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7 Ways to Efficiently Assess Potential Employees

By Caitlin Mazur - Nov. 7, 2022
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Deciding which job candidate is the best fit for the position is a difficult process. It’s also a high-stakes decision, as a bad hire can cost a company tens of thousands of dollars.

While there is no way to guarantee a good hire every time, implementing these seven ways to efficiently assess potential employees can significantly help your chances of finding the right employee the first time.

Key Takeaways

  • Know your company’s culture so you can note how well potential employees match it.

  • Consider giving a potential employee a “test run” before hiring them.

  • Pay attention to how a candidate behaves outside of the interview.

7 Ways To Efficiently Assess Potential Employees

  1. Know Your Company’s Culture

    An HR manager has to understand the organization’s culture so they can bring in people who fit in with the culture and add to it in a positive way.

    One way to do this is to make a detailed cultural inventory to use as a guide during the recruitment process.

    Start by describing your company’s culture in a single page. Include as many aspects as you can think of, such as:

    • Schedules

    • Employee recognition programs

    • Vacation days

    • Travel

    • Dress codes

    • Performance requirements

    • Other things you can measure with data

    Then, include the things that cannot be specifically measured, such as:

    • Energy

    • Attitude

    • Humor

    • Vibe

    • Flexibility

    • Supportiveness

    • Competitiveness

    When you have this information, you’ll be able to hire new employees who will not only fit into the environment but will also help the company culture thrive.

  2. Mind Your First Impressions

    Although your first impressions are not the end-all, be-all, they are still valid, as these are often your intuition telling you important information about whether or not this is the right person for the job.

    So, so pay attention when you have thoughts like:

    • This guy would make the entire office laugh.

    • She has a kind smile.

    • His shoes are clean, so I bet he pays attention to detail.

    • She has a confident handshake.

    Or

    • Why won’t this guy look me in the eye?

    • Her papers are all over the place — I wonder if she’s always this disorganized.

    • He was late and didn’t apologize — does he realize he’s late or just not care?

    You shouldn’t be fully guided by intuition, since the hiring process still has to do with specific metrics. However, you should definitely consider your first impressions when evaluating a candidate.

  3. Be The “Stalker”

    Kidding. You’re not a stalker when you check a candidate’s social media profiles. You’re just doing your job.

    If you see a candidate with active and honest presence on social media, you can evaluate their communication skills and attitude towards other people. You get to see their sense of humor and proof of their interests.

    The downside is: not everyone likes social media. Some people don’t post that frequently. It doesn’t mean they wouldn’t fit in your company’s culture. Keep that in mind when you see someone with a mediocre social media presence.

  4. Ask The Trickiest Question Of All

    “What changes would you make if you were the leader of this company?”

    This one of the most interesting questions to ask during an interview, as it gives you insights into the candidate’s soft skills.

    First of all, you see how well they can handle a challenging situation since the question forces them to think quickly and communicate their ideas in the clearest way possible.

    Plus, the answer shows you how well they researched your company. If they know enough about your current projects, it means they did their homework and their interest to work for you is genuine.

    Imagine this answer:

    “I would alternate the marketing campaign, so it would target a larger audience. Currently, you’re showing only young and beautiful people in your ads. That’s not your target audience. This product is being used by older people, too, and I feel like your marketing campaign isn’t inviting enough for them.”

    It shows that the person is well-spoken, has done extensive research on your company, and knows what they’re talking about when it comes to marketing.

  5. Don’t Limit Your Observations To The Interview Room

    The interview room is not the natural habitat of your candidate. They cannot — and will not — act as they would in regular situations since this is a unique setting where they’re working to put their best foot forward at all times.

    To combat this, observe how these candidates interact with people outside the interview room. For example, what was their attitude toward your office manager or receptionist? How do they treat their fellow interviewees?

    Ask the receptionist and other staff members what they thought about the candidate and compare their notes with what you saw in the interview. If you notice they are quite different, it means the candidate put on a great act and may not be the person you want to hire.

    The negative thing about this method is that it’s not always possible to do. If you’re interviewing candidates over Skype, for example, you can’t see how they act in a waiting room. In that case, use social media to evaluate the way they naturally communicate with people.

  6. Give Them A Test Drive

    When you ask someone if they are ready to handle specific responsibilities, you usually get the same answer: “Sure!”

    Employees think they are ready. According to the resume and soft skills you assessed, you also have the impression they are ready. When they get into the thick of it, however, they (or you!) realize they’ve bitten off more than they can chew.

    To avoid this, consider offering a job tryout for candidates. Whether it’s serving a customer (real or simulated), editing an article, or solving a problem, this can help you see your job candidates’ skills in action.

    If you’re not ready for such a big step, you can stick to the good old test period in the offices.

    During this period you can measure the candidate’s job-related and cognitive skills and see how well they fit into the organization’s culture. Then at the end of the period, you can make the final decision on whether or not you’re going to continue their employment or not.

    There is a weak point to this strategy: you’re evaluating them during the adaptation period. The new culture may come as a shock to them, so they are not able to show their full potential before they fully adapt.

    To overcome this pitfall, you must make the experience as stress-free as possible for them.

  7. Look Beneath The Surface

    When you interview a potential employee, you must scratch beneath the surface. Their body language, their choice of words, their level of stress that comes through — everything tells you something about this person.

    Ask questions that will help them reveal their personality, such as, “What do you usually do on weekends?” If they tell you they take online courses, it probably means they like learning. If they tell you they usually go to the spa, it probably means they like to take care of themselves.

    While you can’t hire a person based on their answer to these questions alone, they can help you get to know the candidate’s personality a little better, which is an important factor in someone’s hireability.

The answers you get, the strength of the handshake, the eye contact… everything matters. We can’t learn how to hire the perfect candidates in a day. It’s a process.

Even the most experienced HR managers make mistakes now and then. But, being more mindful about the entire process and relying on the right methods — like the ones we just described — can help you make a better hiring decision.

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Assessing Potential Employees FAQ

  1. What does it mean to evaluate a candidate?

    Evaluating a candidate means observing their behavior and skills and assessing how well they’d fit the position they’re applying for.

Reading a candidate’s resume and cover letter, noting how they behave in an interview, and listening to their answers to interview questions are all a part of the evaluation process.

You have to absorb and analyze information from all of these sources to decide which candidate is the best fit for the position’s skills requirements and for your company culture.

  • How do you evaluate candidates before an interview?

    You evaluate candidates before an interview by reading their application, resume, and cover letter and perusing their social media profiles.

  • By reading and comparing candidates’ application documents, you’ll be able to get at least a general idea of who is most qualified for the position.

    Then, you can get a feel for their personality, the way they present themselves, and the way they communicate with others by looking at their LinkedIn, Facebook, and/or Instagram profiles. This can give you a general idea of which candidates may be a good cultural fit for your organization.

  • What are the five factors in evaluation candidates?

    The five factors in evaluating candidates are hard skills, soft skills, experience, potential, and cultural fit.

  • Hard skills are the technical skills the candidate needs to do the job they’re applying for.

    For example, software developers need to know certain types of computer codes, accountants need to know how to bookkeep, and graphic designers need to know how to edit and export images.

    Soft skills are the skills a candidate needs to be a good employee in any discipline: Communication, time management, and resilience are a few common examples.

    Experience is how much the candidate has been able to use their skills in a real-life environment. Yes, a recent college graduate may have similar skills to someone who’s been in the workforce for 20 years, but they have vastly different levels and types of experience.

    Especially if you are hiring someone with less experience, consider candidates’ potential. Candidates that have a track record of learning and adapting quickly and a solid foundation of skills often have high amounts of potential.

    The last thing to evaluate in a candidate is their cultural fit. Do they seem like they’d get along well with others in the department? Do their values align with the organization’s? Would you enjoy working with this person? These are all important factors to consider when evaluating job candidates.

    Author

    Caitlin Mazur

    Caitlin Mazur is a freelance writer at Zippia where she has written 140+ articles that have reached over 1 mil viewers as of June 2023. Caitlin is passionate about helping Zippia’s readers land the jobs of their dreams by offering content that discusses job-seeking advice based on experience and extensive research.

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