Candidate sourcing isn’t about getting a high volume of talents for your recruitment firm. It’s about hiring the perfect candidate for any open position – one who will excel at the job, fit in with the company culture, and ultimately, help the organization prosper. But, how do you know whether a candidate is fit for the job?
Getting to know a candidate is no easy feat, especially when you only have one or two interview sessions, plus a resume from which base your assessment. But, learning how to observe their traits and personality effectively in your recruitment process can help you save time and energy.
Here are the traits you need to look for, as well as some tips how you can assess for these characteristics and attitudes.
1. Passionate
A great employee is passionate about what they do. They don’t just do the bare minimum. They will perform to the best of their abilities and do much more than they’re asked to do to deliver high-quality work.
Most candidates write “passionate about work” on their resume. So, how do you know if a candidate is really passionate about their craft? .
How to Assess for This Trait:
If you’re lucky, all the applicants that come through your door are passionate. To assess whether they’re passionate about their jobs, get them to tell you about their work.
According to a recent survey, over 73% of HR professionals, recruiters, and hiring managers want to see applicants demonstrate their willingness to work hard.
Ask them about the things that they’ve done for their current or previous employer that demonstrates their passion. You can also ask them if there was ever a time when they had to defend the brand or company they represent and how they did it.
If you notice that they seem nonchalant about their craft or unexcited to talk about the work they do, then that can be a red flag.
2. Adaptable and Flexible
A good employee will never immediately resist change, especially when they want to grow ALONG with the business. They will do their best to adapt if it proves necessary to the business,
Flexibility is crucial because your new hire will need to adapt to a new work environment because every company has a unique culture, process, and communication style.
How to Assess for This Trait:
When reviewing their resume, note any career changes and how long they stayed in each company. During the interview, talk to them about how they addressed past problems in their career, environment, and team.
If they stayed for longer than three years in one organization, ask them if they think they can adjust to a new culture and environment. You can also ask them to talk about any major life changes they experienced and how they dealt with it.
3. Has Attention to Detail
Attention to detail is important in any job. It helps ensure the thoroughness of work. If a worker is not meticulous in their tasks, they may make errors that, no matter how small, result in repercussions.
How to Assess for This Trait:
You need to ensure that your candidates pay attention to even the littlest things. When reviewing their resume, note how much detail they include in it, and how well they organized the information.
During the interview, ask about the tools they use in their workflow to help them maintain accuracy in their work. Ask them how they ensure the quality of work for time-pressured projects. You can also ask whether they found errors in their work before and how they corrected it.
4. Reliable and Dependable
Dependability makes all the difference between employees who usually deliver and those that always follow through. You can count on dependable employees to offer their time and expertise to sensitive projects that require extra effort.
They will even be more than willing to help their colleagues be better at their jobs. Some candidates readily show commitment to delivering high-quality work on time. But, not all do.
How to Assess for This Trait:
It won’t be easy to gauge a candidate’s reliability just by looking at their resume. The number of years they work for a company isn’t an exact indication, either. So, it’s important to ask them to provide examples of how they handled personal issues that interfered with their working hours in the past, and how they handled it.
Weave in whether they are willing to do some overtime work, and what they did in the past when they weren’t able to finish a task before the end of the workday. Ask them to tell you about instances when they were right, but protocol indicates otherwise.
5. Self-motivated
You’re not hiring employees so you can have someone to order around. You want a candidate who can work with little direction. The sheer motivation for the work is often enough for an employee to deliver high-quality results.
Self-motivated employees are those that don’t get embroiled with office politics or getting the credit. For these employees, it’s all about achieving the goal.
How to Assess for This Trait:
Note achievements and recognition in their educational or professional background and ask them to describe how they achieved this goal. Asking them where they want to be five years from now will help you assess their motivation. What drives them to be better at what they do, and why do these factors motivate them?
Self-motivated and goal-oriented employees will stay with an organization if the company can provide them with the career path they seek. If their personal and professional goals are not aligned with your company’s, then it may not be a good fit.
6. Effective Communicator
In business, effective communication is essential. Just think about how miscommunication can result in business errors that are detrimental to the company’s growth.
Internally, employees need to be able to communicate well with one another to work effectively as a team. Externally, your employees need to communicate with clients and customers.
How to Assess for This Trait:
You’ll generally be able to assess for a candidate’s communication skills during the interview. Note whether their answers address the questions you’re asking. You can assess for their listening skills, as well as how well they articulate what they want to say.
7. Team Player
Collaboration often results in getting the best outcome. Each member of the team can contribute his or her own insight and expertise to the project. Team players also help uplift morale and overall employee engagement.
As such, being team-oriented is important for employees. No matter how stellar a candidate’s resume may seem or how passionate they are about what they do, if they can’t work well with their colleagues, then you’ll end up with an employee who likes to work alone and takes all credit for himself or herself.
How to Assess for This Trait:
Ask your candidate what “team player” means. Their answer will help you assess whether they’re a real team player or not. Do they talk about the actual team or do they talk about how they led their team?
Sometimes, all you need to do is ask directly, and they’ll give you an honest answer. So, simply ask them whether they prefer working in a team or working alone.
Conclusion
As an employer, HR professional, or recruitment firm, you need to ask the right questions and utilize the right assessment strategies to properly assess whether the candidates you’re hiring possess the necessary traits to flourish at work.
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