3 Ways to Better Screen Your Job Applicants
Making hiring decisions is difficult and time-consuming.
These difficulties are only magnified by the fact that approximately 85% of people embellish their experience on their resume.
This makes it essential that you find ways to optimise your candidate screening processes. Especially considering that making a bad hire costs companies approximately $20,000 AUD on average.
Here are three tips and tricks that you can implement immediately to get a better insight into the character and reliability of your applicants.
BE DELIBERATE WITH YOUR REFERENCE CHECKS
Are you still performing reference checks?
Probably.
If you are, you’re in the majority. Findings from SkillSurvey state 70% of businesses perform reference checks for every job candidate.
But are you getting the most you can out of the process?
In fact, 43% of hiring managers mistakes could have been avoided by performing a more in-depth background check on the applicant.
Companies seldom contact candidates’ listed references until after the interview when they already have an insight into the applicant’s character.
If the candidate has impressed you enough to the point that you’re contacting their references, isn’t it likely they’ve selected the people they’re certain will speak positively about them?
So, when you contact your applicant’s referees, avoid open-ended questions such as “Can you tell me about Katie?”. Instead, tailor your questions to the role and individual — describe the position that the applicant is vying for and ask questions from there.
“Can you see Katie performing in this role?”
“How does Katie get along with customers and co-workers?”
If you’re in the 30% who don’t perform reference checks, is that a conscious decision, because your applicants can’t provide local references, or just because you’re time poor?
Reference checks definitely aren’t solely sufficient to supplement an applicant’s resume. What is the point of reliance on scripted, and sometimes biased process to finalise your hiring phase?
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To find out our next two tips for how to go beyond your candidate's resume and references to identify the best candidates check out the rest of this article hosted courtesy of JobGetter at https://my.jobgetter.com/recruiting/reference-checks-better-screen-job-applicants/