MSG Team's other articles

11487 Myths about Talent Management

Without doubt talent management is a very useful concept for organizations but unfortunately many of them look upon the former as an overhead rather than a value creating process. This can be attributed to some flaws in the implementation and some myths among HR practitioners regarding the same. In this write up we try to […]

9166 Employer Branding in Emerging Markets

A lot has been found and discussed about how the world’s best companies to work for build strong employer brands and attract great talent in the developed markets. We have talked endlessly about how these companies make themselves so appealing that people from across the world, irrespective of their diverse backgrounds, cultures and preferences. However, […]

11489 Talent Management – Opportunities and Challenges

There is no dearth of professionals but there is an acute shortage of talented professionals globally. Every year B-schools globally churn out management professionals in huge numbers but how many of are actually employable remains questionable! This is true for other professions also. The scenario is worse even in developing economies of south East Asia. […]

11921 Who are Boomerang Employees and what are the Pros and Cons of Having Them in Organizations?

What is meant by Boomerang Employees and Why They Have Become So Important Suddenly? Of late, much has been written and said about the so-called Boomerang Employees who are essentially employees who rejoin organizations that they have left earlier. In other words, Boomerang Employees, as the name implies, are staff members who “return” to the […]

9164 Employer Branding Best Practices

Work is no longer what it used to be a couple of years back. The ever rising influence of social media and intensifying talent war have completely changed how employers are perceived. It has altered the way people seek and engage in the jobs that employers offer. In addition, the inclusion of millennials in the […]

Search with tags

  • No tags available.

How HR Managers are vexed by the Problem of Good Interview Candidates

Research has shown that there are many instances of jobseekers excelling in the interviews, but, failing on the job, once they are recruited and placed in projects.

While this problem has been around for a while, in recent years, it has become so acute that Human Resources or HR Manages are trying to find ways to solve this problem.

Indeed, the term Good Interview Candidates, is an apt description of how many employees who show immense potential in the interviews, often fail on the job.

This is mainly because either these candidates have stellar academic and professional qualifications or are good at communication and smooth presentation skills.

These qualities make recruiters and interviewers give them the go ahead for selection in addition to their passing the Aptitude Tests with decent grades.

However, these same candidates fail to translate or convert their supposed potential to on the job performance, leading to many HR Managers as well as Project Managers scratching their heads on what went wrong.

Of course, there are ways to fix this and some of them include changing the interview formats.

How Silicon Valley Firms Address the Problem and What Indian Corporates Can Learn

For instance, in many Western countries, and especially the Silicon Valley firms, it is common to have multi round interviews that sometimes take place over an entire day to test all the abilities and skills as well as practical and real world and on the job skills.

Indeed, the problem of Good Interview Candidates can be solved if a broad range of skills are tested, instead of testing aptitude and communication skills alone.

In other words, conducting interviews spread over a day or more and including Case Study Solving, Coding Tests, and a Deep Domain Knowledge Testing rounds can help firms in determining the eligibility of candidates for selection.

However, many Asian firms, including in India, often have a couple of rounds of interviews, and that too, spanning less than an hour or so, where the basic skills are tested. If these firms follow the Silicon Valley Model of Interviewing, then they can solve the problem of good interview candidates failing on the job.

The point to note here is that Real World and On the Job Performance depends on a wide gamut of skills that are sometimes quite different from what are tested during the interviews and aptitude tests.

Academic Qualifications Do Not Always Correlate or Translate to On the Job Performance

Having said that, we are not suggesting that the Indian Model of Interviewing is flawed or defective and found wanting.

Indeed, the success of the Indian IT or Information Technology Sector and the wider Indian Corporates indicates that they have developed a Robust and Rigorous Model of Recruitment and Placement.

Rather, the fault lies with attaching too much importance to On the Paper Skills and Accomplishments.

In other words, one can be from a reputed institute and can have worked in Big Firms and at the same time, lack skills for particular projects of situations.

Moreover, one can be an excellent communicator, but, a poor people manager as well as have difficulties in getting around with others.

The only way out of this paradox would be to test Skills and Real World Attributes instead of testing academic performance alone.

In addition, often On the Job Performance involves the ability to work well under pressure, not give up easily, and the ability to innovate and improvise.

These skills are sometimes acquired through real world experience and hence, recruiters and interviewers might well do to test how well candidates are equipped in this regard. This can be done through broad basing interviews.

How Consultancies and Investment Banks Have Internships and Elaborate Courtships

On the other hand, even Management Professionals sometimes find it hard to adjust to their jobs despite having done well in interviews.

This is mainly because the interviewers would have gone by their academic performance and past professional experience ignoring how they have achieved and instead, focusing on what they have achieved.

There is a crucial and critical difference between these two in terms of having skills that can be translated into On the Job Performance.

This is the reason why many American Consultancies and Investment Banks often have an elaborate Courtship process wherein Management Grads are interviewed over a month’s long process that focuses on a Broad Array of Suitability and Fitment Abilities.

Even many Indian firms now recruit Management Students for Summer Placements and Internships so as to test their On the Job Performance rather than going by their academic qualifications alone.

The point to note is that more often than not Academic Qualifications do not fully prepare grads for Real World Performance and Past Professional Experience might not have prepared them for a particular firm’s specific On the Job Skills.

Therefore, it is our argument that Interviews must be Broad Based to test a multitude of skills.

Trial Periods

Last, in our professional experience, we have realized that our academic performance is enough to get us selected, but not enough to take us further once selected.

Moreover, we have also realized that while a majority of the skills are transferable, each organization needs particular skill sets that demand the ability to adapt and adjust.

Therefore, a Trail Period where fitment is determined can be an answer to the problem of Good Interview Candidates.

To conclude, as the world moves to a Skill Based Job Performance rather than academic and theoretical skill needs, it is imperative to change interview formats.

Article Written by

MSG Team

An insightful writer passionate about sharing expertise, trends, and tips, dedicated to inspiring and informing readers through engaging and thoughtful content.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Articles

The Challenges of Managing Attrition in Contemporary Organizations

MSG Team