Key Things That Will Help you Find the Perfect Candidate for the Job
When it comes to hiring, what are the key elements that you look for in a perfect candidate? Years ago, you may have answered with items such as “great experience, hard-working, showcases initiative.” But in today’s climate, we’d argue that your list may look a little different.
Not only has attracting and hiring candidates become a little more difficult over recent years, but retaining employees has also become harder. Long gone are the days in which employees would stay with a company until they retired as now, the average lifespan of an employee at a company sits at about 4 years.
Due to this, businesses and hiring managers have had to look past just a candidate’s resumes and experience, and instead also ask themselves “would this person be a great fit for the company?” “Can this person do the job well, grow, and help the company grow?” And “are we, the business, a good fit for this candidate?”
Even though finding the perfect candidate has become a challenge, it’s definitely not impossible. With a few key elements in mind, we at BJRC Recruiting have helped many businesses find incredible candidates, leading to a successful job close. Here are the key elements that we recommend considering when hiring:
Consider Cultural Fit
One of the biggest elements that needs to be considered and assessed is whether or not the potential candidate fits well within your company and culture. Of course it’s necessary that they are able to do the job and have the required work experience. However, hiring a candidate that does not fit in well with the team can lead to an unproductive environment as well as a quick resignation.
To see how a candidate will fit within your company and culture, have members of the team meet and speak with them. This will allow everyone to get a sense of the candidate’s personality and overall fit, helping to make a successful decision.
Think About the Future
As a hiring manager you’re not only hiring to fill an open role. You’re also hiring to add to the team so that the company’s success can continue and grow. With this in mind, it’s important to think about the future when interviewing.
Consider asking candidates the following questions during their interview:
- How have you helped your past employer grow and achieve results?
- How do you see the company changing in two years, and how do you see yourself creating that change?
- What areas do you think need improvement or attention within our company?
These questions will help you get a good sense and understanding as to whether or not the candidate will be able to help your company achieve their goals and grow.
Get Out From Behind the Desk
When interviewing in an office or boardroom, it can be hard to get a real sense of the candidate’s personality and ticks, given the professional environment. To get a good understanding of who this person is and how they work, try getting away from a desk interview.
While we understand that this is not always possible, it is good to try to meet the candidate for coffee or at a more informal setting to help open them up. Alternatively, you can always take the candidate on a walking tour of the office to get them moving and to get away from the professional interview environment. This will also allow you to see how the candidate interacts with other employees around the office.
Trust Your Gut
Between all the resumes and questionnaires, it can be hard to tell which candidate will help elicit change within the company and be a successful hire. At the end of the day, the best way to move forward is to always trust your gut, especially if you’ve taken the other key elements into account. Your gut instinct is usually right!
Work with a Recruitment Firm
One of the biggest benefits of working with a recruitment firm is that the applications and candidates have already been screened against your company’s pre-qualifiers. This helps to ensure that the shortlist of candidates that get sent over are people who meet the qualifications and would be a good fit for your company. Which is an easier process than having to go through resumes and applicants yourself and also leads to a higher chance of a successful job close.
Hiring is never an easy process, especially when you’re looking for a candidate who will be a great fit for the position and the organization. From our experience in the recruitment industry, we’ve seen that hiring managers and organizations who follow these key elements and who work with recruitment firms like us, tend to have more successful job closes and higher employee retention.
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