3 Useful Strategies for Hiring Managers to Prioritize Skills over Resumes when Recruting

Manage HR Magazine | Wednesday, June 03, 2020

Though resumes can offer a perception of a candidate’s ability to learn, it may not be so effective at pointing out the potential candidate’s skills. In this article we are enlisting 3 strategies that can help hiring managers pick the right candidate from the lot

FREMONT, CA: Though resumes can offer a perception of a candidate’s ability to learn, it may not be so effective at pointing out the potential candidate’s skills. Some hiring managers may have come across instances where an impressive resume was not enough to determine an interviewee’s suitability for the job. 

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Academic achievements can help understand whether a new employee has potential or not. Yet, often businesses have immediate requirements for employees who are already skilled, not someone who may need training to do the job they have been hired for.

The following 3 strategies can help hiring managers pick the right candidate from the lot:

Assess Candidate’s Character, Not Resume’s Highlights

Years of experience in a certain field may not be enough to fit into a company as every company has different work cultures and traditions. Instead of focusing on the potential hire’s experience list, hiring managers can try to grasp the essence of a candidate’s character-their eagerness to take initiative, support team members, and solve problems, and cultural fit. Employees, who can identify with their companies and their work, have the potential to drive companies towards progress. Through candidate assessments, hiring managers can identify a candidate’s work ethic, character, and behavioral competence. They can design the assessment process according to their business and department needs. 

Format Interviews with Case-Based Approach

Interviews formatted with a case-based approach can help hiring managers get justification to a candidate’s thought process. Open-book or open-internet assessment can bring out a candidate’s ability to find the necessary information. Questions related to any previous larger project of a candidate can show how organized their thoughts are, their presentation skills, accomplishments, and also how open they are to share their shortcomings.

Prefer Assignments or Tasks to Resumes

Another effective strategy to hire the right candidate is to assign them a task or project at the beginning of the application process. This can help attract interested and knowledgeable candidates for the job. Strategy as such can offer a far better evaluation of a candidate’s potential than what hiring managers can gather from reading uncountable resumes.

See also: Top HR Tech Companies

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