Season 4, Episode 11:

Are You Hiring The Whole Person? Or Just One Part?

This week on Recruiter Fuel, Steve sits down with Recruiters, Mary Ann, and Scott to discuss a dispute he found himself in the middle of on Facebook. The post that fueled Steve’s conversation for this week stated, “Recruiters, the only thing we should be worried about is what a job description says and what a resume says.” Steve jumped in the comments section to argue, “There is more to a human being than just what’s on their job description or on their resume.” Are you hiring the whole person? Or just one part?

Steve wanted Mary Ann and Scott to weigh in on what their take is for only going after what’s on a resume or on a job description and matching them up, versus thinking about the entire human being.

Mary Ann explained that there is a lot more to look at then just a candidate’s knowledge and skills. She said, “A person has many levels; they’re not just one dimensional. What is their motivation? What are they looking for as far as a next step? Why are they looking for another job?” A relationship needs to be established with the candidate.

What are the questions you ask to go beyond knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA)?

Obviously, a recruiter will never be able to completely get away from discussing a candidates KSAs but that is such a small sampling of what makes up an individual. Scott agreed with Mary Ann, “Find out what the motivations of the individual are. What behaviors have they shown, relative to competencies that you’re looking for?” Shame on managers who only worry about what’s on a piece of paper.

How do you get the hiring manager to focus on more than just what’s on the paper? How do you get them to understand that there is more to a human being?

Mary Ann said it has to be done in baby steps. Let history explain itself to your hiring manager, use that evidence to show that what you’re doing isn’t working. Ask the hiring manager questions like, “WHY are you looking for certain skills for certain jobs.” Nowadays, you can’t hire someone based off of what’s on their resume. There are too many people out there with the knowledge and skill sets that a position requires. You have to be very picky in your conversations with candidates to find the right match.

Take the example of teams: Three sales teams from the same company that are under three different sales leaders. Although they all have to meet the exact same requirements, are all three sales leaders going to be looking for the same person?

Quickly, Mary Ann and Scott said, “No.” Each leader is really looking for someone who reflects the personality that the leader feels are necessary to be successful on their team and within their group, which goes deeper than how many years of experience they have or what their degree is in.

Recruiters need to educate their managers that there is more to a candidate than their KSAs. Think of it as this example:

If you saw one-third of a car would you be willing to make a commitment on that car and buy it knowing you might be missing the engine or tires?

It makes no sense. Yet, managers are saying to hire based off of one-third of a person, not understanding what’s in their head and not understanding what’s in their heart. The person that Steve had a debate with this morning was willing to make a hiring decision off of one-third of a person! It doesn’t make any sense.