Creative Ways to Assess Your Potential Hires

Trying to assess soft skills during the interview is an ambiguous situation because today most candidates judiciously prepare for interviews and purposely “act” so that they put on their best front. 

So if recruiters require to accurately evaluate the soft skills, it’s time to consider alternative approaches that have been successfully used by best companies.

• Ask the Hypothetical CEO question

If a candidate gives a comprehensive and detailed answer, this only means that they are fully prepared. A variation on the CEO question is throwing them a curveball and asking about something controversial or illicit that your company has done. A candidate who gives candid and constructive answers has the makings of a good hire.

• Let Body Language Do the Talking  

A candidate with a good posture who can talk easily about past achievements tends to be a confident high-performer. Do they look at you straight in the eye? Do they shake your hands firmly? Do they express their answers precisely? These are all positive body-language indicators of a lead candidate.

• Ask About Their Passions

It is important to consider if the candidate will feel they fit into the culture of the company and the work environment they will become immersed in. This can be a difficult concept to anticipate if you adhere to standard interview questions. Dive deeper, find out about the prospect’s motivations, hobbies, and passions. Even in a short interview, the use of open-ended questions and listening can guide the conversation will help to elicit those topics.

• Measure “human metrics”

The modern business world is all about data. We keep a close eye on important metrics to ensure every process is firing at full speed. Recruiters should use metrics too but be careful not to exaggerate them. It’s best to focus on factors that actually show someone cares about doing quality work. Are they continuing to learn new skills and keep up with developments in their field? Do they blog or participate in social media conversations around what they do? Looking for a candidate who is particularly passionate about their line of work can be a game-changer for your team.

• Don’t limit your observations to the interview room

The interview room is not the natural environment for any candidate. They cannot act like they would in daily routine situations.

Observe how these applicants communicate with people outside the interview room. What was their body language with your office manager or receptionist, for example? If you’re examining multiple candidates on the same day and you have them all in the waiting room, send out an “undercover agent,” who will observe how they interact with one another.

• Give them a temporary project with your team

The most realistic way of assessing soft skills is to give candidates an opportunity to work with the team. So when possible, ask them to work on a night, weekend, or remote project with the team. This method is sometimes called an “Appliject” (for applicant project), and for it to be effective, it needs to have a defined short duration and be paid.

At TalentoMind, our recruitment teams combine the quality of hire with source quality data, invest in the sourcing efforts that best contribute to long-term company goals. In short, it isn’t just about grading recent hires, it’s about future proofing your organization by developing a framework to consistently hire awesome talent.