The Recruitment Process
Your Handy Guide to Attracting the Right Talent for your Business
Your Handy Guide to Attracting the Right Talent for your Business
Anyone can perform well at an interview, but how do you know the successful candidate is going to live up to expectations once they are in post? You may already have an extremely effective interview process in place and if this is working well for you then there may not be any reason to change it. However, if you want to explore other methods of assessing your candidates, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us and we will happily provide further support and advice.
Why should you consider making changes?
Young people with a limited work history may not always be able to shine in “traditional” job interview situations, as they do not have the extensive career history that other, more experienced applicants can offer. It can therefore be worthwhile incorporating practical or group-based tasks, to get a sense of how applicants – including younger candidates - would truly perform in the job.
To demonstrate what we mean, let’s consider competency-based interviews. Competency questions can be useful for understanding how someone has approached a particular situation, for example, finding out about a time when the candidate has worked effectively as part of a team. However, you may find scenario-based questions more useful for understanding what a candidate would do in a typical “on-the-job” scenario, for example, “how would you deal with an angry customer?” This is especially advantageous if the candidate has had limited work experience, yet they may still possess many of the skills you are looking for.
Breaking away from “traditional” interview methods could transform your talent attraction process and give candidates a real chance to shine. You may therefore want to consider the following alternatives to a standard face-to-face interview:
Why should you consider making changes?
Young people with a limited work history may not always be able to shine in “traditional” job interview situations, as they do not have the extensive career history that other, more experienced applicants can offer. It can therefore be worthwhile incorporating practical or group-based tasks, to get a sense of how applicants – including younger candidates - would truly perform in the job.
To demonstrate what we mean, let’s consider competency-based interviews. Competency questions can be useful for understanding how someone has approached a particular situation, for example, finding out about a time when the candidate has worked effectively as part of a team. However, you may find scenario-based questions more useful for understanding what a candidate would do in a typical “on-the-job” scenario, for example, “how would you deal with an angry customer?” This is especially advantageous if the candidate has had limited work experience, yet they may still possess many of the skills you are looking for.
Breaking away from “traditional” interview methods could transform your talent attraction process and give candidates a real chance to shine. You may therefore want to consider the following alternatives to a standard face-to-face interview:
Telephone Interview
Including a telephone interview as part of your recruitment process can not only save you time, it is also a great additional assessment method, especially if the job role you have advertised involves telephone communication.
Including a telephone interview as part of your recruitment process can not only save you time, it is also a great additional assessment method, especially if the job role you have advertised involves telephone communication.
Group Interview
Organising a group interview is a great way of assessing a range of candidates for a variety of skills. Group interviews are especially useful for assessing communication, team working and leadership skills, providing you with the opportunity to evaluate how potential employees interact in a real-life situation.
Organising a group interview is a great way of assessing a range of candidates for a variety of skills. Group interviews are especially useful for assessing communication, team working and leadership skills, providing you with the opportunity to evaluate how potential employees interact in a real-life situation.
Case Study Interview
You will provide candidates with a brief describing a situation that they will be required to resolve. In this type of interview, you would set each candidate up to read the information and ask them to prepare their response within an allocated amount of time. This is a great way of testing a range of skills such as logic, problem-solving and communication.
You will provide candidates with a brief describing a situation that they will be required to resolve. In this type of interview, you would set each candidate up to read the information and ask them to prepare their response within an allocated amount of time. This is a great way of testing a range of skills such as logic, problem-solving and communication.
In-Tray Exercise
This is a great way of testing a candidate’s organisational and prioritisation skills, as well as their ability to make logical decisions. This exercise involves providing candidates with a list of tasks and asking them to rank their importance in priority order.
This is a great way of testing a candidate’s organisational and prioritisation skills, as well as their ability to make logical decisions. This exercise involves providing candidates with a list of tasks and asking them to rank their importance in priority order.
Aptitude Test
You may want to use aptitude tests to assess numeracy or literacy skills. These are a useful way of measuring a candidate’s ability to work under pressure to produce accurate work.
These tasks are worth including for any role that involves a significant amount of written or statistical work. This could involve something as simple as asking a candidate to draft an email based on a scenario you have given them, which allows you an opportunity to review their written communication skills.
You may want to use aptitude tests to assess numeracy or literacy skills. These are a useful way of measuring a candidate’s ability to work under pressure to produce accurate work.
These tasks are worth including for any role that involves a significant amount of written or statistical work. This could involve something as simple as asking a candidate to draft an email based on a scenario you have given them, which allows you an opportunity to review their written communication skills.
Roleplay
Including a roleplay scenario as part of your interview process helps you to assess a candidate’s suitability for the role. It is a more effective way of understanding how a candidate would perform in a standard work-based situation than simply asking an interview question, and is a great way of assessing a young person who has more limited experience of the working environment.
A role-play could involve dealing with a customer complaint or handling a simple telephone query, allowing you to observe the candidate’s communication skills. As an employer, you can get into character and you can even use real situations that you or your staff have previously dealt with as a basis for the roleplay.
Including a roleplay scenario as part of your interview process helps you to assess a candidate’s suitability for the role. It is a more effective way of understanding how a candidate would perform in a standard work-based situation than simply asking an interview question, and is a great way of assessing a young person who has more limited experience of the working environment.
A role-play could involve dealing with a customer complaint or handling a simple telephone query, allowing you to observe the candidate’s communication skills. As an employer, you can get into character and you can even use real situations that you or your staff have previously dealt with as a basis for the roleplay.