Struggling to Assess Candidate Attitude in Interviews? Seeking Your Advice!

Hi, I'm Sirisha, working in a private company with 4 months of experience. I usually conduct interviews for candidates, but I'm having difficulty judging their attitude. Could you please advise me on how to evaluate a candidate's attitude accurately?

Thank you.

Formulating Interview Questions to Assess Candidate Attitude

Ask questions that extract the views of the candidate over a given situation. For example, ask how they would respond to a request from a colleague to help with work they find difficult, especially when the candidate themselves has a lot of work. This question is only an example and came to me spontaneously. You need to frame such questions thoughtfully and see whether the candidate's replies are consistent.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
HR & Labour Law Advisor
Mumbai

It's nice. First, I would like to appreciate your attitude and decision to gain this knowledge. It shows that you want to carry out your job sincerely for the welfare of your organization.

Apart from the answers given by the candidate, carefully but casually note the behavioral attitude of him or her during the period of the interview. That will help you more. It can be easily gauged for a real sincere and dedicated candidate.

All the best,

Regards,
R. Mohan

It's nice. First, I would like to appreciate your attitude and decision to acquire this knowledge. It shows that you want to carry out your job sincerely for the welfare of your organization.

Apart from the answers given by the candidate, carefully but casually note the behavioral attitude of him or her, mainly the body language, during the period of the interview. That will help you more. It can be easily gauged for a real sincere and dedicated candidate.

All the best,

Regards,
R. MOHAN

Hi all, just like Sirisha, I have faced the same issue. I have over 1 year of experience but have recently started taking interviews on the phone mainly. While recruiting, I do the pre-screening and decide which candidates to call for an interview. I basically judge based on points like education, gaps between jobs, how long a person stays in one job, and communication skills. I take interviews of freshers. Here, the technical team judges more (I work in an IT company).

Challenges in Conducting Phone Interviews

I recently conducted an interview, and while forming a report, I became confused about whether she would be a good fit for the organization or not. I believe that during face-to-face interviews, we can better assess whether a candidate would be suitable for the job and the company.

Improving Interview Skills

I understand that interview skills will improve with more experience, but currently, I do not trust my judgment. I am hopeful that we can improve soon in this aspect.

Regards.

Evaluating a Candidate's Attitude

The attitude of a person is gauged based on the replies that a candidate gives, not on their body language. What if the candidate is from outstation, and you were to conduct the interview over the telephone, Skype, or Google Talk? Behavioral interviewing is effective in both face-to-face situations and telephonic interviews.

"Body language" is a result of one's thought process. Behavioral interviewing is aimed at understanding one's thought process, which is influenced by past incidents in the candidate's career.

Lastly, "face reading" is mystic. No science should rely on mysticism; it should have its own methods to solve problems. Management science is no exception to this rule.

Ok...

Regards,
DVD

I agree with Dinesh. Face reading techniques may not lead to accurate judgments. There are candidates who are very adept at hiding their real feelings, and in such cases, we may end up making a wrong judgment about a candidate.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
HR & Labour Law Advisor
Mumbai

Understanding Candidate Attitude

First of all, you need to specifically term the attitude in two ways - behavioral attitude and job attitude.

Behavioral Attitude

Behavioral attitude pertains to body language, a candidate's ability to help others, how the candidate thinks about a particular person, and how the candidate treats a particular person. For example, you need to observe how the candidate behaves at reception - was he egoistic or friendly? This observation can give you insight into his personality, whether he is positive or more reserved. Additionally, as Mr. B. Saikumar mentioned, provide some simple scenarios and observe the candidate's reactions.

Job Attitude

Job attitude relates to the candidate's willingness to accept any given job or if they only want to do what they prefer. For instance, if a candidate is called for an HR role but is informed that they may also need to handle customer care or administration if required, observe their reaction. Some candidates may directly refuse, indicating a lack of flexibility, while others might express a willingness to try despite lacking experience, showcasing a positive attitude.

Present scenarios to the candidate and ask for their input, followed by a brief discussion to evaluate their attitude. Allow the candidate to spend some time in the environment to further assess their behavior.

These are subtle cues that may not guarantee perfection, especially in today's world where many possess acting skills. The best approach is to test candidates to gauge their true attitudes.

Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Regards,

I work as a Manager and I conduct interviews to recruit individuals for my department. I come from a Corporate Sales background. It's crucial to assess the attitude of a candidate, and I prioritize it greatly. To evaluate a candidate's attitude, I ask some challenging questions like:

1. Although Saturdays are typically holidays for us, there are occasions when we may need to work if deadlines are not met. Are you comfortable with this possibility?
2. This position involves a significant amount of travel compared to your previous role. How do you feel about that?
3. We have weekly targets that must be achieved, sometimes requiring additional hours of work.

Similarly, you can formulate questions based on the job openings. I recommend listing out potential questions and discussing them with your manager or seniors.

I hope these tips are helpful to you.

Thanks,
Sanjeev

As for my concern, we have to analyze the candidate from their entry into the interview, where they will be reached exactly. In case there are any problems with their arrival, how were they informed, whether the previous day or without informing at all? Once we start the interview, we consider their answering method.

Workplace Culture and Candidate Evaluation

Nowadays, we are in a different culture where there is no boss and subordinate hierarchy formed in the workplace. People are friends working together on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, we should consider the candidate's mannerisms. Although we do not expect blind obedience, we do expect professional behavior, even if they delivered extraordinary performance in other rounds. We must look at his attitude and behavior to assess his potential. Without these aspects, we cannot place him successfully in an organization.

When conducting an interview, you should observe the candidate's behavior from the beginning. Notice how they enter the room, whether they are humble, take the initiative to greet people, and observe their sitting posture. As you start interacting with the candidate, make sure to look them in the eyes and be a good listener. It may be challenging to gauge a person in the initial stages, but as time passes, I am confident you will develop the skill of understanding people's behavior, which is crucial in our profession.

Frame Questions Effectively

Frame questions focusing more on the "how" aspect rather than the "what." When asking these types of questions, encourage the candidate to provide detailed answers on how they achieved specific milestones. Dive deep into their responses to uncover more details. This approach will help you assess whether the candidate is a team player, good at collaborating with others, customer-centric, and results-oriented.

I hope this advice will be helpful to you.

Best regards,
[Your Name]

A nice discussion. Sure, all these skills come with experience only. If you hire an experienced person and are looking for a long-term resource, then check on their past stay with previous companies. If they left past jobs after a short interval, then they might be a job hopper, again subject to the situations that made them leave the organization. But no one tells the true story behind leaving the organization, so we need to be careful enough to gauge that. We can delve deeper to see the patience in a person. Some people get irritated too often and start confusing themselves and others too.

Thanks, everyone, for your inputs. I'm sure it would help new recruiters.

Evaluating a Candidate's Attitude

You should pose questions to check the candidate's subject knowledge. Ascertain their family background and check their percentage of marks. Inquire about their areas of experience. Assess their temperament by asking nonsensical questions, etc. In this way, you can evaluate effectively.

Regards,
D. Gurumurthy
HR/IR Consultant

Challenges in Evaluating Candidate Authenticity

I am a student pursuing my MBA in HR. Based on my experience, candidates who come for interviews are usually well-prepared. In fact, they are often so well-prepared that they can lie easily. They tend to provide only positive answers. For example, even if they are not truly interested in a position, they may claim strong interest and commitment to working for a long period. However, they end up leaving the job relatively quickly. Candidates are sometimes coached to deceive during interviews, and some are quite adept at faking their responses.

For less experienced HR personnel handling such individuals, it can indeed lead to recruitment errors. What could be the solution to this issue? This question is purely for my personal knowledge.

Thank you.

Valid point, but these days, every organization is conducting background checks either before or after releasing the offer. Apart from this, as an interviewer, one should know who is faking and who is not. This can be brought to the table when you have detailed discussions with the candidates and check their behavior, way of speaking, gestures, and attire (casual, semi-casual, semi-formal, or fully formal).