Member Article

5 Tips for finding the right candidate!

It’s well known that the right employees enhance your work culture as a whole as well as help you to run and grow your business. The issue being that they are often pretty difficult to find, not just through the pile of CV’s, but even in being able to attract the right talent to apply for the roles in the first place. At DevAcademy, we use a variety of methods to find the best candidates for the roles and have included some tips below on attracting and selecting the ‘right’ people for the positions.

1) Define the job description and your recruitment strategy. Candidates want to know not only what the role involves but also the type of company they are applying to and whether there will be an investment in their future development and happiness. It’s important as an employer to know what the role will require from a person and the benefits to them so as to appeal to the right type of candidate, i.e someone invested in their own future success.

2) Focus on the candidate’s potential, not just what they know at this point. We require candidates to take an online skills test pre interview and gain so much more information on that person besides the results. We look at the time taken on it, asking in the interview whether they knew, researched or guessed answers. We can gage what type of learner they are, how they solve problems and their general attitude towards skills development. It’s key to remember that you are hiring the person for who they are and their attributes and personality, not simply their skills. No-one will have the exact skills for any one role but how they approach work and their attitude, can make all the difference.

3) Preparation is key-for both interviewer and interviewee. Ask for more information on the employment gap or interests listed or why they want to pursue a career in this area-have they applied for general roles or have their decisions led to this. Outline the structure of the interview so that the candidate knows the order and can make a note to ask questions later. This will help them to settle in to the interview and get themselves comfortable, ready to answer questions. With entry level roles, candidates might not have work experience to talk about and so questions such as, ‘What have you done that shows initiative and willingness to work?’ can be useful to find out more in general about the person.

4) During the interview, ensure you probe further; don’t just expect that the candidate can reveal all they are and have to give in an interview setting. Ask them to go into more detail regarding situations or projects in previous work experience and what they learned. Linking back to the potential of a person; they may not be able to effectively ‘sell’ themselves but this is not always an accurate reflection of how well they could perform the role. Ideally have another interviewer present to pick up on anything missed by yourself or to have another opinion to consider. Study their personality and determine whether it will fit the role and company.

5) Always give feedback to the candidate, either at the end of the actual interview or in a follow up phone call/email. This way, you can extend professional courtesy and close the interview process at the same time. The candidate might not be right for this role but feedback on their skills and performance is crucial to them correcting any errors. It could be that a candidate eventually offered a role by your company, had put into practice feedback they received from their last interview!

These are just a few tips on how to identify that sometimes hidden ‘gem’ of a candidate, who could be an asset to the company, but hasn’t been able to show it due to lacking interview skills.

At DevAcademy, our goal is to help businesses build a skilled workforce, to minimise their risk whilst at the same time helping young people gain exciting and long-lasting employment with recognised and reputable companies. Our rigorous candidate process, along with intensive training ensures that those applying for positions are ambitious, dedicated and can bring a wealth of new talent and ideas to a company.

For queries or further information, please contact us via www.devacademy.co.uk

You can also follow DevAcademy on twitter @devacademyuk, Facebook and LinkedIn.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Rachel Peacock .