You're struggling to find the right fit for your team. How do you streamline the candidate selection process?

To streamline the candidate selection process, focus on defining clear job criteria, utilize pre-screening tools to filter out unqualified applicants, and implement structured interviews to assess core competencies efficiently. This ensures a quicker, more effective hiring process while aligning with team needs.

I incorporate psychometric assessments and skills tests into the process. These tools provide valuable insights into a candidate’s potential and compatibility with the role and company culture.

It's important to see what's done so far for the position. If resume screening ratio is low, then fine-tune sourcing... If interview conversion is low, despite high screen select ratio - then relook at the evaluation process. Are we being cautious or over-cautious in hiring?

To streamline the candidate selection process when struggling to find the right fit, refine your job description to focus on the most critical skills and experiences. Implement a structured interview process with standardized questions to assess candidates consistently. Use pre-screening tools, such as assessments or initial phone interviews, to quickly filter out unqualified candidates. Involve key team members in the final interview stages to ensure alignment on the ideal candidate profile. This approach will help you identify the best fit more efficiently.

Use data from previous hires and industry benchmarks to refine your selection criteria and improve decision-making. Analysing trends can help you identify what qualities are associated with successful hires.

Provide a transparent and truthful description of the job as well as an honest assessment of the ideal candidate. While it is true that longer job postings might affect the quantity of candidates, doing so will improve the quality of candidates who are truly a good fit for the position, and they will appreciate the time put in to ensuring they aren't wasting their time applying to a job they are either not qualified or not interested in.

To attract candidates with your well written job desciption - review it for internal jargon and titles that are confusing to external candidates. Candidates want to know if they are a fit and what they will be doing. Alphabet soup and playful titles are fine for internal communication but think about using industry language when posting a job. Levels are different between organizations so include number of direct reports, individual contributor, level of who it reports to, etc. Optimize with key words and post in places that will attract a wide range of candidates.

It is always good to provide accurate job description with outlines the role's key responsibilities. We should expand our social media reach and use structured interviews.

Depending on the role, as part of the interview process, include a case study, business simulation or 30-60-90 day plan outline to witness your candidate in action. This is a great way for you (and your interview team) to learn how your candidate organizes themself, thinks and acts on their feet. It's also a useful exercise for the candidate to evaluate their level of enthusiasm and excitement about the role. This will become evident as they work through the assignment. In my work as a Talent Acquisition leader, I used this approach frequently. As an executive coach and talent advisor now, I guide my clients to do the same with great success.

A prior issue I've had is tech candidates have a great resume, great interview skills, but their code wasn't up to par with company standards in terms of efficiency and simplicity. The hiring manager would meet them, be excited about the process, and then review their score or code test and be disappointed. He was also the CTO, so it was wasting his limited calendar space. I moved the Coding assessment after the Initial interview but before the HM to insure that we knew there abilities and not just there people skills.

We can use phone interview, to pre screen candidates apart from AI powered software. Limit interview rounds and by doing skills assessments we can easily narrow down list of good candidates.

In planning and executing interviews balance the candidate experience with the availabilty of the interviewers. Launch the search when interviewers are available, protect time on calendars, pair interviewers when it makes sense, and begin with a virtual screening. If bringing candidates on site, provide a schedule in advance with who they will be meeting, where to park, dress in the office, bio-breaks, etc. Get back to candidates quickly with feedback and next steps.

Implement a structured interview format that includes standardized questions tailored to assess both technical skills and cultural fit. Ensure all interviewers are trained on the purpose and types of questions to ask, promoting consistency in evaluation across candidates. Incorporate behavioral interview techniques to gain insights into how candidates have handled past situations, and use scoring rubrics to objectively assess responses. Additionally, consider including a panel interview to gather diverse perspectives and feedback on the candidates, which can lead to more informed decision-making while minimizing biases.

Utilize your ATS in terms of interviewing, especial when panel interviews are involved. I often times will write interview questions for the panel, but will include the reasoning behind it. That way if the candidates doesn't understand the question fully, the interviewer can reword/ or ask a different question with the same intention. This also aid's in follow up questions and encouraging open dialogue, rather than just robotic questioning

I highly encourage behavioral interview and open ended questions. I often see hiring managers make the mistake of asking questions related only to a specific skill not allowing the candidate to showcase a 360 view of their capabilities as a whole. When interviewing candidates, behavioral questions will reveal many characteristics outside of a specific skill that will allow you to learn if they will fit within the dynamic of your team. We often use the "tell me more" scenario during interviews as we want our candidates to tell us their story, tell us examples of different situations they have found themselves in, how they handle situations, etc. Also, keep an eye on body language, eye contact, and verbiage while they are talking.

Utilize a combination of skills assessments and personality testing to identify candidates who not only possess the required technical abilities but also align with your team's values and culture. Implement practical exercises or simulations relevant to the role during the interview process to observe candidates' problem-solving skills and teamwork capabilities in real-time. Additionally, gather input from current team members about the candidates to ensure a holistic understanding of their potential fit. By focusing on both skills and soft attributes, you can enhance the likelihood of selecting candidates who will thrive in your team environment.

What are the opportunities in this role? Who will they work with and how will the work get done? What is the culture and values of the organization? These are the discussions that will help candidates and interviewers assess fit for the company and the role. "Fit" should not be hiring someone who thinks, looks, and acts like everyone else. It's a values and position requirements fit. Once a finalist has been identified, have the manager meet one more time at the end of the process to have a frank discussion, answer questions, etc. This is an important decision for everyone.

While it is definitely imperative that the candidate be able to communicate, be cooperative, etc. be careful when it comes to culture fit. There is a lot of room here for Unconscious Bias to slip in. For example, if the culture fit is "nice" it leaves a lot of room for what you consider nice, are they super friendly and chit chatty or do they have to smile? These ambiguous terms can differentiate depending on your socioeconomic and ethnic background. It also leaves a lot of room for discrimination again those who are neurodiverse. It's important to talk about these topics with Hiring Managers, Interview Panel, etc. Remember, the key to fixing unconscious bias is addressing it!

Another thing to consider, can someone be growing in the role or do you need someone who can hit the ground running? In a long term hire, growing into the position (with support) may be a better fit long term. If this person will be drinking from a fire hose upon arrival, then hire a seasoned professional who has been made aware of what they will be walking into.

When making decisions. Go with your gut. One candidate may check all of the boxes and have the exact skill set you need to complete the job. However, one may lack the skill but have the right attitude and fit better within the dynamic of your team. At the end of it all, give yourself grace! You won't always make the right hire the first time. And that is okay! Use it as a learning experience and improve your process the next time.