It can be difficult to be completely sure about a candidate when you’re hiring. Once you’ve reviewed applications, interviewed candidates, and run backgrounds on the finalists, how do you know you’ve found the best person for your open position? The good news is that if you’ve done a thorough job in your hiring process, you already have the tools you need to make a good decision, and they each evaluate a different aspect of your potential candidate.
Past: Do they have a good work history?
Go over your notes from your conversations with their past supervisors. This is the most practical evaluation tool you have at your disposal. Just as actions speak louder than words, a candidate’s work history says more than their answers in an interview. People can change, of course, but it’s not likely that they’ll make a complete turnaround overnight.
Present: Did they do well in the interviews?
If you’re lucky, you’ve had the opportunity to bring in other people from your company into the interview room with you. It’s entirely possible that they may catch a problem or have a question that you missed. Their feedback about the candidate is a valuable thing to consider. After all, they’ll be working with them if they’re hired. Before you make your final decision, speak with the other interviewers and make sure there’s nothing that you’ve missed.
Future: Are they a good fit for your company?
Unfortunately, there’s no crystal ball to help you answer this question. Avoid the trap of choosing the candidate you like the best on a personal level, and instead choose the person you think will have the best chance to succeed. Consider the overall culture of your company. If there’s a lot of teamwork involved in the job, don’t hire a candidate who struggles with that. If your office is full of straight-laced people, think before hiring someone rambunctious. They could be just the thing to shake up your office and make it a bit more fun, or they could have a very difficult time fitting in. Office chemistry is a mystery, but not impossible to predict. Just go with your gut.
So what if you’ve looked at all these aspects of your potential hires and you still don’t feel confident enough to get the hiring paperwork started? Maybe you don’t have enough qualified candidates. We can help with that! Contact Key Resource Group for help with finding a better pool of job candidates.