9 Ways To Assess Candidates Before Hiring

Making the right decisions

Choosing the right candidate for your team is always a challenging process, especially if you have to go through hundreds of resumes. But as much as someone’s accomplishments and experience matter, they can’t show how well a candidate would fit your team.

Of course, there are face-to-face interviews, but even those can sometimes be ineffective. If you ask only generic questions, they may not reveal the answers you’re looking for. They may simply tell you what you’ve already known about a candidate.

Luckily, there are some tried-and-true tactics you can use to assess candidates before hiring and make sure you make the right decisions. Here are 9 of those:

Body language can speak volumes about a person. It can tell you more about a candidate’s interpersonal skills, their personality, their honesty (or lack of it), and their feelings.

By reading a job candidate’s body language, you can see whether or not they are excited about the job opportunity and genuinely interested in your company.

So, observe everything from handshakes and gestures to eye contact. For instance, if someone’s jittery, they may be unsure of their abilities and might not perform well at the job.

Talking to job candidates about anything they’re passionate about will help you learn more about them. You’ll know what drives them and whether or not they can actually find motivation in the job they’re applying for.

The key is to make them feel comfortable and keep communication open and honest. Making them feel fully confident talking about their passions will help you gain a clear insight into what makes them tick.

A resume will tell you a lot about a job candidate’s ability to learn and continually improve their skills, but you can also ask them directly.

Find out if they are curious and excited about learning. Ask what skills they would like to improve or add to their knowledge arsenal. Ask if they find it enticing to grow at your company and continually upgrade their skills, going up the corporate ladder and building a successful career within the company.

Learning about a job seeker’s work ethic is one of the most crucial steps to take. It will show you whether or not they would have any trouble working with your team.

So, ask if they had any challenges working with someone in the past and how they managed to overcome them. Ask if they have ever had a difficult time working with someone who thinks differently, which will tell you about their ability to work in diverse teams.

Problem-solving skills are some of the most vital skills every employee should have, no matter the job. They should be able to efficiently and effectively handle any issue they may encounter to ensure the organization keeps running smoothly.

But evaluating a candidate’s problem-solving skills isn’t only about testing their ability to solve a problem or complete a project. It’s about gaining an insight into their way of thinking and their process of finding the best solution.

Assessing a job candidate’s ability to work under stress is of utmost importance for your organization. If they become too stressed and fail under pressure, they might not be an excellent addition to your team.

You need someone who can keep their composure under stress, especially if they will assume a senior position at the company.

One way to assess this ability is to ask a candidate about any stressful situation they faced at work. Ask how they handled the problem and pay close attention to how they respond.

This is vital because you may not see a candidate’s true colors during the interview, simply because they are on their best behavior. So, pay attention to how they interact with people outside the interview room.

Did they greet the front-desk employee? Are they friendly with everyone? Do they treat other candidates and office staff the same way they treat you? What first impression did they leave with anyone who may have given them the office tour?

Knowing all this will help you learn whether they are professional, friendly, honest, and genuinely authentic, or their interview behavior is just for show.

Paying close attention to the questions the candidates ask you should also play a big part in the hiring process.

They will show you whether or not a job seeker is excited about the opportunity to work at your company. They will show you how interested they are in the vacant role and if they’re a perfect fit for the company culture.

While all these steps will give you an insight into the personality of each candidate, you can dig deeper into the online assessment.

Online testing should take place before all the face-to-face interviews so that you can get to know every candidate a bit better before they step into the room.

You can create personality tests that will help you identify various personality traits. There are online assessment tools for doing it easily, even if you’re not tech-savvy. Those tools for online testing will also analyze how your job candidates communicate and provide you with other insightful reports and analytics.

There are certainly many more ways to assess candidates and make sure you hire the right talent for your company. But these are undoubtedly the most effective ways to do it.

So, the next time you start making interview plans and creating all the questions, be sure to have these proven assessment tactics in mind.

Each candidate may look fantastic on paper, but you need to look beyond the experience, accomplishments, and skills that enrich their resumes. Only then will you find the right puzzle piece to fit your team and help your company thrive perfectly.