truly grow in your team will shine in the hiring process.

Get the whole team involved

Many job interview processes include a ‘meet the team’ stage for the final candidates. It’s another chance to evaluate culture fit, while giving the team a chance to meet a potential colleague. All insight is valuable at this stage of the process, and it may just help swing the decision in the right direction.

Gut instinct

Ignoring how you feel about the candidate as a person is a big no-no! Yes, determining their fit for achieving the responsibilities of the role is important but can you work with them as a person? Do you gel with them?

Make the right investment when hiring ecommerce talent!

As the quote at the start explains, it’s all about picking the right person. You definitely don’t want a sudden shock if a hire doesn’t turn out how you had hoped…especially when you’re back to square one! For more hiring advice, or to get in touch with us about hiring needs, click below to visit the employer hub.