Is there such a thing as ‘the ideal candidate’?

What do you look for in a CV? How do you know where the pitfalls are? The ideal candidate can often turn out to be anything but…

Identify what you are looking for before you start your recruitment campaign. A simple way to do this is to follow the Three Levels of Appraisal:

The Three Levels of Appraisal will help you separate out a candidates appearance, CV/experience & learned behaviours. An easy way to remember is ‘first impressions’, ‘work experience’ & ‘personality’.

Try to dodge the common pitfalls of the CV:

  1. Do not rely on the CV alone to structure an interview. An alternative definition of CV = ‘edited highlights of someone’s career to date’.
  2. A good looking CV may give the impression of a competent interviewee but there are plenty of recruitment specialists/agencies who will do this on the candidate’s behalf. Drill down with behavioural-based questions.
  3. Gaps in work history – these may be explained but you won’t know if you don’t ask.

You can increase the chances of recruiting the right person by structuring your interview process  Use a clear structure and good questions that will drill down into a candidate’s past experience – one of the best indicators of future performance.

Get in touch (0800 043 3950) if you’d like to try The McQuaig Interview Guide for free in your next recruitment campaign. The Interview Guide structures your interview providing a psychometric profile and behavioural based interviewing questions.

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