Employers know how hard it gets sometimes to get the right candidate for the job. Do you want to boost the hiring process? Well, a candidate profile can greatly enhance the process. If you are not sure how to utilize it, here’s everything you need to know as an employer.
What is a Candidate Profile?
A candidate profile is referred to a description that includes the qualification, skills, and personality traits that are required for a vacant job position. Such candidate profiles also include a set of objectives, tasks, and outcomes related to the open position.
What is the Purpose of a Candidate Profile?
Before the hiring team of a company embarks on the hiring process, they need to come to an agreement on what a quality candidate would be like. It is mainly focused on the following aspects,
- What kind of or how much work experience is required for the job post?
- What set of skills are required for the job? (Including the hard skills and soft skills as well)
- Which behavioral drives should be included?
Without coming to an agreement, it gets difficult for recruiters to understand which candidates to push forward for the job role. It can get worse as without a clear objective, the hiring might skip top performers for charismatic persons. The candidate profile also helps to streamline the hiring process by establishing consistently measurable criteria. Starting from the job ad, and interview process to confirmation and follow-up; a unique candidate profile helps in every aspect of the hiring process.
How to Create the Ideal Candidate Profile?
1. Collaborate
Creating the candidate profile is not the work for one person but it requires team agreement. Therefore, the hiring manager needs to consult with others as well. If the job position is dynamic and requires cross-departmental collaboration, you need to arrange meetings with other departments as well, and not just the hiring team. Consider someone from your company who working is similar position or role as they can help the most in the process.
2. Understand
In order to find the ideal candidate, you need to understand a lot of other aspects of your company, not just the job role. With an awareness of work culture, team culture, and business operations; you can find the exact profile that fits the job. Strategic workforce planning is highly required in this case which helps to determine the right person for the job. For example, a finance company might look for a consistent and risk-averse but the emerging brand might be someone with an independent streak.
Once the meta concepts are cleared out, focus on the job role to set the groundwork. As different job roles need different skills, the candidate profile for each position should be different.
3. Design
Now that you know the position well, it is time to write the skills down. The most part of a candidate profile is the personality. Try to think in terms of both skills and positions that are based on the services and products of the company. Soft skills and hard skills come next where most employer stuff a set. But, there are many skills that can be taught after joining. So, make sure to keep different categories for “Nice to have,” “Gotta have” and “Not necessary.” Lastly, end the design with a cognitive assessment test that offers a better overview of the candidate.
Bottom Line
An ideal candidate profile is comprised of sections like Essential tasks, Goals and outcomes, Behavioral traits, and Skills that make it easier for both the recruiter and the job seeker. Start creating job ads with the right candidate profile to enhance your hiring process!
