It is the dream of every recruiting team to bring the best talents to the organization. Though this is what most employers want, evidence suggests that most recruiters struggle to find the right candidates for their job listings. For instance, a 2017 Society for Human Resource Management survey revealed that about 69 percent of recruiters were having challenges getting perfect HR candidates. Though Covid-19 may have eased this figure by availing more candidates to choose from, Meghan Biro, a leading talent management and HR technology analyst, asserts that it is unrealistic to expect to hire perfection. Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, a senior adviser at Egon Zehnder and the author of ‘It’s Not the How or the What but the Who,’ agrees with Meghan saying, “The perfect candidate does not exist.”
The qualification gap between an ideal candidate and the available talents in the market will always exist. However, the degree of mismatch between employers’ expectations and what candidates can actually deliver is what keeps varying from one candidate to another. It is important recruiters recognize this and try to apply empathy when hiring. Nevertheless, recruiters need to ensure candidates possess certain critical qualities and have the ability to learn before giving them employment.
The Harvard Business Review lists data-driven approach, determining the capacity to learn, measuring potential, getting external opinions, providing multiple assessments, and gauging emotional intelligence as best strategies to determine imperfect candidates’ employability. In a data-driven approach, recruiters should identify the primary and secondary characteristics of ideal candidates. Successful candidates must have all the primary characteristics; secondary characteristics can be learned. Imperfect candidates should acknowledge their inadequacies and strive to improve – ability to learn is one of the vital qualities of employees. The candidate’s potential can be measured in terms of curiosity, confidence, determination, engagement, and motivation. Even if candidates do not have all the key features, they must demonstrate the potential to perform. Emotional intelligence is an essential element of any worker. It determines how employees interact with colleagues and customers, and it cannot be taught. Thus, selected candidates must have satisfactory emotional intelligence.
It is also advisable for recruiters to seek second and third opinions from people within and outside the organization before making a final decision regarding employing an imperfect candidate. This will give the recruiter a clear picture of the candidate’s weaknesses severity and ability to improve. Furthermore, it is prudent for recruiters to provide multiple comprehensive assessments before deciding the employability of a candidate with limitations.
In summary, being open to hiring imperfect candidates is almost inevitable. Nearly all candidates in the market are deficient in at least one or two qualifications. The secret to perfect hiring is employers determining how they can identify unavoidable competencies and selecting candidates with the potential to learn. So, being open to hiring imperfect candidates and allowing them to learn is a correct plan as long as it is approached with moderation.
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