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Tips on attracting and selecting the right talent DURING interview

#1: Create a great candidate experience

Candidates’ decision on applying or accepting a job offer depends on their experiences and the impressions they have of your company. In addition to that, it will also affect the company’s reputation. Though it might not be guaranteed that people with good candidate experiences will share their feelings about the company with others, people with bad candidate experiences will definitely spread the word, leading the company to face a drop in reputation. It is common for candidates to share their experiences with others which can affect the overall reputation of your company, changing the eagerness of other candidates in the market to apply for a position in your organization and work for you.

Practical Tips on providing a great candidate experience:

  • Be on time
  • Great them warmly
  • Introduce yourself at the beginning of the interview
  • Be prepared for the interview (see more on #4)

#2 Think like a Marketer.   Do NOT just ask what values they can add to your organization

As there are so many job seekers around looking for work at the moment, it can be easy for employers to assume that anyone would be grateful to work for them and don’t have to ‘sell’ the role or organization. In reality, there’s more competition than ever for the very best candidates and particularly in the tech spaceRecruitment is also marketing. Your recruitment process helps create your employer brand which will fundamentally impact your ability to attract the best talent. Many interviewers tend to blindly ask what gains will the company have if they hired the candidate. But in order to attract people to actually want to work for you, you have to also tell them what value add can the company provide. This applies especially to startups, you have to tell your candidate why they should join you on this journey.

Practical Questions to think about:

  • Why is joining your company beneficial?
  • What is the career path your company can bring to the candidate?
  • What is the vision of the company?

You have to step into candidates’ shoes and understand what they actually want. There are a lot of competitors out there fighting for the candidate, think about what makes your company appealing.

#3: Skills are important, but so is culture fit

It is not just candidates who have their own values, beliefs, and attitudes, businesses have too. Many companies may hire candidates with good resumes and skills. But they tend to overlook the compatibility between the candidate and the company. Culture fit is about matching and considering whether the candidate’s values and beliefs match with the company. 

To evaluate people’s culture fit, you can first identify your company’s culture, then ask behavioral or situational questions to understand candidates’ values.

Practical Questions to ask:

  • How would your co-workers describe your working style in your previous job?
  • Would you rather work alone or with a team?
  • What gets you excited about coming to work?
  • What did you like most/least about your last company?

Having people who fit into the company’s culture tend to make them happier, eventually more productive and driven. It is beneficial to both the employee and the employer.

#4: Having the right interview questions

You have to ask the right questions to effectively determine whether the candidate is a fit for your company. Thus, it is not just the candidates who have to prepare for the interview, employers also have to prepare for sets of questions to ask. You can always review what competencies you need for this role and decide on what questions to ask.

Remember, it is the candidate’s interviewing time, not yours. We suggest that the interviewer shall talk 30% during the interview, while the interviewee shall talk 70%.

Practical Questions for ask:

Common Structured Interview Questions:

  • What are your strengths and weaknesses?
  • Why are you interested in the position and what are you looking for in your next role?

Behavorial or situational Questions:

  • Tell me about a time you made a difficult decision.
  • Tell me about a time when you worked and collaborated with people who were different than you.
  • Tell me about a long-running project you handled. How did you manage your time to meet your deadlines?

#5 Keep the ball rolling

Once you kick start the interview process, make sure you keep the interview process moving at an appropriate pace. You should invest time to excite candidates about your role; if you delay the process, good candidates will lose interest or explore other options with your competitors. Ideally, you should leave no more than 1-2 weeks between each step in the process, depending on the seniority of the position.

Techlinker Asia is knowledgeable on how to market company roles, pitch candidates, and select candidates that fit capably and culturally right for the position. Talk to us!

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