Julia WeeksOne of the key skills in recruiting is the ability to judge a candidate’s true interest in a position. Having this skill will help you to overcome many potential failures such as the candidate disappearing during the interview process or the candidate turning down an offer due to a counter offer.
There are 5 ways that you can tell if your candidate isn’t interested in the position.
1. Lack of response
A sure sign of lack of interest from a candidate is when the lines of communication fail on the candidate’s end.
If your candidate is no longer answering your calls, returning your calls or emails quickly, and just seems to be slower in communication in general, then your candidate more than likely has lost interest in the position.
This is when it’s really important that you get blunt with this candidate and simply ask if there is still any interest in the position and what has changed.
2. No questions
When presenting a job opportunity to a candidate, it is natural for the candidate to have questions, especially in the beginning stages. However, if your candidate’s questions stop after asking details in the pay and benefits, then this is a red flag.
Truly interested candidates will be excited about a new opportunity and want to know as much about it as possible. Questions about the company, culture, opportunity for success, as well as questions surrounding the general day to day operations are all things that you should expect to hear from an interested candidate.
3. Failure to research
Interested candidates will fervently research the company and opportunity. For someone to make change in their current position, they will naturally want to know as much as possible about the new opportunity.
Expect an interested candidate to conduct their own research and clearly display in conversation that this has been done. When your candidate has no interest in researching the company or position, this candidate may not be as interested as originally thought.
4. Position is not in-line with experience
Whenever you have a candidate who expresses interest in a position that is clearly not in line with the candidate’s experience, you should be concerned. Make sure that you are uncovering why the candidate is really interested in the opportunity.
Yes, you will occasionally run into a candidate who desires a lower ranking position in turn for less stress and responsibility, but make sure you understand how serious the candidate is about taking a step down the career ladder.
5. No clear reason for job search
This is very closely related to number 4. Understanding why your candidate is searching for a new job is very important if you want to understand the candidate’s interest in your current opportunity.
Knowing what the candidate is really looking for can help you identify what your position has that the candidate needs. This can help you be more aware of the candidate’s interest in the position and help you to keep the candidate interested throughout the interview process.
—
What are some other ways you might determine a candidate’s interest or lack of interest in your position?
Josh Tolan
