Author: purelyhumane

Many times that was the question posed to me by my Manager while discussing my feedback over a candidate.

Feedbacks were followed by usually three kind of responses; a bold “YES!” , a “NO!” which meant its a “recipe for disaster” and the doubtful conclusions were tagged as “Maybe” or “Hold for future”!

These feedbacks are generated in the first 3 minutes of the interview and doesn’t take long before these first impressions form the final feedback.

As a recruiter, many times I had to justify my Yes with bold convictions. There were candidates whom I met with no qualification or experience that match the criteria, in other words, Under-qualified, but their passion and interests strongly compliment the job role they would take up. I would recommend hiring them for their attitude and passion and the skills that are required can always be trained. And true to my judgment, they were hired and have proved themselves successfully growing with the company for a long term. 

On a different note, this judgment can be applied only to those roles wherein the qualification is not a mandate as required for licensing or other legal formalities. Otherwise you might just end up devoting your time in fixing up the hassle!!

Sometimes there were opposite situations as well. An obvious Yes!!!  Well experienced and qualified but their personality would overshadow their job role. These candidates would have settled in for whatever passed by their way and grabbed the opportunity. They have great potential within themselves; their personality in itself may make them a misfit for the role. For their own good I would have to pass them by and later get back when something suitable arises.

Well, there are “Maybe” or “Hold for Future” cases, mainly due to their over-qualifications or over-expectations which would cause them to be sidelined at the moment and later be considered for more appropriate openings.

Recruiters are always faced with such tough decisions which bring both joy and pain. How have you dealt with these decision making situations? What were the rules of the thumb that you followed? Leave your comments below.

Thanks.