The Recruiter's Perspective: Search for the Right Candidate

Author: Jake Conrad

January 2008

The Job Search Tradition
Hiring for IT has become an increasingly complicated exercise.  Locating a candidate that brings the right combination of technical proficiency, creativity, business sense and personality demands careful evaluation.  As the skills required of IT professionals continue to evolve, so do the tools used to evaluate them.   Whether your company chooses standardized skill assessments, aptitude and personality tests, psychological evaluations, professional references, criminal background or credit checks, you will never forgo the most critical evaluation tool available: the in-person interview.  Excellence on objective testing is only goes so far.  If the candidates fail to impress in the face-to-face, they will not get the job.  

Why, in this age of proliferating technology and ever-sophisticated testing methods, does the decision to hire a candidate still boil down to the same measure that our grandparents used when they hired employees?  It’s because no matter how thorough the process, hiring a new employee is always a risk, and while objective screenings may illuminate areas like technical aptitude and professional history, they cannot answer the critical questions.  How will he or she interact with peers and management?  Does the applicant’s current situation and personality suggest a long tenure?  Ultimately, will this person excel in our environment?  A standardized test and credit check cannot give those answers.  Good interviewers develop the skills and intuition to divine this information through years of experience (and by making big mistakes!).  While methods may evolve, the basic skills necessary to conduct an effective interview have not changed in generations.  The job interview is ageless because it will never be obsolete, but its status as a tradition is also its greatest weakness.

Even the Best Interview Isn’t Perfect
Whether meeting with an HR representative or a hiring manager, the job interview is a complicated ritual for all parties involved.  As a result, the formality of the process can sometimes eclipse the goal (to determine if the personality, goals, and strengths of the candidate are a fit for this position and this company).  In many cases, the skills necessary to succeed in an interview are very different from those needed to succeed on the actual job.   Jane may be a terrific fit technically and personally for a position, but because of jitters, a bad day, or any number of reasons, she blows the interview.  John may be far less qualified, but he aces the face to face and gets the job.  

For the interviewer (and the applicant), this presents a concern.  We don’t live in a perfect world.  Everything, including the most expertly guided interview process, has drawbacks.   

A Different Kind of Relationship
Working with a recruiter presents a unique solution to this problem.  A good recruiter offers many advantages: the technical aptitude to screen out unqualified applicants; a strong understanding of the local market; access to a layer of candidates that might otherwise be unavailable; an understanding of the skill sets and comparative salaries to expect; and a relationship with IT professionals that is fundamentally different than exists for the employer.   

A good recruiter may spend months or years working with a candidate, and will develop a unique rapport.  Once the technical and HR screening is complete and the recruiter has a solid understanding of a prospect’s skill set and professional background, the relationship morphs into one of relaxed professionalism.  Through the initial screening process, follow-up calls to confirm dates or check-in, scheduling interviews, voicemails and frequent emails, the relationship a recruiter builds with a candidate grows to approximate the one between colleagues on the job.  This is the recruiter’s advantage: they actually get to know the applicant as they would behave at work, not just how they act in the high-stress, ritualized setting of The Interview.   A relaxed professional relationship gives the recruiter a different perspective on a candidate.

Snake in the Grass
Lets consider an example.   In 2007 I interviewed a candidate applying for a local Microsoft .NET position.  During our initial interview, he presented himself as professional and approachable.  His technical screening was outstanding, references were glowing, his salary expectations were in line and his professional background was a perfect match for the position for which we considered him.  

As we prepped him for submission, and as we went into the interview process, our conversations began to change.  Each time I called or emailed to check a date, schedule a phone interview and eventually a face-to-face, he dropped the initial formality and we developed a new kind of relationship.  Once he relaxed it was clear that the man had the personality of a chancre sore.  Self possessed, demanding and crude, he was a nightmare.  We warned the client about the now-apparent red flags, and he was removed from consideration.  Had I not developed the relationship, that personality might have stayed hidden.

Might a skilled interviewer have recognized the warning signs?  Maybe.   But it’s possible he could he have slipped though an interview and become a problem employee soon after hire.  Finding affordable, experienced developers with a background in .NET technology is increasingly difficult.  The skill set is in demand.  Salaries, even for low to mid-level employees, are rising, and when I found a candidate with the right combination of skills, experience, and price, it very easy to get excited.

Interview Insurance
Technical screenings, personality assessments and other evaluation techniques can’t tell the whole story.  With hot skill sets like .NET, Information Security, or ERP Specialists making qualified professionals rarer and pricier, it’s hard to find quality candidates, and tempting to fast-track one with the skills and experience to do the job.  Ultimately, a personal conversation is the most important tool employers have to check that impulse and draw out answers to the most critical questions.  Building a relationship, looking through the layers of tests, checks and assessments, is the most effective way to judge an applicant, but it’s not a perfect tool, and there will always be an element of risk.  Trustworthy, experienced recruiters can provide an extra layer of insight to the standard interview.  They can reduce the risk, and who wouldn’t want that?

Jake Conrad is the Business Development Coordinator for Roytman Information Services in Dayton, Ohio, a provider of Career Placement and Consulting solutions in Information Technology, Management and Engineering.  For additional information please visit http://www.roytmanIS.com.