The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) recorded about 5.29 million graduates in the year 2019, and to be honest with the increasing awareness on the importance of higher education, the number is expected to show an upward trend. This results in stiffer competition among graduates and almost limitless options for employers.
It’s no surprise that hiring is a rather complicated process, even with outsourcing and algorithms, sometimes it’s still not good enough to get you the best candidate that suits the business needs. The end goal is to always recruit the right candidate as it results in employee efficiency, effective business relationship, and positive office environment.
So, what are the best recruiting strategies for hiring the right candidate? Read on to find out more.
1. Avoid the Standard Job Interview
A typical job interview is pretty much a social call with a set of predictable questions - Tell me about yourself. What are your five-year goals? What is your biggest employment failure? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Those questions might be necessary to get a basic understanding of the candidate, but it will not set you apart from other employers or create a positive bond with the possible employee.
Instead, try these basic principles to circumvent the common drawbacks of an interview.
- Be imaginative. Most of the candidates will be ready for the ordinary questions. Discover out-of-box and better approaches to genuinely see how an individual thinks.
- Be challenging. Set a scenario and put the candidate in circumstances where they are bound to portray their actual selves and critical thinking skills.
- Allow existing employees in the organization to assist in the process. You are not by any means the only individual who must work with the applicant. In fact, there is likely a group of employees who would be working closely with the new hire on a daily basis. Give them a chance to share first hand experience of the job while evaluating the candidate as well. Their feedback is just as valuable.
2. Give Candidates an Issue to Settle
Unusual inquiries will get candidates to open up and give insights into what really matters to them. Get this going by making it part of the application process. Depict a situation they would probably face in that role and request that they react with how they would tackle the issue, in an essay or presentation format.
Ask those you have shortlisted to discuss their response. By examining their intuition behind their answer, you will confirm both their abilities to fix the issue as well as their behavioral traits towards each issue. The idea of giving candidates a project to do or a problem to solve isn’t so much about seeing their result. It is a smart method to gauge how they foster processes and how they approach solving a problem in a professional setting.
3. Listen to Candidates Talk About Something That Is Critical to Them
This is a common technique used by recruiters. Listen, listen, listen! Give the candidates an opportunity to share about their passion and interest, all while paying close attention and watching their body language. From this, recruiters can obtain information that is not on paper or their LinkedIn profile. This type of personal information can be leveraged to establish a better understanding to hire the best candidate for the company. However, it is not always easy to get the applicant to open up and be conversational. That’s on the recruiter, to initiate topics that would make the candidate comfortable to discuss further. You are bound to gather important observations about them and discover what makes them "tick”.
Pro-Tip: As much as an applicant is required to research about the company they are interviewing with; a recruiter should also do a background check on the applicant.
4. Ask Yourself 5 Questions
There are 5 main questions you should ask yourself before making a decision on the hiring:
- Can the candidate perform the job as per expectations?
- Do they have the drive to succeed in the job?
- Are they interested in continuous development and learning opportunities?
- Is the candidate open to criticism and coachable?
- Are they a fit for your team culture?
Make sure to look beyond the skills and how candidates look on paper. The best candidate should not only have the most required skills but also have the potential to grow and be a culture fit for your team.
These recruitment tips for improving your hiring process are put together by Lion File. Do visit us to purchase your online stationeries for your office and your successful candidate.