The Best Candidate
Tips For Picking The Best Candidates For The Job
Hiring managers, we know you go through this process every day, and just when you think
you've got a system down where you pick the right candidate, you may still end up with a
poor hire. Interviews are inevitably nerve wracking for candidates, but it also is for
interviews at as well. Just as interviewees can stick too closely to their preparation,
hiring managers can miss out on valuable information gathering by going through the motions
of the same interview setups. To maximize your interview process to obtain the best candidates:
1. Talk less, listen more.
Especially if you are particularly personable, it is common for hiring managers to take up
a lot of valuable interview time just talking about the company or the position. Your job
posting and website should explain most of that already. Also, interviewees can often build
off false hope from a very friendly hiring manager. Being too chummy can cause a lax attitude,
and if that's not the culture of the company, that gives false impressions on the candidates.
2. Switch up the phrasing of your questions
While some questions are necessary, others can produce overused responses. For example,
“What is your greatest weakness?” commonly proves that everyone is a perfectionist,
which certainly isn't the case most of the time. Depending on weak points of employees
you've had in the past, maybe there is something specific about a candidate's work style
that you are looking for. Be specific. Also, you can reword common questions to get more focused,
concise answers that you're looking for. “What is your greatest weakness?” (opinion) can be
changed to “What would your last boss say you could improve on?”
3. Follow up with all applicants and candidates
While you are only looking for one person for a role, there are many people who will experience
your application process. As someone whose applied to a diverse range of companies myself, I tend
to look up reviews of the company to see how the application process works. If someone is aggravated
with the slow follow up, or lack thereof after an interview, it will show up on web reviews of your
company. Be professional. It's as simple as sending a “We're received your email” or “We are moving
forward with our application process” mass email. No one wants to work with a snobby company, as
represented by an uncommunicative HR team.
4. Ask personality-revealing questions
Yes, this is the million-dollar question for every candidate you interview – are they who they
appear to be on paper? Well, you can never tell how genuine someone is until you've worked with
them. But what you can do is incorporate personality and professional in both the application and
interview process. If your company's culture is truly a mix of each, you should represent that.
Add one or two personality-related questions if you're really concerned about culture fit.
For example, “If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?”. You don't have to take a
lot of time on this. Just make sure you you're getting a good sense of who this person is.
