When it comes to recruitment, no matter how long you have been running your business, you need to make sure you get it right. However, things can be much harder when you are a startup, as you are likely to be new to recruitment. Not just this, but your business will be incredibly personal to you, which means that you will want to do whatever you can to ensure that you have the right staff behind you.

To help you to make sure that you have the best possible team working with you, we have put together three fundamental questions that every startup should be asking while hiring new staff and just why they are so important to ask. 

Tell me about your past employment

One of the best places to start with any interview is finding out more about the candidate and their origins. Of course, someone’s past employment isn’t always a true reflection of where they want to be, but it gives you a good idea of their experience. 

You should have all the relevant information about their previous roles before the interview, which means that you can think about which questions you want to ask. 

It is a good idea to find out more about their jobs involved and the key tasks they were responsible for. It is also worthwhile asking them what they enjoyed in that role and what they didn’t. It is also good to ask them why they are leaving their current position and looking for new employment. 

How do you find yourself working in a team?

Start-ups are usually made up of a small and close-knit team, which means that you will need to get along and support one another, particularly during difficult times. You are going to want to make sure that you hire someone who will do their best for you and for your business, who will be happy to pick things up and run with them when you need them to. 

This means that the questions about how they work within a team will be vital during an interview. Find out how their previous colleagues would describe them and what style of management they best respond to. 

It is also a good idea to ask them to be honest about any issues they have had before with a manager or co-worker and find out how they resolved them. 

What do you know about us as a business?

You can’t always learn about a brand until you work for them, but that shouldn’t stop your potential candidates from trying their best to learn about the company they want to work for. At the very least, they should have had a look at your website and social media online. This will give them some idea of who you are, what you came from and of course, what you do. 

They should have also taken the time to research more about the role you have for them, or if this information was limited, have some questions prepared to ask. 

Of course, whilst asking questions is incredibly important, you also need to make sure that you trust how you feel about the person you are interviewing. They might not always have the right skills you are looking for, but they have the right personality and approach. 

You can teach someone skills and show them how to do the critical tasks in your business, but some softer skills such as teamwork and dedication. Well, they can’t be taught in most cases.