If your a hiring manager or a recruiter you have the challenging task of finding talent. Talent acquisition in a world where there is a lot of people looking for work only has become more difficult. You would think that with more people available it gives you more to choose from, therefore making the process easier. The problem is that there will always be many more unqualified candidates than qualified candidates, and it really doesn't matter what profession. The quicker that someone in a recruitment or hiring position gets to the core of individual skill the better. It makes the process less expensive, and the win ratio of placing a candidate successfully goes up. That being said it's something that's been struggled with for years. There are many instances where the person misrepresents themselves. Typically it feels like a smoke screen in order to fool the hiring person. It may not be intentional, but it certainly can feel that way.

Cutting to the chase with candidates becomes a key to success. It's of course one of many elements that play together in the process, but it should be a major focus. Dealing with different personalities is typically one of the bigger challenges to overcome. What kind of questions to ask, how to present a position, or determining what makes them tick. If you can figure out how to get those type of things answered, your on your way to cutting to the chase as it relates to a particular job. Lets look at few techniques that can you can use to get there.

1) Meet with the candidate a couple times in two different locations. Example: See how they act in a public setting and a private office setting. Do they act differently and how is their focus?

2) Ask them painfully blunt questions and see how they act on their feet. Example: How have you worked through a project with someone you don't like?

3) Have a mini-project question in mind to see how they concept on the fly. Example: Being that your a web developer with a background in Drupal, how would you merge two websites that are currently on two different platforms?

4) Pick out two key jobs from their resume and ask a very specific question about each. Example: Your resume states that you lead the transition of your corporate websites into Europe. What was the most difficult challenge in making this a reality?

5) If the person has moved from job to job quite a bit get to the core of why. Example: Ask the question do you have an issue with people you have reported to. Again being blunt and very straightforward will get you the answers you need a lot more quickly.

Keep in mind based on the position you'll be looking for different ways the candidate responds. Your not going to want one specific answer for each question. Asking some very direct questions will expose who that person is regardless if they are quiet, abrasive, or driven. If your hiring for a CEO position your obviously going to want different responses than a back-end web developer. That part you have to determine for yourself and your goals for that placement. Give these hiring practices a shot and you may just find that your having more long term hiring success.

If you have any thoughts or questions please find us on Twitter @shinyneedle, or email us at contact@shinyneedle.com.