The hiring procedure is one of the most delicate and difficult things for any company. Having to choose the perfect employee judging from only the first impression is a very slippery slope, which is why throughout the years, this process has been perfected. Self-assessment is very important when getting ready for interviews, but how do the people on the other side of the table assess applicants?

Important Decisions

First thing’s first, companies must decide what they need to focus on during the hiring procedure. Without mapping out their intentions, they have no way of hiring the perfect person for the role. Here are some important questions to ask yourself before even advertising the position.

• What type of person fits the company culture? Try to imagine the personality type that can fit right in.
• What are some specific traits that you need to focus on in this position? Does the applicant have to be creative? Rational? Intuitive? Also, focus on how they can grow further from this position.
• What are strengths that you’re looking for, and weaknesses you can live with?

Apart from knowing which candidate is right for you, these answers also help with your advertising strategy, as the placement and mode of these ads have to target the right audience. Look for these specific traits when looking at someone or talking to them, and also aim all your questions to lure these answers out of the candidate. This is a great way to assess your applicants and filter throughout the process.

Focus on Job Satisfaction

When asking questions, and when talking about your company, it’s important to discuss and highlight job satisfaction. There are two reasons for this. On one hand, asking about the candidate’s past experiences, and what they look for in this matter will help you further get to know their personality.

On the other hand, highlighting job satisfaction in your company and among your employees will let the applicant know that they’re joining a safe, healthy, and happy environment, and according to the latest surveys, people tend to prioritize job satisfaction greatly when looking for new positions. This “trick” also comes in handy when creating your ads. Working on your company description and highlighting job satisfaction can be the best thing you can do to ensure more high-quality candidates’ applications.

Look Further Than the Resume

While it’s true that resumes are the most effective tool for short-listing candidates in the hiring process, there’s much more to a person, and to a position than just their qualifications and experiences. Resumes have gone “out of style”, and here’s why. One of the biggest reasons is the market for ghostwriting resumes. Reaching exceptional qualities through the presentation and wording of a resume is no longer a challenge for anyone. There are tools, software, and people to do that for you. Therefore, employers today mostly use these documents on only the “zeroeth” floor: shortlisting candidates according to experience. People tend to include the glorified version of the truth into a resume, especially people who are talented writers (or have hired one to polish their documents). This is why a resume that catches the eye is only the first thing employers consider before the interview process.

Over time, resumes have become redundant, and while they’re still very much needed, a portfolio or a recommendation sometimes speaks louder than a polished, colorful CV. Some companies even make short questionnaires to filter candidates using specific, well-worded questions.

Make Sure You Have a Goal

Whether it’s through questions, statements, or quick little tasks, you should always have a clear goal of what it is you want to reach through these. Every question should aim at a certain answer, and every task should reflect something specific in the candidate. Think each question and statement through. What does the answer to “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” provide you with? Is this information truly important for you in this hiring procedure, or is it just something to fill the void? This is where various psychological tests and tasks come in handy, to further utilize these unconventional things to get to know the applicant. Another great example is, instead of asking someone how they work under pressure, construct a situation for them where they’d be faced with a lot of pressure, and ask them how they would resolve that specific problem. With this, instead of getting a well-known answer of “yes, I’m fantastic under pressure”, you can actually see whether they truly are, and how exactly they would get out of tight situations.

Get to Know the Candidate

While in certain situations this might be a challenge, it’s not impossible to look into the candidate’s background. Getting to know a little bit about their personalities – or through reading their resume concluding them – helps create a friendlier atmosphere for the applicant. Showing genuine interest in a person can ease the tension and help the candidate feel more comfortable as well throughout the interview process.

Study Non-Verbal Communication

While you don’t have to become an actual psychologist, it’s good to read up on non-verbal cues that can be present in an interview situation. Looking out for these can help you determine and assess things about the candidate that you would have missed otherwise. Some examples are body language, handshake, posture, how they’re dressed, how punctual they are, and everything in between. These seemingly small things can add up to huge conclusions, and noting these can help you make a decision. For instance, if you have two candidates with the same qualifications, and the same amount of experience, the biggest factor may be the fact that one of them was on time and was polite, while the other was late and seemed sloppy.

A lot of effort goes into recruiting on both sides of the process. Being prepared, aware, and constantly looking out for hints dropped here and there can help you choose the absolute perfect person for the position. And taking into consideration the new trends that revolve around these interview situations, you can utilize new tools to come out stronger.