I come from the world of full-lifecycle recruiting; basically being in the process of hiring a candidate from the very beginning to the very end. But many more of you are not in that world. You find great, hard-to-reach candidates and you deliver them to recruiters or hiring managers.
So that’s why I wonder how much recruiting fit matters to most sourcers? The ones I have talked to said it matters to some degree but it often gets figured out so late in the process (after an interview or even later, after they are hired), that it is hard to make the connection.
Silicon Valley-based jobFig wants to bring the idea of fit closer to the source. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
jobFig analyzes fit based on five factors and decades of research. Of course, there are many ways that companies analyze candidates during the hiring process. One of the things I’ve noticed is that this often gets pushed to the back of the hiring process (frequently, after a first or second round of interviews).
A better way of doing this would be to put a personality assessment on the front-end of the hiring process. If you have a bevy candidates that match up with your team’s personality, you might move on to the next task. Similarly, if it isn’t looking like there are many solid matches, it might be worth it to re-double your efforts now, rather than wait for a candidate that is rejected later in the process. And that latter problem is one of the things that causes reqs to be open for months and months, a real productivity drainer.
jobFig’s system is straight-forward, if not simplistic. It isn’t trying to be more than a personality fit system and that’s refreshing. It’s a SaaS, stand-alone application. For the candidate, it is a simple assessment that might be a little long for the more passive candidate but is generally within bounds.
Personality assessments are a tricky business and jobFig doesn’t change that dynamic. Those who believe personality assessments are voodoo will continue to think that while supporters will argue for their value. I’ve seen personality assessments work as intended as well as go off the rails.
Ultimately, it is up to the employer to responsibly implement and use any type of personality screening. Team fit is an important aspect of hiring, along with skills, experience, education and diversity/inclusion. More importantly, sourcers are generally looking for all of the other aspects except for fit. jobFig could be a key piece of that puzzle if used correctly.
If your company uses some kind of personality assessment, where in the hiring process is it done? Do you think it is worthwhile to move it closer to the sourcing piece?