Let’s be honest with ourselves, all Hiring Managers regardless of what department they work in and yes that includes H.R. recruit for “Fit.” Whether that is the result of conscious or unconscious thought, including having a “gut feeling” about a candidate, we all do it and at the end of the day we are unlikely to change much from that unless forced to do so, and even then some will find other ways to justify their decisions.
As human beings we want to like the people we are working with. It’s not surprising when we consider that we spend a great chunk of our lives at work that we want to spend as much of it with people we like. Surely no one wants to spend so much time with someone they don’t like do they?
When it comes to making a decision between equally qualified and experienced candidates the likelihood is that we are going to choose the one we liked the best. Stands to reason, we aren’t going to choose someone we didn’t like are we? I believe we would all like to think that we haven’t made a hiring decision based on who we liked the most. I know I would like to think so but I’m pretty sure that like everyone else I have.
Something we have to consider though is how do we interview candidates to determine if they are a good fit? Do we tell the candidate beforehand that the interview will be as much about how they would fit into our organisation as it will be about their knowledge, skills and experience. How will they get enough of an idea of our organisations culture to determine beforehand if we are likely to be a good fit for them as them being a good fit for us?
Yes there is a lot more out there on the internet about company’s and candidates for that matter, these days but if a company doesn’t put out there what its culture is and very few actually do, their websites are geared primarily to sell their goods and services not to sell their organisations to potential candidates. How is a candidate going to get a feel for an organisation? They are not going to get it from the questions they get to ask in the 5 – 10 minutes at the end of an interview.
The other side of that is can interviewers really find the real character of the person in front of them during interview which typically lasts 30 – 45 minutes?
Candidates at interview are guarded, wanting only to show you the very best side of themselves be it demonstrating skills and experience or on a personal note, showing confidence with pleasantness, they want you to like them and do their utmost to make you like them, but is what they are showing the real them?
An interview is in some ways like a first date the only difference is, either way (if it is a one step process) there is either going to be a relationship or not. There are no second, third or fourth dates to get to know them better, to probe their character. So one question this raises is, “Is 30 – 45 minutes long enough to make a well-reasoned decision to hire based on fit, or is it going to be more about a gut feeling?”
Now we get to the tricky part of hiring for “Fit.” We’ve made our decision now how we feedback to unsuccessful candidates. How do we justify our decision not to offer them the role? Do we have to? Could we actually be honest and just say to them something along the lines of “You were a great candidate with a lot of the skills and experience we were looking for but we liked another candidate more.” I suppose it is a little brutal but at least it’s honest. Is an unsuccessful candidate going to like that anymore than perhaps saying “Another candidate was a better fit.” Both will have the candidate asking themselves and maybe the recruiter why.
Personally if I were unsuccessful I would prefer the honest answer, but that’s just me.
Finally my thanks to Neil Morrison @neilmorrison and his excellent blog “You’re so fit.” http://t.co/Jv3pn750F9 which prompted me to write this one.
Mark Gilligan Down to Earth H.R 