Recruitment made simple: how to find the right person for your business
This is part 2 of Employing people: a small business guide — a plain-English series on taking on staff. See the full guide.
You've decided to take someone on. That's the hard decision made — but the next one matters just as much, because who you hire will shape your business for years.
Get it right and a good employee can transform how much you take on, how well you sleep and how far the business goes. Get it wrong and you're looking at months of frustration, a difficult parting of ways, and doing the whole thing again. So it's worth slowing down and doing recruitment properly, even when you're busy and tempted to grab the first willing pair of hands.
There's a legal side too. How you advertise, shortlist and interview is all governed by law, and the rules are there to make sure people are judged on whether they can do the job — nothing else. The good news is that a fair process and a good hiring decision are the same thing. Do it fairly and you'll usually hire better as well. This is part two of our series on employing people; if you haven't taken on anyone before, start with the overview first.
Start with the role, not the advert
The most common mistake is jumping straight to "we need someone" without pinning down what "someone" actually means. Before you write a word of an advert, get clear on two things.
A job description — what the person will actually do. The main tasks, who they'll report to, the hours, where they'll work, and how the role fits into your business. Be honest about the day-to-day, including the less glamorous bits. Overselling a job just means whoever you hire feels misled and leaves.
A person specification — what the person needs to be able to do it. Split this into "essential" (they genuinely can't do the job without it) and "desirable" (nice to have). Be careful here: every requirement you set should be something the job truly needs. Asking for "five years' experience" or a particular qualification when the job doesn't really need it can quietly shut out good candidates — and if it disadvantages a particular group, it can be unlawful too.
This bit of homework pays off at every later stage, because it gives you an honest, job-focused benchmark to advertise, shortlist and interview against.
Writing the advert
A good advert is clear, honest and welcoming. Say what the job is, what you're offering, and what you're looking for — in plain language. A few things to get right:
Be open about pay. You don't legally have to state a salary, but doing so attracts better-matched candidates, saves everyone's time, and signals that you're fair. At the very least, make sure whatever you offer meets the minimum wage for the person's age.
Include the practical facts: hours, location, whether there's any flexibility, and how to apply.
Watch your language. This is where small businesses trip up without meaning to. Words like "young and energetic", "recent graduate", "mature", "strong lad" or "salesman" can all suggest you're after a particular age or sex, and that's a discrimination risk before you've even met anyone. Describe the job and the skills, not the person you're picturing. "Energetic" is a vague impression; "able to keep up in a busy workshop" describes the job.
Where to advertise
You're not legally required to advertise a job publicly at all. But there's a good reason to: casting a wide net gives you a bigger, better pool to choose from, and it protects you. If you only ever hire through word of mouth or "someone my mate knows", you risk ending up with a workforce that all looks the same — which can amount to indirect discrimination, and cuts you off from talent you'd never have met otherwise.
For most small businesses a mix works well: an online job board (Indeed and the like), your own website and social media, local channels, relevant trade bodies, and the government's free "Find a job" service. Word of mouth is fine as one route, just not your only one.
The law you can't ignore
Here's the part worth reading twice. The Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination based on nine "protected characteristics": age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. These protections apply through the whole process — advert, shortlist, interview and offer.
Two forms of discrimination matter most in hiring. Direct discrimination is treating someone less favourably because of a protected characteristic — turning someone down because they're pregnant, or because of their age. Indirect discrimination is subtler: a rule or requirement that looks neutral but disadvantages a particular group without a good, job-related reason — like insisting on full-time hours when the job could be done part-time, which can disadvantage people with caring responsibilities.
There are two more rules that catch small employers out:
You can't ask about health or disability before making a job offer. This comes from section 60 of the Equality Act. You can ask whether someone can carry out the essential parts of the role, and whether they need any adjustments for the interview itself — but general "any health problems?" questions before an offer aren't allowed. Health questions come after you've offered the job.
You must make reasonable adjustments during recruitment. If a candidate is disabled, you may need to adjust your process — an accessible venue, extra time, application in a different format, an interpreter. The duty applies to the recruitment process itself, not just to the job.
None of this is about walking on eggshells. It's about judging everyone on whether they can do the job. Do that honestly and you're almost always on the right side of the line.
Shortlisting fairly
When the applications come in, resist the urge to go on gut instinct. Score each candidate against the essential and desirable criteria from your person specification — the same criteria for everyone. Jot a quick note on why each person is in or out.
This does two things. It gives you better decisions, because you're comparing like with like instead of being swayed by a nice-looking CV or a familiar name. And it gives you a record you can stand behind if a decision is ever questioned. Be aware of the quiet biases that creep in — a gap in someone's employment history, an unfamiliar name, where they went to school — and keep pulling yourself back to the one question that matters: can they do the job?
Interviewing well
The best interviews are structured: you ask each candidate the same core questions, based on the role, and score their answers. It feels a little formal if you're used to a friendly chat, but it's fairer, it's more useful, and it stops the conversation drifting into territory it shouldn't.
Ask about the job and how they'd do it — real situations they'd face, how they've handled similar things before. What to steer well clear of is anything about their personal life that isn't relevant to the work: whether they're married, plan to have children, how old they are, their health, their religion, or "where they're really from". These aren't just awkward — they can be direct evidence of discrimination if the person doesn't get the job.
Right to work is the one thing you do need to establish — but ask every candidate the same way ("everyone we hire needs to show they can work in the UK — is that something you can do?"), rather than singling out anyone based on their name or accent. The actual document check comes once you've chosen someone, and we'll cover exactly how in the next guide.
Take notes as you go, score against your criteria, and keep them. A tribunal, if it ever came to it, would want to see how you decided — and honestly, so will you, when you're weighing up two strong candidates a week later.
Making the decision — and keeping records
Pick the person who best meets the criteria for the job, and make sure you can explain why in job-related terms. Then handle everyone's data properly. Applications contain personal information, so under data protection law you should tell candidates how you'll use their details, keep that information securely, and not hang on to it forever — six to twelve months for unsuccessful applicants is a common, sensible retention period, in case a decision is queried. Offering brief, kind feedback to those who missed out costs little and does your reputation a lot of good in a small local market.
What's changing — and why it matters now
Recruitment law itself is fairly settled, but the wider backdrop is shifting, and it makes hiring the right person matter even more.
From October 2026, right to work checks are expanding to cover more types of working arrangement, including some contractors and gig or platform workers — so it's worth being sure you know exactly who you need to check.
And from January 2027, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims drops from two years to six months (with the cap on compensation removed). In plain terms, employees gain protection from unfair dismissal far sooner than they used to. That makes choosing the right person — and using a probation period well, which we'll come to — more important than ever. A rushed hire is harder to unwind than it once was.
Your recruitment checklist
Write a job description — what the role actually involves.
Write a person specification — split into essential and desirable, and make sure each requirement is genuinely needed.
Draft a fair, honest advert — clear on pay, hours and location, with no age- or sex-loaded language.
Advertise widely, using more than just word of mouth.
Shortlist against consistent criteria and note your reasons.
Interview in a structured way — same core questions, job-focused, no personal-life questions.
Offer reasonable adjustments to any candidate who needs them.
Decide on merit, keep your records, and handle applicant data properly.
The bottom line
Recruitment feels daunting the first time, but it comes down to a simple discipline: be clear about the job, judge everyone fairly against it, and write down why you decided what you did. That approach gives you the best chance of a great hire and keeps you safely on the right side of the law — the same habits do both jobs at once.
Once you've found your person, the work isn't quite done. Next in the series: the offer and getting set up — the contract, the right to work check, PAYE, pensions and insurance that turn a "yes, I'd love the job" into a properly, legally employed member of your team.
More in this series
← Part 1 — Employing your first employee: the overview
→ Part 3 — The offer and getting set up
Hire well — and lean on us if you'd like a hand
Recruitment feels daunting the first time, but it comes down to being clear about the job, judging everyone fairly against it, and keeping a note of why you decided what you did. Get those habits right and you'll hire well — and stay on the right side of the law while you do it.
At HiThrive, we're business consultants first and foremost — we help owners build better, more resilient businesses. That includes thinking a hire through with you, working out what you really need, and pointing you towards specialist HR or legal advice when that's what's called for. And when it's time to get your new starter set up, the payroll and bookkeeping are something we can handle too.
If you'd like a sounding board before you start advertising, or a second opinion on a shortlist, we'd love to help. Get in touch and let's talk it through.
Summary: recruitment for small businesses
How do I recruit fairly and legally as a small business?
Be clear about the role, advertise it honestly and widely, judge every candidate against the same job-related criteria, and keep a record of your decisions. The Equality Act 2010 means you can't treat people less favourably because of characteristics like age, sex, race, religion, disability or pregnancy at any stage from advert to offer, and you can't ask about health or disability before making a job offer.
Do I have to advertise a job publicly?
No, there's no legal requirement to. But advertising widely gives you a better pool and lowers the risk of discrimination that comes from only hiring through word of mouth.
What questions can't I ask in an interview?
Steer clear of anything about personal life that isn't relevant to the job — marital status, plans to have children, age, religion, or health and disability. Ask about the work and how they'd do it instead.
Can I ask about someone's health before hiring them?
Generally no. Under the Equality Act you can't ask health or disability questions before making a job offer, apart from limited exceptions like checking they can do the essential parts of the role or arranging interview adjustments.
When do I check someone's right to work?
Before they start work. Ask every candidate the same way during recruitment, and do the formal document check once you've chosen your person. From October 2026 the checks cover more types of worker.
How long should I keep unsuccessful applicants' details?
Usually six to twelve months, so you can explain a decision if it's queried, then securely delete them. Tell candidates from the outset how their data will be used.
