Pre Employment Checks
The expression "looks good on paper" can apply to many things, including potential employees. A C.V. that includes a masters degree from a top university, proven experience in the your economic sphere and a long list of seemingly impressive accomplishments looks like an ideal employee, right? Well, not always.
There have been plenty of mediocre or even outright bad employees that have maneuvered their way around the interview process and into a valuable position within a company. They seemed great in the interview, but turned out to be lazy, uninspired, problematic and a negative influence on co-workers, and at the extreme a violent liability. If you're responsible for hiring this person, you might be asking yourself what went wrong. They appeared to come up with the right answers during the interview process. But were you asking the right questions?
Unfortunate the CV and interview process is not fool-proof. Even the best manager, recruiter or personnel director can be bamboozled by a slick-talking candidate whose lone motivation is corporate expense account and he company car. These people can be stopped, however, and the first line of defence is keeping them off the payroll altogether.
Like many things, planning is the key. The same in preventing a problem employee. Simply asking questions out of a manual is not enough these days. First of all, check that application closely. Are there time gaps, lack of specifics or the possibility of an embelished resume? And that embellished resume doesn't just apply to the college student looking for his or her first job. It can apply to the high-end of the corporate world, like... there are many high profile cases of this kind of fraud but Im not going to mention them here, if you want proof just have a look on google News.
C.V. padding is extremely common, but that doesn't mean it should be tolerated. It has been estimated that half of all C.V.s have substantial amounts of false information, prompting companies to do their own background checks or hire security companies to confirm the claims on a job applicant's resume.
The interview is the next step and this is one of the last lines of defense against getting stuck with a bad employee. Asking questions that will illicit the most revealing work ethic is the key here. It's important to know which questions you're going to ask and even what answers you're expecting. The questions should be formed in a way that gets the interviewee to give his or her own account of life and work experiences. Make sure the interview doesn't evolve into you talking and the potential candidate just listening. This is a time for him or her to think quick on their feet and express themselves, so they should be doing the overwhelming majority of the talking. Save your time for when the candidate asks questions about the company. And if they're not asking any, then that's a sign of disinterest and should be weighed against them.
Step outside the box from the regular hum-drum interview and have the candidate meet a few people in the office, take them on a tour of the company and then out to lunch. This will give you a chance to see how the person interacts and adjusts to different environments.
Should you wish to give the candidate a chance it is wise to include within the contract a disclaimer to allow you to carry out all necessary enquiries to validate the details supplied both in relation to the application but also any future enquiries that may be necessary. Obviously you need to speak to a solicitor to get the correct wording to meet your requirements.
Finally, check those references, either personally or get an external agent to do it on your behalf. If the candidate has been a problem at other jobs, this is the time to find out. Not every employer can or is willing to trash a former employee with a bad attitude, but try to draw out this information by asking how the candidate would fit into his or her new role.