9 Proven Tips for Hiring The Right Candidate

Good people are hard to find. In the context of job hiring in the Philippines, this holds true, especially when sensitive or highly-technical roles are involved. Nevertheless, the country is brimming with talent. For all you know, the right person might already be working for you. If you’re choosing between a number of qualified candidates to fill a critical vacant position, here are some tips for ensuring you choose the right one.

1. Understand their motives

Understanding a candidate’s reasons for wanting a job is almost as important as knowing how good they are at it. For instance, someone whose main motive is money will tend to act differently from someone who is just looking for stability. Knowing what drives a candidate can tell you if they’re in it for the long haul or if they will bail when at the first sign of a problem. Understanding their motives can also give you an idea if they are self-driven or need close supervision.

2. Don’t get hung up on their past

Everyone makes mistakes, and this includes both you and the people you’re considering for the job. If you found that the candidate made a serious error in their previous job, you probably shouldn’t be quick to take that against them if it was a long time ago. Instead, you can investigate what they have done since then. In a way, candidates with a few blemishes in their past can sometimes be a safer bet as you can more accurately assess how they will handle a crisis and learn from it.

3. Do some digging

While we did say that you shouldn’t be too hung up about their past, you still want to look into what makes them tick, as well as recent patterns of behavior that might seem problematic. Looking at their social media as well as talking to their references as well as other people they’ve worked with can provide insights into their work habits and growth potential.

4. Be upfront about your expectations

You won’t find the right candidates if you’re not upfront about what it is you’re looking for. A lot of job postings can be vague and not give enough of an idea of what it is the business needs. By being transparent to applicants and candidates, you avoid wasting everyone’s time and make it possible to find the right people sooner rather than later.

5. Don’t rely on interviews

Just because someone does well in an interview it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are a better candidate. Much of the time, it’s simply because they’re great at interviews. While being good at interviews can be an indicator of interpersonal skills, it is obviously not the be-all, end-all of competence on the job. 

While you probably will still need to do interviews, you can make screening more holistic by including test projects, checking their portfolio, shadowing them on a test run, or by having a qualified HR professional perform a psychometric assessment. While none of these by themselves may be enough to help you find if a candidate is perfect for the job, together they may be enough to give you a better understanding of what they can bring to the table.

6. Listen to their questions

The kinds of questions a candidate asks can be just as revealing as the answers they give to yours. Their questions can provide insights into their values and motives. They can even give you an idea if there are gaps in their technical knowledge or areas of your business that could be improved on. The way they ask their questions can also tell you something about how prepared they are to take on the responsibilities of the job.

7. See what your team thinks

If there’s an opportunity for the candidate to meet the team it can be a golden opportunity to learn things about a candidate that you could have missed. Chances are that your current employees will be directly affected by any hiring decision, so it’s only fair to try to get some feedback from them as direct stakeholders.

8. Don’t overlook internal hires

External hires have become more and more common in recent years, and it’s extremely unusual these days to find “lifers” in large organizations. However, whatever advantages external hires may have in their breadth and depth of knowledge are often mitigated by their unfamiliarity with your company culture. Internal hires are often better suited for position that have to be filled immediately, especially if the projects they will be handling have top priority.

9. Don’t rush

If there’s anything any veteran business owner will tell you, it’s that hiring decisions should never be rushed. Rushing your decision makes it more likely that you will hire someone who isn’t a good fit, which means you’ll be repeating the tedious process of candidate selection before too long.

Summary

Choosing the right people to join your team takes plenty of patience and forethought. It isn’t something that you should rush or take lightly. The candidate you choose may very well be the one to steer your business through troubled waters — or sink it. Thankfully, with these tips, the process of finding the perfect hire should be somewhat less of a hassle. Good luck!