Hiring the right person for a role that works directly with you or your family can be a challenging task. You want someone who has the skills, experience and personality to fit your needs, but they also need to be capable of developing a strong rapport with you and your family, and contributing to your overall success.
So how can you tell if a candidate is a good match for your role? Here are 10 effective ways to evaluate a candidate to ensure that you ultimately hire the right person:
1. Assess Their Skills
If you work with a professional referral agency, each candidate you are introduced to will be qualified for the role. That said, you should still personally assess both their technical and soft skills. Technical skills are the specific abilities and knowledge required to perform the job, such as cooking, accounting or driving. Soft skills are the interpersonal and communication skills that enable a candidate to work well with others, such as teamwork, problem-solving or adaptability.
Assess their skills by asking behavioral questions that require the candidate to describe how they handled a specific situation in the past. You may want to give them a practical test or simulate an experience they are likely to see in the regular course of their work. You can also assess skills by inquiring about specific experiences or achievements on their resume, and assessing their role in achieving that success.
2. Analyze Their Experience
Experience is not just about the number of years or the titles a candidate has held. It’s also about what they did and how they performed in their previous roles. You want to distinguish between what the candidate simply did in their role, and what they did successfully. What results did they achieve? How did they contribute to the goals and objectives of their previous employers? How did they overcome the challenges they faced?
Ask probing questions that require the candidate to explain the details and outcomes of their work. Also ask for quantifiable evidence or metrics that demonstrate their impact and value, such as “How did you increase sales, reduce costs or improve the principal’s overall lifestyle or satisfaction in your previous role?”
3. Determine If They Share Your Values
Hiring someone with different values or attitudes can be a huge mistake. You want your family or team to accept your new employee quickly, and you can’t do this with someone who isn’t on board with how you operate, or how others on your team work. You want to hire someone who shares your vision and values, and who can adapt to your work environment and management style. You want someone who can fit in and thrive in your unique culture, whether it’s just your family or larger team.
To determine if they share your values, ask questions that:
- Reveal their personality, preferences and motivations, such as “What are the most important factors for you in choosing a job?”
- Assess their alignment with your core values and principles, such as “How do you define success?” or “How do you handle certain ethical dilemmas?
4. Get a Second Opinion
Sometimes, it can be hard to be objective and impartial when evaluating a candidate. You may have biases, assumptions, or expectations that cloud your judgment. You may also miss some important details or aspects that another person may notice. That is why it is always a good idea to get a second opinion from someone else who can offer a different perspective and insight.
To get a second opinion, you can use various methods, such as:
- Talking to your placement specialist, who can provide you with their professional advice and guidance, based on their expertise and experience in the field, such as “What are the strengths and weaknesses of this candidate?”
- Looking for cues from references, who can give you more information and context about the candidate’s background and performance, such as “How did the candidate handle stress, conflict, or feedback?”
- Asking for feedback from other people who were involved in the hiring process, such as the interviewer, the tester, or the observer, who can share their observations and impressions on the candidate, such as “How did the candidate communicate, collaborate, or solve problems?”
5. Ask Yourself Five Questions
Before you make a final decision, you should ask yourself the following 5 questions to objectively evaluate a candidate and compare them with other applicants. These questions are:
- Does the candidate have relevant qualifications for your role?
- Are they willing to learn new skills?
- Do they fit into your existing culture, or one that you hope to develop?
- Will they be easily managed?
- Do they seem enthusiastic about the position?
These questions can help you determine if the candidate meets your criteria and expectations, and if they have the potential to grow and succeed in your role.
6. Conduct A Background Check
One of the most important steps in the hiring process is to conduct (and pay attention to the results of) a background check on the candidate. A background check is used to verify the accuracy and validity of the information the candidate has provided, such as their education, employment history and criminal record. A background check can also reveal any red flags or discrepancies that may indicate dishonesty, fraud, or risk.
7. Evaluate Their Potential
You may encounter a candidate who does not have all the skills or experience you are looking for, but who shows a lot of promise and potential. Think of potential as the ability and willingness of a candidate to learn and grow into a role in the future. Potential can be more valuable than experience, especially in a fast-changing and competitive market. You want someone who can adapt, innovate, and excel in your role. To evaluate a candidate’s potential, as questions that:
- Test a candidate’s curiosity, creativity and critical thinking, such as “What are some of the trends or challenges in your industry?” or “How would you solve this problem?”
- Assess their ambition, drive and passion, such as “What are your short-term and long-term goals?” or “What are you most proud of in your career?”
- Gauge their resilience, flexibility and openness, such as “How do you cope with failure, change, or uncertainty?” or “How do you learn from feedback, mistakes, or experiences?”
8. Observe Their Body Language
What the candidate says is often less important than how they say it. Body language is the non-verbal communication that the candidate uses to express their emotions, attitudes and intentions. It includes facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, posture and tone of voice, and it can reveal a lot about the candidate’s personality, confidence and honesty.
To observe a candidate’s body language, look for signs of positive body language, such as smiling, nodding, leaning forward or maintaining eye contact, which can indicate interest, enthusiasm or agreement. On the contrary, negative signs can include shaking the head, crossing the arms or avoiding eye contact, which indicate boredom, disagreement or discomfort. You can also look for signs of inconsistent body language, such as touching the nose, covering the mouth, or shifting the eyes, which can indicate deception, nervousness or uncertainty.
9. Ask Them To Participate In A Trial
One of the best ways to tell if a candidate will be a good fit for your role is to conduct a Working Trial. A Working Trial is a short-term and paid assignment that allows the candidate to demonstrate their skills and abilities in a real work situation. A Working Trial also allows you to observe their performance and behavior in your environment.
10. Listen To Your Intuition
One of the most important things, regardless of whether you are hiring alone or working with a professional referral agency, is to listen to your gut. Even if you can’t explain why, if you get a bad feeling or hunch about a candidate, it’s wise to listen to yourself. Intuition is the instinctive and subconscious knowledge that you have, based on your experience, observation and emotion. It’s something that’s been developed throughout the course of human evolution and even if you can’t explain your reasoning, is at its core, designed to protect you and your interests.
Pay attention to your physical and emotional reactions. Ask yourself “Do I like them?”, “Would my family and friends like them?”, “Do I trust them?” and “Would I enjoy working with them?” Compare your intuition with your rational analysis, such as “Does my intuition match my logic?” or “Does my intuition contradict my evidence?”
These are some of the most effective methods our clients have used over the years to determine if they are hiring the right person for the job. By using these, and perhaps some of your own methods, you’ll be prepared to make a more informed and confident hiring decision. If you need any assistance or guidance in the hiring process, give us a call at (202) 951-5151. Old State Staffing has decades of experience finding our clients the perfect match for their needs and we’d love to do the same for you and your family!
