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How To Assess Whether Your Candidate is the Right Fit for the Job

Hiring a candidate who is not a good fit for the job always proves to be costly – both in terms of time and resources, and in the long run. A candidate who is not the right fit for the job will end up getting bored, or will easily deviate from meeting your expectations. This can lead to a bad experience for both the employee and the employer. This is the reason why most of the employment placement agencies Montreal are now starting to focus on job fit as part of the hiring process. Assessing the job fit increases their chances of choosing the right candidates most, if not all of the time. But what exactly is a good job fit, and how can an organization or a placement agency go about determining it?

Job fit refers to the process of assessing a candidate’s soft and hard skills, as well as their experiences, needs, and strengths which are relevant to the job for which they are applying. It goes beyond simply assessing whether or not the candidate can get the job done. It also assesses their likelihood to form a good working relationship with the company and stay motivated so that they can continue to work productively over the long term.

The ultimate goal of this kind of assessment is anchored to the idea that if a candidate is highly qualified for a position, and may seem like the right fit, but if they are unable to build practical and productive relationships at work, they may be unable to reach their full potential at the organization.

Here is a brief look at some of the approaches that employment agency Montreal  use to assess a candidate’s job fit:

Evaluate the Candidate’s Aspirations Vis-à-Vis the Job at Hand

As a recruitment agency or a potential employer, it is vital that you understand a candidate’s aspirations in terms of how they wish to grow their career and how they think the job they’re applying for can help them to achieve these goals. By understanding their aspirations, you will gain valuable insight as to what the job means to them, which in turn will help you to evaluate whether or not the position you are offering is a good match with what the candidate has in mind. Conversely, it will help you determine whether or not these aspirations are aligned with the company’s goals.

Have a Thorough Vetting Process in Place

Unfortunately, some recruiting agencies Montreal won’t take the time to vet candidates thoroughly. They find it to be difficult and time-consuming work going back and digging into the candidate’s professional past via interviews with previous employers and co-workers. Skimping on the initial vetting process usually ends up creating a huge problem further down the line. There is more to checking references than simply verifying the employment history of a potential candidate.

The vetting process is also used to gain an understanding of how the candidates work, so that you can paint a better picture of them as employees and co-workers. As a potential employer or as a recruitment agency, you already know which characteristics and qualities you are looking for. Based on the information you obtain during the vetting process, you will be better equipped to see if your target candidate possesses the ones that will lead to the output your organization is hoping to find.

No Need for Detailed Attention to the Candidate’s Past

This may sound like a contradiction to the point made above, but that’s not the case. While you are screening potential candidates, remember that there is a difference between getting a solid sense of their work style and behaviour as employees and coworkers and digging too deep into unnecessary details. Recruiting agencies Montreal should instead focus their assessment upon the candidates’  previous performance in solving the kinds of problems that they are likely to encounter in the course of their duties as an employee of your organization.

This calls for asking open-ended questions that are relevant to the position so that you can evaluate how they respond and work through the problem-solving process.  Remember – you shouldn’t hire anyone based solely on their past achievements, but also upon their potential in the future.

Allow the Candidate to Spend Some Time with Your Team

The standard interview process will never be sufficient to give you all the information you need to determine if a candidate will be the right fit for the position and your organization. In a reality, you will need more than this to make the right final decision. One of the best ways to find out more, is to invite the candidate to interact with your team for a while.

This should not be restricted to having them in the actual work environment, but should also include having them participate in various scenarios. These might include informal coffee breaks or lunches, one-on-one meetings, work simulations, etc. By observing these scenarios, you will have a good chance of seeing how your candidate interacts with other employees. This will also give you the opportunity to get genuine feedback from some of the key stakeholders they are likely to encounter on the job.

Respond Fully to the Questions Candidates Ask

Never ignore the questions asked by a candidate during the hiring process. A candidate with a good fit will ask thoughtful questions at various points during the interview process.