Parameters To Judge A Candidate In Interview

Respected Seniors,

Hope you all are doing great!

I want to share my experience with you and need to have some information from your side.

I recruited two people in my company, one for a Business Development Executive role and the other for a technical position.

We are a startup firm with 13 employees at present. We waited 20 days for them to join, and they did join. However, after coming in for one day, they didn't return to the office.

I found out that there were some loopholes on my end that need to be corrected. The screening process needs to be more stringent.

Please let me know what crucial parameters need to be emphasized during the recruiting process. Nowadays, people tend to consider counteroffers.

Seniors, what parameters do you consider when evaluating candidates for junior-level, non-technical, and technical roles? Please share your experiences and insights.

Looking forward to a great discussion because it will be beneficial for many.

Hi Priya Verma,

It is true that candidates have a lot more options today and tend to follow them without much commitment (of course, exceptions are there).

It is good that you have already acknowledged that some rigorous steps need to be taken at your end. I would suggest the following:

1. Involve the HODs (Head of Technical, Marketing, Production, etc.) in the interview process. This will provide different views on the candidates to assess their motivation to work, personality traits, and more.

2. Develop an Interview Assessment form to document all observations and details of the candidates noted during the interview. Evaluate them based on parameters such as education, work experience (relevant to the assigned functions post-joining), personality traits (impression, communication, leadership ability, presentation, ambition, motivating factors - money, profile, comfort, hard work, etc.).

3. On a practical note, review your compensation criteria and the infrastructure being offered to new hires.

Hope this advice proves helpful. Let's await valuable comments from other experienced professionals and seniors.

Dear Priya,

This is in addition to what Vaishali has said.

If both candidates join on the specified date but do not turn up for their duties the next day, there are a few different things to consider.

One aspect is the willingness of the candidates to join a non-branded company. Were they willing to join, or was the job pushed onto them? The second consideration is the work environment. What type of work environment does your company offer?

Please note that you are running a startup, which may be your concern, but the candidates may not be at the startup stage of their careers.

I believe that both candidates may have other job offers in hand and have given priority to another job.

In the future, when hiring, assess the candidate's willingness to be a big fish in a small pond. While they might seem like small fry to you, they may see themselves as sharks or whales!

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Really helpful topic. Thanks to Priya, Vaishalee, and Dinesh.

Dear Priya,

The sudden abandonment of employment surely affects the working operations. To address this, you may implement the induction policy. The aim of this policy is to make the newly joined employees comfortable, help them learn their duties, as well as familiarize them with the company's vision, mission, social, and financial securities provided.

Legally, an employee may leave the job at any time by following the exit terms defined in their service agreement. No employer can force them to continue their employment.

However, since both of your new employees have absconded, issue them a warning letter to resume their duties immediately. If they remain silent or continue to abscond, you can even initiate legal action against both of them for breaching the service agreement.

Thanks & Regards,

V. Shakya

HR & Labour, Corporate Laws Advisor

Thank you for contributing to the discussion. As an HR professional, my responsibility is to provide the company with the best skills, but sometimes we need to consider attitude as well (which I learned from this incident). I agree with your point on the induction process making employees comfortable, something that was missing on my part. I will surely implement it.

We had a similar question to this just recently. My reply to that post is relevant here also.

If new employees are leaving your organization within the first 10 days, you have a serious problem on your hands. You need to find out what that problem is and fix it, double quick.

The first thing that needs fixing is your recruitment process. I have posted many, many times on this subject. It is not rocket science, but if you are going to get the right employees, you need a robust recruitment and selection process that is properly documented, and that all staff with responsibility for recruitment are trained to use. Search for my previous posts on this. In my view from reading CiteHR, too many Indian companies have a very ad hoc way of recruiting staff, and it backfires on them spectacularly.

The second thing to look at is your organization, and why people don't want to work there, e.g., pay, management, other staff members, lack of training, lack of future opportunities, etc. You have the handicap of being a start-up, and the possibility exists that you will not be there for the long haul. People need certainty, hence the reason to try for jobs with brand-name companies as Dinesh has pointed out.

Thirdly, when people are interviewed, you need to ensure they are not being told lies about what it is going to be like to work for your organization. Many of us have gone to job interviews and been told how wonderful it is going to be, but the reality is sadly different.

Humans being what they are will always be perverse. You've got to learn to deal with those few people that will upset the apple cart. Problems such as this can be mitigated to a great extent with proper procedures and policy, but you will never ever eliminate it entirely. However, in my defense, I will say that in several organizations I worked, my 6-step recruitment policy that I implemented almost never failed us. We gained the right employees, looked after them, and they stayed working for us for many years.

The interview process should ensure that candidates are more genuine and will stay in the company long-term. From the candidate's point of view, the company should fulfill basic to the most essential requirements for them to stay for an extended period.

Hi Priya,
As per my opinion, in future while hiring check candidate's willingness to join your organization. In addition, the candidate’s point of view about your company. This will for sure help you find the reliable candidate.
Thanks!

Dear Priya Verma,

This is a universal problem. As an organization that is new (startup companies), the candidates who apply are very desperate to take a job but will also want to have some advantage joining a startup.

The general expectations of youngsters today are:

1. A good salary - decent by industrial standards.
2. A good work environment - one that enables growth and provides a future.
3. An organization that provides facilities such as transport, canteen, stay, etc.

Above all this, the projection of the existing employees who are happy and have enjoyed stability in employment with superior technology being used at work can become a competitive edge for them in seeking better employment.

When all the above is ensured, you can make the candidates who join you stay with you too.

Note: Look for people who send negative signals to the new recruits and keep them away.

Good luck.