#AskHR is an initiative started by Applicant Tracking System, where we reach out to Talent Acquisition professionals and discuss with them about the most burning issues of recruitment world.

This time the debate is about the most common issue an organisation is facing. Even when candidates match perfectly with the skills required for the job, what made recruiters to reject them at the last stage. We also asked if they would be interested (or not), to train/suggest the candidates where they lagged. This is what they have to say.

1. Matched technical skill is only half eligibility

“Matching the skills that is applicable in technical areas of job is only half of the fulfillment. The other half which makes a candidate different or better than another are - Soft Skills, Personality, Language, Demonstrated adaptability etc.”

Definitely Yes to train:

Because everyone stands and deserves to get equal and enough opportunity with level playing field to showcase one's actual potential. So every recruiter should take this step of training the candidates. Take for example in Sports also - in many Games the Best of 3 attempts or sets are taken for actual assessment.

• NandaKumar, MT at Ascend Consulting & Training Services

2. Hire for the right attitude, skills can be developed

“Its an age old saying that "Hire for the right attitude, not the skills, because skills can be developed, but attitude cannot." Which is what I look for when I interact with a candidate. I would rather hire a candidate without the skill who is willing to learn, but not a person who has the right skill, but thinks he knows it all.”

It is good to share the feedback:

If the candidate is interested, then why not? After all, we as a nation are suffering from acute skill gap. Usually most of the recruiters, do not share a feedback with the candidate. However, we ensure that in case the candidate wants to know her/his areas of improvement, we give her/him a detailed feedback

• Shubhendu Bose, Manager - Recruitment & HR at Axius Technologies Inc

3. Just sticking on technical skills is not the way to hire

“In our hiring process, communication skills, interpersonal skills and leadership skills are most important to assess about a candidate. Personality, multi-tasking, team work, maturity, flexibility and general good work attitude are highly essential, and in most cases more important than relevant work experience. References from ex-colleagues are taken up and reasons for leaving past employers are questioned.”

We prefer inviting the candidate for mock interview sessions:

Should a candidate be a top candidate on soft skills but fail on job requirements, we will inform candidate of same and will look into other options we have which may be interesting to him/her.  However, should a candidate fail based on poor work attitude or on a multitude of soft skills element, we will on the spot provide them a full debrief and invite the candidate back in for an interview practice session and do role play.  Most of them do really well after another session or two of interview practices and role play.

• Zuzi Amat, Partner at Redfire Consulting Asia

4. Commitment to job is more important over matching skills for job

“When we are already struggling with the shortage of skilled staff for a job requirement, rejecting a matching skills candidate is a very tough decision to make. But in most cases, if I have to reject a candidate I do it because they lacked the confidence and commitment towards the job, do not search about the company business and no convincing reason for the job change.”

Giving back feedback should be a default part of interview:

I don’t see a reason to debate on this topic. Giving back feedback to candidate should be a part of recruitment process by default. We always tell candidates what they did correct and what should not be done in the next interview process. This not only helps the candidate, but gives an emotional touch to the candidates towards the company

• Sudeepthi Kambhatla, HR at Preeminent Technology India Pvt Ltd

5. Lack of Business Oriented Communication

“We, at Shubh Gems, believe that it is impossible to find a candidate who is tailor-made for your organisation. We therefore look for trainable candidates instead of trained ones. The biggest reason for not selecting a candidate is their conduct during the interview. Candidates earn negative points mainly due to - lack of presentation, dressing up too casually, spelling mistakes in resume, improper greeting. A good business oriented communication is what we look for. A big no are the candidates who do not research about the company & profile before coming for the interview.”

Seeking feedback is a positive sign in a candidate

If candidates wish to seek a feedback, it is a very positive sign. Moreover it can help them understand their short-comings. It is very unfortunate that sometimes extremely talented candidates do not get selected because they cannot showcase their talent in a proper way.

• Shashank Singh, Director at Shubh Gems

At a glance, the participants for this debate suggests that matching skills for the job is only a part of the eligibility criteria and should not be the sole parameter to evaluate the candidates. And in this age of skill shortage candidates, it is always important to guide them where they lagged and how they can crack the next interview process.

Applicant Tracking System leaves this discussion still open. If you are also willing to contribute, drop in your comments here.