When Hiring, Prioritize Assignments Over Interviews to Get the Best Person for the Job

The hiring manager bears the responsibility to procure talents that fits the company’s spirit, ethics, and business model. It’s also important for hiring managers to collaborate with users to find a suitable candidate. But how exactly can they find that suitable candidate? The answer is quite simple: when hiring, prioritize assignments over interviews. But is it that simple? Sunrecruit Indonesia has prepared this article to discuss it.

Think Outside the Norm

The conventional screening and hiring process involves a process that is not quite precise, to say the least. These inaccuracies could lead to a ‘wrong hire’ situation costing around 30-50% of their salary. However, due to the changing pace of the fundamentals of ‘work’ itself, even these imprecise processes are quite rare.

To tackle this problem, Suners might want to look at how startups create a minimum viable product (MVP). An MVP is designed to test consumer demand for a concept. The test result would determine whether they will invest in building the consumer product.

In the hiring process, Suners can utilize the basic concept startups use. However, this concept will require Suners to see the job interview from different perspectives. The way current interviews stand, it just shows the candidates’ abilities to answer questions, comprehend theories, and present information. It is also susceptible to biases from the interviewer’s side, where the interviewer is more likely to pass candidates that fit their own image—their own “mini-me”.

Back to the startups’ MVP concept, Suners could deploy similar tactics. If startups use mock products, recruiters can utilize a series of tests to simulate the working condition for the candidates. This way, Suners will be provided insight into candidates’ true competency with the position they are aiming for.

What Should Be Changed?

We’ve mentioned that the old interviewing process should be replaced. However, not many organizations are aware of what it should be replaced with. We suggest an approach where testable hypotheses are reduced to their smallest form, let the candidates take action, and see what happens. If the result is disappointing, change the course; if not, proceed to the next phase.

This kind of test took its basic concept of startups’ MVP and modified it to be applicable in the hiring process. However, instead of a product, it’s a demonstration of the candidate’s competence. The “minimally viable” aspect is translated as making the test as brief and simple as possible but still giving the data you need. Keep in mind that the test should represent the core of the positions.

Evaluation is Vital

As the result of the test will vary between candidates, human evaluation plays a vital role in the hiring process. A bot may simplify the process, but it could reject potential candidates because it undermines certain minute details. That’s why relying on human judgment is preferable—Suners can pay more attention to details that otherwise would be missed by the bot.

Revolutionizing the hiring process is not easy, especially when the traditional method is practiced religiously. However, the nature of work itself has shifted, so when hiring, prioritize assignments over interviews to get the best person for the job. If Suners are interested in topics related to the workforce, hiring, or other related topics, kindly check other articles Sunrecruit Indonesia has prepared.