With so many people on the hunt for jobs you would think a recruiters life would be easier, and in many ways it is. There is no shortage of qualified candidates applying for jobs. This creates an interesting situation for recruiters. Instead of picking through 10 or 15 resumes and finding the 2 or 3 good candidates, we are now searching through 100 resumes of which 20 or 30 look good.

I don't have time to phone screen 30 candidates so instead I send them instructions to take a behavioral assessment. When we accept a search for a client, the first thing we do is test two or three of their best employees already in the job. We use the results of their assessments to create a behavioral profile specific to the job and the company. Once the candidates complete the assessment I can quickly rank the candidates against the behavioral profile and choose the top 5 to call and screen over the phone.

The side benefit of all this is that when we get a new search, I have a database of candidates I can immediately rank against the new profile we create. This saves me time and also gives the candidates a better chance of being seen for positions they will really be happy in.