Persona Based Hiring - The Future ?

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe" - Abraham Lincoln

Hiring needs the same strategy where 60% of the planning should be done before posting a requirement. More specifically, examining your audience through the lens of a persona reveals how you can tailor recruitment marketing efforts to the target candidate’s needs and interests.

Today when we talk about the brand of the company, the primary audience are the candidates who are evaluating the brand constantly. Information is a free source and it is amazing to find applicants asking relevant questions to HR to firm their decision on joining the company. 

Employer branding boils down to a recruiting tactic meant to attract candidates having the right personality and cultural fit or add for an organization.

How, exactly, can companies use their employer brands to recruit the best candidates? How can companies be sure that the talent their brands attract really is the right talent?

The good news is that the organizations are no longer fixated on PEDIGREE... 

Overall, 44% said they use personas currently during recruitment, and 69% will do so in the future.

What is Persona Based Recruiting?

“Persona-based recruiting is an indication that a company is now thinking beyond the traditional ways of recruiting candidates and honing in on factors that were once considered intangibles. What type of personality is most likely to succeed within the organization? And how should we identify, recruit and motivate these individuals?”

On paper, all this sound very simple to achieve. We are all aware that personality and cultural fit are critical need for hiring, but there’s a bit of a problem. One of my business leader quoted that personality and cultural fit is the initial intuition and gut feeling — more "Good Vibrations" than even "Weird Science". 

How can we do it

Organizations are paying more attention to soft skills and personality types because they now recognize how important those factors are, and because the technology has evolved to offer a way to test for them at it.

Main Elements of Effective Candidate Personas

·      Who are we talking to?

·      What do they care about most?

·      How can we reach them?

·      Why do we need them?

Candidate Personas: Questions to ask your prospective employees

Elements Questions to gauge

Motivations Why did you apply to this company?

Interests What part of your role do you enjoy the most?

Culture What are your value drivers?

Watering Holes Where do you spend your time online?

Skills What skills do you think help you succeed?

Goals What are your major goals and targets?

 “Nowadays, short, inexpensive surveys can assess qualities like creativity, patience, persistence and problem-solving. Some companies even use online games to test skills and fit.”

It’s time to evolve and make talent acquisition and management more interesting… Happy experimenting!!!

Do share your views. Would love to understand your perspective...