When your company has an open position, announcing it to the public on job sites means opening up the floodgates. You'll likely experience an influx of submissions from job seekers who are looking for work that belong to every end of the experience spectrum. Faced with this issue, it may be difficult to vet the applicant pool for the perfect new hire.
Filling open positions with job seekers who have questionable employment history could mean using valuable time and resources to hire candidates who don't stick around very long. According to one infographic, 75 percent of demand for new employees is caused by the need to replace workers who have left the organization.
To avoid falling into this cyclical process of recruiting and hiring candidates who are more interested in short-term employment than a long-term role, you must ensure you're not spending time interviewing and communicating with job seekers who fit this profile. Ask yourself these questions:
How long was the candidate in each position?
A major sign that you have a non-committal job seeker on your hands: If you find yourself reviewing a resume that's more like a laundry list of previous positions, all of which they didn't stay in past a few months. If faced with a candidate who seems to have had a new job every few months, you must consider context. Reviewing the resume of an entry-level candidate might show semester-long internships, which could explain the questionable employment history. But if you're reviewing submissions from mid-level candidates who have had three jobs in the past year, you might want to consider other leads.
How many industries has the candidate worked in?
To weed out job hoppers and inexperienced job seekers, consider whether the candidate has advanced up the career ladder in any particular field, or if their work history is inconsistent. Someone who spent a year as a cashier at a bakery, then worked as an administrative assistant, and is now applying for a mid-level role as a project coordinator is likely more committed to finding a new job than they are to your organization in particular.
How do they stack up with others at their experience level?
No two candidates are identical, but you can identify an inexperienced candidates and job hoppers by considering how their accomplishments and skills stack up against other candidates at the same experience level with similar career histories. Two candidates for the same position have likely worked with the same software suites and completed similar tasks. If one candidate demonstrates a major lack of knowledge in an area where someone with the same amount of experience would excel, you could be dealing with someone who has padded his or her resume to get ahead.
Companies with open positions must take a cautionary approach to avoid hiring the wrong candidate. Ask yourself these questions when reviewing submissions from candidates to ensure that you hire someone who is highly capable and will stick around to further your organization's mission.
How else can employers identify the right candidate for an open position?
Sudy Bharadwaj is a co-founder and the CEO of Jackalope Jobs, a Web-based platform that combines search, social networking, and the overall user's experience to provide relevant job openings. Learn how Sudy and Jackalope Jobs obsess over job seekers by connecting with them on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.