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Written by: Bubblejobs UK
With the introduction to new technology and new ways of working, why not introduce new ways of hiring? It’s very comfortable and easy to stick to your traditional, unadventurous ways of searching for candidates but it’s important to embrace new opportunities and find potential star candidates.
We’re not saying ditch the resumes, the online job posting, linked in and so on. What we are saying is to change the way you review an application. With so many people acquiring degrees or equivalent it’s sometimes difficult to differentiate between candidates. This is why; approaching applications in a different ways could open your eyes to high quality candidates.
Read between the lines
Look at the efforts that the candidate has put in to their resume or cover letter. Look out for lazy mistakes in some applications; cover letters that were meant for a different role or CV’s that haven’t been updated and instead, look for someone who is passionate and keen about your position. Someone who has taken the time to impress you, rather than someone attempting to ‘wing it’.
Don’t jump to their degree and grade. Look over their resume; look over their years at University. Did they participate in some impressive activities? Did they work voluntarily on their days off University? Or even set up their own business during their time at University. On the other hand, did they start work at 16 as an apprentice and work their way up to a very impressive position?
By judging all of these different efforts, you can see the passion and drive they had for a career and instead of switching off from the real world for their early career years, they spent their time preparing for it.
The same applies for a more experienced jobseeker, they may be looking for a change in career but they’ve had 10 years managerial experience in a different sector. Take this in to consideration; Can you apply those skills to your role?
Stick with your instinct
Say you have your eye on a candidate but you are unsure and you feel unable to judge by simply looking at their resume, why not arrange to meet them? You could find out a bit more about them. Ask questions about something that caught your eye on their CV and generally, get a better judgement.
Perhaps you feel as though meeting them would be too much hassle, why not add a phone interview stage to your application process. Encourage them to speak about themselves, their experiences and qualifications, find out more about them. This way, you can only invite a select few to the next interview process, enabling you to know a little about them before the interview commences. This is a good way of interviewing people, especially if you have a broad selection of candidates to choose from. You can become familiar with each candidate whilst making the process easier for yourself. You will have a better judgement from two interviews and you are more familiar with the individual before making any brash decisions.
Less is more
One thing to put you off applying for a job is the endless pages of questions that will take you an hour or two. In all fairness, you want your application process to be a detailed one, but you don’t want to scare the candidates off!
Instead of asking lots of questions about what they do, what projects they have completed, how they describe themselves, why they’d be an asset to the company and so on. Ask them to show you. Provide the option for candidates to attach an example of previous work, their portfolio or their website. Especially if it is a creative role that you are filling, how can they spell out what they are capable of or have done in the future, why not show you what they can do.
Some companies leave the portfolio showing until the interview. This can be too late if you’ve already rejected that amazingly talented candidate based on their grade or degree. You’d kick yourself if you saw their work for an other company, wishing it was yours.
See what they have to offer
Sometimes it’s useful to offer trial periods. This obviously is a little risky sometimes and if you are on a low budget and in a rush to fill the role. If you’ve got the time, give them a 2-week trial. This way, you can see how they settle in with the team, how quickly they pick things up, how they are at managing their workload and how they get on with the general role.
We wouldn’t recommend doing this for every role. It’s time consuming, money consuming and sometimes it’s better to be a little adventurous and just go for it!
Good luck in your candidate search, we hope that we have helped you find your ideal purple squirrel. Don’t be afraid to be a little different, sometimes it’s worth stepping outside of your comfort zone.