Assessing Candidates

Assessing candidate’s innate behaviour should be a must for a recruiter but a person’s learned behaviours or Character is also very important to ensure a good fit to a job. These behaviours come from our parents, our teachers, our peer groups and mentors and coaches at work.

They are mainly:

Attitude – which ensures they will fit into the culture and norms of your company.

Self-Esteem/Confidence – which ensures they will be strong enough to obtain that difficult sale or deliver a tough management decision.

Stability – having the ability to be like a round bottomed doll and always “bounce back” whatever the failure or disappointment.

Maturity – lack of which can be the reason many managers fail to succeed. We tend to be fooled into thinking that greying hair, a mortgage and children is a sign of maturity but they are not a reliable measure. To understand the elements of maturity check for the following signs:

1. Do they accept that reward comes after effort?

2. Are they flexible enough to accept that it is not always possible to follow the plan or preferred course?

3. Are they able to give credit to others when deserved, or do they have the “I did everything” disease?

4. Can they accept the blame when it is their fault or is it always something beyond their control?

5. Are they able to recognise the possible consequences of their decisions and actions and adjust if necessary?

Careful and probing interview questions can reassure recruiters that the candidate is ready and up to the job, it is always worth taking the time!