3 things you must do before hiring candidates
Every manager, HR professional and recruiter faces the same question: Am I recruiting the right candidate for this position? It became essential to be able to discover and acknowledge the value of your future employees and the way they will match to the job position in our fast-paced and technology driven world. Performance is directly correlated to the fit between your candidate’s skills, personality and motivation but also to your company culture, requirements for the job, team members already in place, etc.
Here are the 3 things you need to do:
1 — Evaluate their skills
You want to explore the knowledge and cognizance of every individual, or what the person knows how to do. The skills and aptitudes of a person are usually identified in resumes, diplomas, and experiences. These can also be distinguished via aptitude tests, performance tests, real-life simulations or exercises. Before the meeting, it’s essential to take note of the exact tasks, responsibilities and tools the future employee will have to do, use or learn.
2 — Explore their personalities
This point is crucial and it is the center of the assessment process, in meetings between a recruiter and a candidate. It is not groundbreaking to acknowledge that there is a strong correlation between personality fit and performance in a career. Personality is a complex concept that can be explored in many complementary ways.
We can evaluate it by using personality tests, and with previous employers recommendations, 360-degree feedback or in a well-conducted face-to-face semi-directive interview. The main advantage of using personality tests for interviews (when they are serious!) is that they allow for the standardization and normalization of assessments between different people. Nowadays most are online, easy-to-use and inexpensive. In a way, they allow you to know your candidates before you meet them.
3 — Understand their motivations
Motivation is the third fundamental element to consider while assessing individuals you wish to recruit. It is so important to be aware of people’s aspirations, to know what they seek in their professional lives, and what motivates them. Candidates must select the organization that interests them, identify the people for whom and with which they work, and enjoy the possibilities offered. Every career opportunity must also fit the career plan of the applicant. For example, you can hire the best talent to work for Salesforce.com, but if he is not motivated by the tasks, he will not perform his best, and will leave the company earlier than expected.
If you wish to hire applicants who fit the open position and company culture, make sure you take these points into consideration. While you are free to select a candidate, applicants also choose the company and the people they will work for, their preferred position, and the working framework that matches their expectations.
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