It may be easier to go with the flow whilst conducting job interviews, but sometimes even while following your entire hiring checklist, you might end up making a bad hire. According to the Department of U.S Labour, a wrong hire can cost your company almost 30% of that candidate’s first-year earnings!  There are other limitations that come along with this though such as— poor productivity, additional training costs, replacements etc. Honestly, you wouldn’t want to go through the process of hiring a candidate for the same position again. So it’s indispensable to get it right the very first time.

There are five key aspects that you’ve to keep in mind while hiring a candidate:

  1. Whether the candidate has the proper skills required for the job.
  2. Whether the applicant has relevant work experience in the field.
  3. If his/her salary expectations fit the company’s budget.
  4. How motivated he/she remains and what are some of the past achievements he/she had had at work?
  5. Are they culturally fit?

Recruiters should always look out for approaches that help get a deeper insight into their shortlisted candidates. Simply interviewing and deciding is not enough anymore. Also, with remote hiring at its peak, several candidate assessment tools are available that has been making the process smoother and more accessible. Whether or not you’ve carried out an online interview or an in-office one, fundamentally demanding circumstances apply to both cases. Choosing a proper candidate for an open role is a lot like placing a puzzle together.

5 ways to effectively evaluate job candidates during the hiring process

Imagine you’re at the end stage of your hiring cycle, and all eyes are on you. All of the selected candidates seem to be highly skilled, certified and have relevant skills. How do you make a decision here? For most companies, the solution to this query takes the shape of a post-interview evaluation. It’s truly a difficult choice— a choice that will be consequential if a wrong decision is made. So, here are some candidate assessment tips that might help you assess job candidates with extreme care.

1. Observe the candidate’s body language

Often recruiters observe a candidate’s body language with care. But do you recognise what really needs to be monitored? Notice if your candidates are making eye contact; are they nearly hiding into their jacket or stepping up their game with every question you’re asking? How is he/she responding to an unlikely scenario? Ask them to offer a sneak peek into a day in their life. Try to keep it as relaxed as possible.

669 CEOs, as per a PwC survey, stated that remote work is here to stay for the long term. Hence, recruiters will need to give more importance to remote recruiting now more than ever. Even if it’s a matter of a video interview, a candidate’s presentation matters. As soon as they switch on their webcam, they should be in a formally presentable state.

2. Take a look at their problem-solving capabilities

Regardless of the industry, it’s vital to hire applicants who can provide you with particular answers to market obstacles. You can throw them a curveball and inquire them by using a much less intimidating method. Provide them with an example of workplace trouble and ask them to explain how they’d respond. Be conscious that the solution won’t be thorough, given the time constraints; however, it’ll help you determine their problem-solving capabilities.

3. Learn how they treat & deal with others

This is by far the most essential candidate assessment tips out there. This will also help you identify a candidate’s team-building abilities. Interviewees will almost always be on their best behaviour with the interviewer, however, understand clearly how do they deal with different people in your company? Are they well mannered for your receptionist? Do they make small talk with the individual that offers them a tour of the office? This way, you get a peek into their natural personality and how they behave in a team setting. In case the interview is not virtual, several team building activities can help recruiters understand more about their candidates’ qualities, such as— the Hover Ball exercise for looking into leadership skills, the Traffic Jam exercise for understanding resilience, the Magic Cone exercise for identifying if the candidate is a perfect communicator and so on.

Most jobs require a certain degree of collaboration with different people. Even work that’s regularly noticeable as lonely, along with accounting or software program development, can also additionally require contribution from different sets of people. So, except you’re hiring for a truck driver, you would want to properly check a candidate’s team-building abilities.

Read More: 7 Ways Recruiters Can Use Recruitment Analytics For Better Hiring

4. Ask what’s on their mind

Let’s be honest, growing companies often make errors, and hiring means your employer is trying to improve in a particular area. A recruiter’s job here is really critical, one that determines whether the company will be able to move forward or will be stuck in that same old phase of onboarding someone else because of a bad hire. Look for candid comments from the candidate. It’s an awesome signal if they are able to let you know how they could enhance your employer’s past efforts without being overly critical. It suggests the candidate is aware of their stuff and can be a stable team member. 86% of recruiters believe that badmouthing their previous employer is real bad news, so keep an eye out for that.

5. A willingness to learn & adaptability

Organisations and the way they operate keep changing all the time. Candidates who don’t research risk staying behind, irrespective of their accumulated knowledge or work experience. A willingness to learn new things in an organisation and a curiosity to know more are some critical qualities of a good employee capable of growth every day – not only for learning new hard skills but also for developing soft skills too.

Many HR experts have pointed out the need for adaptive assessments, often known as adaptive pre-employment tests that help them understand a candidate’s ability faster than any other test. Also, as the questions in the test are similar, it ends up providing a fair chance to everyone, improving the candidate experience.

In final words

Turnover and hiring new employees may be time-consuming and costly for companies. With the right candidate assessment tools, recruiters can hire more effectively and needless to say, but HR automation is the way to go if employers want a quicker, faster and more straightforward solution to recruiting.

Candidates who make an excellent first impact will set the proper tone for the interview. Their actions can create lasting impressions during all those critical encounters. Nevertheless, it’s essential on a recruiter’s part to be dressed formally as well. Also, ensure that you’re using a tone that appropriately displays the genuine nature of the organisation.