Finding the right people to fill your company’s open positions goes beyond simply advertising the jobs through various channels and marketing them to your talent communities. Before taking the next steps in the hiring process, you need to verify the accuracy of the top candidate information in terms of their education and experience.
Employee referrals are one of the best ways to find quality, credible candidates for your openings. Workers don’t often refer someone who they don’t know well or don’t feel would be a good fit for the company. They can also alert you to candidates they know personally who have applied whom they feel would not be a good fit for the job. In fact, according to the 2012 CareerXroads Sources of Hire survey, an annual survey for recruiting leaders of America’s largest companies, referrals accounted for 28 percent of the external hires last year.
In today’s socially connected world, you can not only attract and recruit candidates through social networks, but also refer to various sources to help build a broader understanding of the candidate’s capabilities and experience, compared to what a resume may reflect, because as highlighted by this recent issue, sometimes even CEO candidates stretch the truth. A new study from researchers at Cornell University found that people are more likely to state the facts about experience and responsibilities on public profiles and websites such as LinkedIn. A combination of various sources, in addition to the resume, helps you build a stronger, more meaningful, and credible picture of the candidate.
Individuals may share a variety of different types of information by making their social and professional profiles public. A simple search on Google can bring up such information plus other public data that might supplement the profile and resume information submitted by the candidate, to provide a more complete picture.
While publicly shared online portfolios, blogs and other information can be helpful resources for gaining additional insight into candidate’s background and qualifications, it is critical to understand that these measures are not an alternative to meeting the individual and getting to know the real person. Not all information on the web is credible and may sometimes lead to wrong conclusions. Make sure to give the candidate an opportunity to explain if something seems to be an issue for you.
What do you think? How do you typically verify a job candidate’s information?
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