IT is central to everything you do. For that reason, you must be able to rely on your IT staff to be there at all times, turn in a consistent performance, and not invite vulnerabilities or instabilities into your system. Unfortunately, evaluating a candidate’s reliability is tricky because everyone puts their best face forward when trying to get a job. Use these tips to get a more honest look at a candidate’s true character.
Run a Background Check
This should be a mandatory part of your evaluation of IT candidates already. You can’t afford a security breach, and a background check tells you a lot about someone’s threat level. A check also gives you an objective look at a job seeker’s past. Do they have a criminal record? Have they been reliable in paying off debts? There is no one clear indicator of reliability/unreliability, but there are a lot of red flags to look for.
Check References Carefully
When you contact a candidate’s references, ask about more than just their aptitude. Try to get a sense of their character and actual on-the-job performance. Could they be relied on to show up on time, meet deadlines, and take on extra work? Were there any notable lapses in performance or reliability? Don’t be afraid to tackle the issue directly. If you feel like you haven’t gotten a complete picture, ask for more references.
Ask the Right Interview Questions
Past performance isn’t always an indicator of future performance, positively or negatively. Make sure you use the interview to get a sense of the candidate’s dependability right now. Here are some behavioral questions that reveal a lot.
- Tell me about a time when you had work left to do at the end of the workday.
- Describe a disagreement you had with a co-worker. How did you resolve the conflict?
- How have you worked through a recent difficult decision?
- What do you do when you feel you’re right but have to defer to others?
- Have personal issues ever affected your work? What did you do?
In each instance, these questions require the candidate to display grace under pressure. You want to know that when times get tough, inside or outside of work, you can still rely on this person to do his job in full.
Even when you know how to look, finding truly reliable candidates can be a challenge. Start connecting with the kind of professionals you know you can rely on by contacting The Squires Group.
