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6 Ways to Evaluate Candidates Beyond the Resume

6 ways to evaluate job candidates beyond the resumeResumes and applications may still be a requirement for your hiring process, but you’ve probably experienced firsthand that candidates can come across extremely well in an interview, but what’s on paper doesn’t match. Or worse — the opposite — you hire an applicant who claimed to have relevant experience only to find out it wasn’t a good fit.

Between made up job titles and exaggerated experience, the resume shouldn’t be your primary evaluation method for hiring the right candidate. Look to these approaches that extend beyond the resume:

Personality Assessments

Personality assessments have long been a part of organization’s employee development programs but more and more companies are incorporating these initiatives into their recruiting processes. A 30 minute interview can only give you a small glimpse into a candidate’s soft and behavioural skills which is where a personality assessments like Plum can give you deeper insight into your candidates.

Gamification

Another tool HR departments, recruiters, and employers are arming themselves with to select the right candidates is gamification. Gamification is a concept that uses game theory, mechanics and game designs to digitally engage and motivate people. Who’s using gamification? Fortune 500 companies! Google incorporates a software-writing competition into their hiring process while Dominos uses an online game, Pizza Mogul, for job applicants to demonstrate their creativity and design their own pizzas.

LinkedIn

Some argue that LinkedIn will eventually replace the need for resumes as it not only shares insight into a candidate’s prior job history but also identifies people they’ve worked with and gives employers a glimpse into how the candidate presents themself online. However, be cautious about using LinkedIn to evaluate your candidates as it’s not a tell-all indicator. Additionally, any candidates using a paid version of LinkedIn will receive a notification when you view their profile.

Use References Properly

Your candidate’s references can be a wealth of information if they’re leveraged properly. Try to avoid asking the standard questions like “What is Sally’s work ethic like?” and dig into more in-depth questions by asking:

  • Was Sally ever promoted within your organization? Why or why not?
  • What is Sally’s personality and sense of humour like?
  • Was Sally a good listener?
  • Why should we hire Sally?

Assign a Small Project

Depending on the type of role you’re hiring for, an effective way to gauge a candidate’s practical experience is to assign a small take-home project. This effort can benefit both the employer and candidate as both parties will get a feel for how the applicant works, and the types of tasks he or she can expect while working for the company.

Get Feedback from an Outsider

Sometimes it can be difficult to separate the resume from the candidate. This is where a third-party recruiter with extensive experience in evaluating candidates can help you choose the right hire, faster.

Let’s chat about your recruiting needs!

This blog was originally published on Worth Recruiting

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