Finding the best person for the role comes down to more than just a great resume.

In order to meet candidate expectations of consumer-grade technology in the recruitment process, organizations are making it simpler and easier to apply for roles. On average, a job opening receives an overwhelming 250 applications. The challenge for recruiters is sifting through the large pool of potential candidates to find the best fit. Sometimes it may feel like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Hiring great talent is necessary for a business to thrive, both financially and culturally. Recruiting is a time-consuming and costly endeavor, so discovering too late that someone isnt the right fit for the role or company can leave you back at square one. Hiring the one the person who has the necessary skills and behaviors to contribute positively to the team will help your organization thrive.

Its crucial to get the hiring process right from day one. So how can recruiters and hiring managers easily identify top talent?

Clearly define the skills and requirements for the role

Hiring managers and recruiters should work closely to define the skills, behaviors and requirements for the role. What does success currently look like in the role? How does this translate to skills, experience and behavior? A strong understanding of what the ideal candidate looks like will streamline the recruitment process from advertising, right through the assessment, testing and interview steps.

This isnt as simple as sharing a wishlist of characteristics, traits and qualifications with recruiters. Its about honing a deep understanding of the skills that are critical to a role so recruiters can be strategic when they create a job listing. A job listing with a laundry list of skills and requirements can be a hindrance to hiring. Research shows that men will apply for a job when they meet 60% of the qualifications. In contrast, women only apply if they meet 100% of the requirements. This isnt due to a lack of confidence but rather a desire to avoid wasting anyones time. Women assume the qualifications are actually required to do the job, rather than a wishlist. The answer is not to make requirements generic or broad - this increases the likelihood candidates without the right level or depth of expertise will apply.

Clearly communicating the requirements of the role will positively impact the quality of candidates. The job listing has a big impact on how a candidate views a role, and whether or not they decide its worth pursuing. Taking the time to get it right is a good first step in the hiring process.

Evaluate candidates based on skills

Too often hiring managers choose someone for a role based on gut feel, as opposed to evaluating a candidate on the core competencies and skills required to succeed in the role. More often than not, interviews dont deliver the insights needed. To be effective, interviewers need to ask questions that are predictive of ability and role fit and ask and interpret the answers consistently across candidates which is challenging. Lets take call center employees as an example. They speak with multiple customers a day, and often deal with tricky situations, which means ideal candidates for these roles will have a strong sense of resilience. But how do we identify and measure resilience?

Consider augmenting interviews with other tools. Soft skills or essential skills are just as important as the qualifications on a candidates CV. Essential skills include qualities such as communication, leadership, learning agility and resilience. There are a number of tools that support hiring managers to identify soft skills far more accurately. Pre-hire assessment tools like Weirdly help hiring managers to screen candidates by identifying job-related skills, as well as soft skills, that are inherent in top performers.PredictiveHire uses machine learning to conduct the first level of screening for job applications. The technology looks at an organizations performance data and staff surveys to determine the traits which are inherent in its high performers. This data is then used to create a candidate survey that screens for desired traits early on in the hiring journey.

Look out for passionate candidates

Most candidates try to put their best foot forward in interviews. Candidates should have a positive attitude, be knowledgeable about their field and have the required skills and attributes identified as a fit for the role. Conducting an interview with someone who ticks these boxes is exciting, but it isnt a sure-fire way to identify the best person for the job.

Remember to ask the candidate, Why do you want to work for us?

Its a simple question but the answer is very telling. People want to work for companies they believe in, where they can do their best work everyday. Companies want the same thing. Finding candidates who are passionate about your company is a key aspect to hiring great talent. Employees that are aligned to the mission and values of the organization and feel connected are engaged and motivated. A top candidate will be able to express their desire to work for an organization based on how the culture, values and mission align with their personal schemata.

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3 Ways To Identify The Best Person For The Role - Forbes