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Why you should scrap the idea of the ‘perfect candidate’

Often times, when hiring managers sit down to craft a job description, they start by asking themselves, "Who is the ideal candidate for this role?" This question guides them as they outline the background of the person they are looking for, from the number of years of experience in the industry to the type and quality of projects he or she has worked on. As universal as this process may seem, it is flawed at its very base, and can lead companies to hire people who appear to fit the ideal profile, but fail to perform at the expected level.

When a company opens up a position, it rarely because they need a specific type of person, but more often because certain tasks or activities need to be owned and completed. Even still, the hiring team typically creates a profile of who they imagine the perfect applicant to be, effectively translating the requirements of the role to qualities they might find in a candidate. Any error in this translation masks the company's true need, unintentionally opening the door for ineffective hiring.

Before you start to imagine what that perfect candidate brings to the table, you must first define what excellent performance will look like in the role you are looking to fill. Once you have established what the ideal performer will get done on the job, then you can begin interviewing and hiring for these specific abilities.

For example, rather than screening for someone with "three to five years of sales experience in the industry who attended an Ivy League institution," set your sights on finding a person you believe will be able to "develop 50 new contacts each month while converting 15 warms leads to new customers." While the former may be easier to objectively identify, it is a far more vague guideline when looking for a person you know will succeed in his or her role. 

Working with recruitment consultants can help your organization fine tune its hiring strategy, identifying talented candidates who will meet and exceed your expectations for on-the-job performance. To learn more about some of the positions we have already successfully filled – click here!

Finding people is easy, but finding the RIGHT people is not. YES Partners helps companies FIND the right people – for all company functions, across many industries and globally.

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