Struggling with No-Shows? How Do You Gauge a Candidate's Seriousness About Job Changes?

Assessing Candidate Seriousness in Job Change

I am working with a manufacturing company with a turnover of around 120-150 crore. During the recruitment process, when I call 10 candidates for an interview, only 2-3 appear. I want to know how we can judge whether the candidate is serious about a job change.

Parameters to Determine Candidate Seriousness

What parameters can be used to determine if a person is serious and willing to change jobs? My boss is seeking a solution to this issue. Please reply with your ideas.

Regards,
Chetna

It's a common problem, and there is no sure way of handling this. Actually, it has a lot to do with our attitudinal problem as we do not come from the culture of valuing our time and that of others.

Preemptive Steps to Improve Candidate Attendance

You can take a couple of preemptive steps though:

1. Follow up as vigorously as you can; however, make sure that you do not annoy the candidate.

2. Be more careful while screening. That's an art you will have to learn if you are in a recruitment function. A good candidate must have the requisite experience, willingness to change, fit in your salary band (which is at least a little higher than his/her salary), and be comfortable with your location. Never presume that every candidate will be willing to join your organization.

3. Always have a pipeline of candidates other than the ones you have called for an interview. If you need 10 people for an interview, always schedule 16-18 candidates. Sometimes, you may end up interviewing a few more, but most of the time, you will find only the target number.

4. Have the first round as an HR round. That will separate the chaff from the wheat. It will also tell you the seriousness of the candidate. Then, you can again have a final HR round where you can negotiate salary, etc.

Regards

Have you asked the candidate about their convenient day and time for the interview? If not, please start doing it. I am sure you will have a better turnout for the interview.

Well, Chetna, it is not just happening with you, but it happens with everyone. When I joined my firm on a particular Saturday, I lined up 10 candidates, and only 1 came. That day, I told my director also to be available, but no one turned up.

Anyways, after that, I learned a lesson that we should always have a backup. If you are recruiting, then keep calling people and interviewing them until you find the right candidate. Even after selecting a candidate, you should have a backup in case that candidate drops out!

So the solution to your problem is to keep calling candidates and interviewing them. One thing you have to keep in mind is always asking candidates about their availability.

Happy Recruiting!

Regards,
Monica

I suppose there are a number of issues any candidate would encounter, as not everybody would be ready for a job change due to other personal commitments. A candidate may not outright deny that he is not coming because he may fear losing a good offer.

You may divide your recruitment options based on the budget allocated for the recruitment cycle. Consider engaging with reputable HR consultants who can assist in the process.

When discussing job offers with candidates, emphasize factors beyond just monetary compensation. Highlight the benefits and opportunities the new role can offer in terms of career growth, stability, and challenges.

Preparation before meetings can help avoid unexpected challenges during discussions or negotiations.

Best regards,
Anuj

It is a paradox. On one hand, I hear freshers complaining that it is hard to find jobs now, and on the other hand, you are complaining that it is hard to find candidates. One reason I apprehend for this situation may be that a candidate may find a suitable job and a job may find a suitable candidate if they match each other in terms of their aspirations. You can try these simple suggestions.

1) Call candidates who can commute easily to their workplace. Convenience of travel is one of the key criteria in metros in choosing a job. For example, in Mumbai, a resident will be less inclined to go for a job in Kandivili in Western Suburbs, however lucrative it may be because it takes a lot of time commuting to and from their office despite a well-connected and fast transport system which no other metro can boast of. Half of their life will be spent in local trains. Therefore, keep this convenience of commuting in mind as a factor in choosing candidates.

2) Sometimes we may be impressed by the qualifications. Do not call candidates who are overqualified for the position, merely because they applied for it since the chances of them sticking to you are less.

3) Call candidates who worked previously in industries similar to yours and your size, since their chances of staying are better.

4) Look at your compensation structure, whether it is in tune with industry norms for the same job profiles. If not, you need to review it, failing which it will be difficult to retain them.

5) Apart from sourcing from the open market, try the sources of referrals of employees or professional circles as a backup.

6) Interviewing is an art. Be tactful in asking the right questions to elicit the information you want.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
HR & Labor Law Advisor

Many fallacies by HR professionals are spread. In this post, also, many are repeated. For example, don't call overqualified candidates. They don't stay longer. These are biases and general statements. I have worked across different industries. Why a person stays in a job is a combination of many things, not just one. How these things interact, nobody can predict.

Addressing Your Query

Recruitment is a process just like sales. We make 100 calls. 50 respondents show interest. 30 have a budget for our product. Finally, we get 3 orders. Similarly, do you have any numbers for your recruitment process?

- Calls made
- Candidates interested
- Candidates interviewed
- Candidates accepted offer
- Candidates joined
- Candidates stayed for more than 2 years

Only from statistics can you estimate the effort required. Don't just go by your gut feeling. There are many things we don't know. It is important to make sure that "we know that we don't know."

Pitching to Candidates

Do you have a pitch for the candidates - Why they should join your company? Why your company is good? Can you give them testimonials of previous candidates who joined? What do different forums say about your company?

Streamlining the Recruitment Process

Is the recruitment process easy on the candidates? Are you calling 3 times for an interview? Can you get all evaluators on a single day for an interview and finish on time?

Fair Evaluation

Is your evaluation fair - The person who gets a higher evaluation in the recruitment also does better in the job. If it doesn't, then you are not recruiting properly.

Support from Top Management

The most important thing is, do you have top person support? In case you bring reality to their notice, do they change? If not, then your effort would be wasted. But then you have all the data for support.

I hope this gives you some direction.

Regards,
Rajesh

As indicated by HR professionals, there is no acid test that will tell you about the candidate's seriousness. However, the following could be indicators:

1. You send a call letter by e-mail and request the candidate to confirm their attendance for the interview. A response from the candidate may indicate their seriousness.

2. Follow up your call letter with a telephone call because you should not assume that all candidates have viewed your mail. Not everyone checks their emails daily. When you speak to the candidate to ascertain whether they have received the mail, if they show interest, it will be an indicator of their seriousness.

3. Candidates who are serious do not seek postponement of timing.

4. Do not schedule interviews on weekends (Saturdays or Sundays) because it could be a weekend off for the candidate, and they may merely want to test the waters during the weekend. On the other hand, if the interview is scheduled on a weekday, they will have to apply for leave to attend the interview. This could mean they are serious. Many times we receive requests from candidates to schedule interviews during weekends. Having stated this, there is also one more danger; candidates who want an interim job change tend to apply for leave and attend the interview, but these candidates do not stick around for a longer duration. This needs to be assessed during the interview process.

5. Do not schedule interviews for several candidates and make them wait for a longer duration to save your trouble or time. To ensure that all candidates are attending, follow up with candidates even on the date of the interview to ensure that they are attending. In case you find some candidates dropping out, you can call up a candidate who had sought a reschedule and fix them up in the time slot.

6. Treat candidates well, right from the security gate until they leave the factory.

7. If you have a travel reimbursement policy, ensure that the candidates are reimbursed for their expenses.

8. If the interview is close to lunchtime, ensure proper arrangements for the candidates.

More than the interview process, the way the candidate feels about the culture of the organization leads them to decide to join your organization.

Regards,
M.V. Kannan

Welcome to the World of Recruitment!

Many good points have been made here, and some seem rather out of place to me.

Factors Influencing Recruitment Success

IMHO, it depends upon:

a) Your Company in competition with that of the candidate's. Consider factors such as brand, turnover, perceived employee friendliness, and salary structure. If your company is better, you have a far stronger chance.

b) Your Screening Process... If you have been thorough and the candidate can see a clear sync between what they are doing and your job description, along with a stretch in job responsibilities/career, they will be more interested. If they perceive your efforts as a random "call all and let us see who turns up" approach, you will experience a high dropout rate. This happens more often than any HR professional cares to acknowledge, and candidates are smart enough to quickly catch on to this fact. Repeatedly doing this can tarnish your company's reputation.

c) Duration of the Open Position - The longer the position has been open, the more the "available pool" knows about it and loses interest accordingly.

d) Employee Feedback - What are your present/past employees saying about your company? This is difficult to gauge, but with the rise of "networks," it is an easy source for any candidate to turn to.

e) Interview Scheduling - How difficult/easy are you making it for the candidate to attend? Some companies schedule interviews on Sundays and close the process that day itself for junior levels, with at most two more rounds for middle/senior levels. Where do you rate?

Despite all these factors, there will be dropouts... emergencies will happen, urgent tasks will arise... You can only check with the candidate about an hour before to have a clear idea and act accordingly.

And, if possible, close the position on the same day, even if only two or three candidates out of ten turn up. (In fact, I am rather surprised at that number; it seems rather high to me even for junior-level engineering openings.) It is a difficult call, I know, since hiring managers are always interested in seeing "more" and blaming HR for not achieving their targets. This will depend on top management's attitude and your relationship with the hiring managers. Get a reputation that your company is serious about filling positions fast, and you will find many things falling into place.

Just my thoughts....

Hi Chetna, the majority of organizations face this problem. The best approach is, if you have 5 positions, you need to select 7 candidates. To select 7, you should meet 10 to 20 candidates, depending on the job profile. As pointed out by others, if 30 agree to turn up, only 20 would actually attend. Always have a buffer. As another member posted, feedback from existing or past employees plays a key role. Take care of that too.