When It Comes To Hiring, Do You Trust Your Gut or Trust Your Thoughts?

Let’s face it; hiring someone is a very scary thing.

You’re no longer the only person who is representing your business; whoever you hire is a direct representation of you and your brand.

The single most important advice I can give when you’re deciding to hire someone is: follow your gut.

I know from personal experience that just because someone looks good on paper doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to be the right fit for your business and how you want to represent your company. However, “following your gut” is not always the easiest thing to do when you have such a big decision in front of you.

Your thoughts often get in the way of your ability to hear that little voice inside that’s trying to guide you.

4 Questions to Ask Yourself – Answer Honestly

Here are four questions to ask yourself and answer honestly to help you decide if this person is truly someone you want as part of your pet sitting crew:

1) Am I going to be proud to introduce this person to my clients and say “this is going to be your sitter”?

When you bring your sitter to meet and greets you should feel as confident about them and their reputation as you are yourself. You should feel, without a doubt, that your sitter is going to be able to make a good impression on your potential clients by the way they dress, hold themselves, interact with the pets and their parents.

2) Am I going to feel confident in this person if they have to interact with clients when I am not there?

Sometimes clients are home when we do sits and that is likely to happen every once and awhile when you have a sitter on the job.

Are you going to feel confident that they’re going to be dressed appropriately or that they can conduct themselves within conversation in a professional manner?

3) Am I going to be able to trust this person to complete the tasks asked of them without having to worry about if it’s being done properly?

You’re hiring someone for peace of mind and for a little bit more time to relax without being a slave to your business.

If you are constantly worried that your sitter is doing a good job and following instructions correctly, you’re actually accomplishing just the opposite.

You’re offering yourself MORE stress than you would have had if you would’ve just done the sits yourself.

4) Would I be friends with this person on Facebook?

It’s no secret that social media is a huge part of our culture today. Many of us have Facebook pages for our business and are even friends with our clients.

If you or your clients “friended” your sitter on Facebook would you worry about the type of content they would see? Don’t underestimate your client’s ability to find your sitter’s profile either. Whether you’re personally friends with your sitter on Facebook or not, your clients can (and probably will) find them themselves.

The Bottom Line

I know that hiring can sometimes be a long and daunting task but holding out for the right person will be well worth it in the end.

Not only will you have peace of mind and an expanding business, you’ll also save yourself the horror of hiring someone who ultimately ends up ruining the reputation that YOU worked so hard to build up.

Now It’s Your Turn…

How often do you trust your gut? Is it something you have learned to rely on, or is it a continual work in progress. Let us know in the comments below.