Top Tips for Hiring New Talent

Shaugn Coyer, university relations manager, Kellogg Company
Kellogg Company is a Platinum Premier Partner of the career center.

• Engaging with talent early in the academic career and giving students an opportunity to conduct an internship with your company is an excellent way to gain exposure to an individual's skill set, ambition and cultural fit before actually hiring a candidate full time.
• References are not always the best source of discovering someone’s previous employment contributions or background. Most people list individuals that they have a good relationship with; therefore, they will receive a good review. Instead, ask for previous performance reviews or school transcripts. Additionally, you can also conduct a background check (with the individual's consent).   
• If you are not currently using a behavioral-style interview process, you may want to think about doing so.  Almost all universities prepare their students for this particular style, and it is a great method of predicting someone’s future performance or actions, because their answers are based on actual examples of how they performed or reacted in the past. Should you need more information, you can search online for “behavioral interviewing” and several pieces of information will be available for your review.
• Don’t always assume that the person with the most experience is the candidate for the role.  Be open to looking at multiple skill levels. Some individuals that have several years of experience may actually come with set expectations or ways of doing things, while others with less experience may be open to new ways of conducting business and to change. Additionally, be open to individuals that are green yet have the innate skill set that cannot be taught (i.e. good people skills, thinking outside of the box, etc.) 

Lauren Montgomery, corporate recruiter, C.H. Robinson
C.H. Robinson is a Platinum Premier Partner of the career center.
"For us here at C.H. Robinson, we believe that focusing on the career growth available within our organization allows us to hire and retain the best talent. We don’t want candidates to see job opportunities, but rather opportunities to start and grow a career. During our interview process, we focus on showing candidates the opportunities for growth available over time, as well as the learning and development available to them to help them achieve their career goals."

Kyle Brink, assistant professor of management, Haworth College of Business

• The quality of the hiring process is only as good as the metrics that are used to evaluate it. Validity and return on investment are almost always more relevant than time-to-fill and cost per hire.

• Learn to separate fact from fiction. Articles appearing in the popular press, Internet news and social media often tout the latest fads without any basis to support their use. Tried and true selection decision aids that will enhance your return on investment will have validity evidence to support their use.
• The résumé is useful for sifting out applicants who do not meet the minimum qualifications. The résumé is not useful for the purpose of identifying the best candidate. 

• Many recruiters and hiring managers have great confidence in their intuition and clairvoyant knack for reading applicants. However, research clearly shows that structured, standardized, job-related assessments (e.g., structured interviews, behavioral assessments, written measures) are superior.