4 Keys to Finding Bona Fide Best-Fit Talent for Your Team

During the most recent BambooHR Virtual Summit, Crystal DeTemple, content manager at the video interview and candidate screening software company Spark Hire, spotlighted some valuable talent acquisition tactics that could give your organization the edge in landing best-fit talent.

In case you missed it, we previously shared a few of them. But there’s more!

Ask Structured Interview Questions

Quality interview questions matter more than you may realize. Thirty-six percent of job seekers surveyed in a Greenhouse Candidate Experience Report, said the one of the most important factors that determine a positive interview experience is interviewers who don’t ask questions that are vague, duplicative or irrelevant. For half of the respondents, they’d consider an interview experience as positive if there were questions that gave a good sense of what the job will be like.

To accurately identify best-fit talent, ask job candidates structured interview questions that focus on:

• Job-relevant skills
• Competencies
• Qualifications
• Necessary training and certifications, and
• Experiences that provide insight into how well the candidate can perform in the role.

Structured interview questions reduce the risk of asking discriminatory interview questions or questions that inadvertently disqualify best-fit talent.

In addition, decision makers should rate candidates’ responses and be able to explain their ratings using a structured scale, DeTemple said.

“By asking structured interview questions, and having decision makers evaluate and provide feedback through a collaborative … process, you can gather fair and reliable data to inform decisions about who to make an offer to, and who to keep in your talent pipeline for future opportunities – keeping all of the best talent within reach,” she said.

Test for Hard, Soft Skills Best-Fit Talent Will Possess

“A basic personality test is not an exhaustive assessment for fit within your team. It’s better to provide comprehensive assessment tests that evaluate a wide range of hard and soft skills, in conjunction with gathering insight into the candidate’s personality … [to] determine if they’re a strong fit for your company culture and team dynamics,” said DeTemple.

To identify best-fit talent, consider using both technical assessments that test the candidate’s knowledge, skills and abilities related to the job they’re applying for, and behavioral assessments, which evaluate things like communication skills, problem-solving abilities, attitudes about teamwork, motivation, emotional IQ and leadership aptitude.

“These assessments can even reveal transferrable skills that … make a candidate stand out,” while helping candidates understand the expectations of the role, she said.

Look for Clues That Indicate Best-Fit Talent

Best-fit talent will identify with your company values, and offer culture fit and culture add. DeTemple defined them as follows:

• Company values alignment: shared beliefs and principles that guide decision-making.
• Culture fit: the compatibility between your organizational culture and an individual’s behaviors and beliefs, and
• Culture add: unique contributions and perspectives someone brings that enhance your overall cultural environment.

“By looking for evidence of these important attributes, hiring decision-makers can ensure the best-fit candidates move through the hiring process, and receive an offer quickly. And most importantly, by identifying candidates who align with these pillars, you nurture a positive and thriving working environment,” she said.

Make interviews convenient, easy to review

Consider streamlining your hiring process to attract best-fit talent by utilizing user-friendly interview scheduling tools, SMS reminders, video interview tools and team/candidate communication features.

“When you make interviews more convenient for candidates, you reduce the volume of candidate dropouts and interview ghosting. So you’re more likely to keep top contenders in your hiring process,” she said.

“Making interviews more convenient to complete not only saves time and effort for candidates, but also allows for a more thorough evaluation in comparison of candidates by stakeholders. Automated hiring tools, interview recordings, video transcription and interview evaluation features make it easy for decision makers to weigh in and provide feedback, ultimately leading to more informed hiring decisions.”