When looking for a perfect candidate, two categories are usually looked at. The first is technical skills. Candidate Resumes will describe these by providing certifications, job history, and technical skills examples. In addition, the teaching demonstration that the candidate will experience will help highlight these technical skills for your business or schools. The second and most challenging to observe is attitude.
Recruiters at Isoverse have the complicated task of matching a business with a candidate. This is challenging because attitude or altitudinal characteristics are more challenging to observe off a resume or interview. In addition, candidates can appear in an interview and act another way once they receive the offer.
Below is data collected from Leadership IQ about why new hires fail.
1. Coachability (26%): The ability to accept and implement feedback from bosses, colleagues, customers, and others.
2. Emotional Intelligence (23%): The ability to understand and manage one’s own emotions and accurately assess other’s emotions
3. Motivation (17%): Sufficient drive to achieve one’s full potential and excel in the job.
4. Temperament(15%): Attitude and personality suited to the particular job and work environment
5. Technical Competence(11%): Functional or technical skills required to do the job.
When asked about their three positive and negative experiences with foreign teachers, the Joy Teaching Training department answered similarly.
The positive characteristics were:
1. Open to learning/understanding
2. Passionate/caring
3. Communication Skills
4. Diligent
5. Flexible
The negative characteristics were:
1. Arrogance
2. Closed-minded/un-coachable
3. Lazy/apathetic
4. Irresponsible
5. Procrastination(for work and asking for leave)
This, of course, is not saying skills are not necessary. The goal is to find a perfect balance between both. If a candidate has impressive skills but a poor attitude, we call them talented terrors. Talented terrors can disrupt their work culture and are not long-term solutions for openings. However, a great attitude alone cannot work if the candidate does not have the skills or potential to learn new skills needed to work at your school or business.
Looking for the right attitudinal qualities will take time and practice, but there are a few early signs you can look for.
1. The way the candidate dresses for the interview. This is not about brand or style but whether the candidate took the time to dress professionally. Candidates who are more casual with their interview wardrobe are more likely to take the job causally.
2. First-person pronouns: High-performer answers contain roughly 60% more first-person pronouns(I, me, we) than answers given by low performers
3. Past Tense: In the interview, answers from high performers use 40% more past tense than answers from low performers.
4. Active Voice: In active voice, the subject of the sentence is doing the action, for example, “John likes the teacher.” John is the subject, and he is doing the action. He likes the teacher, which is the subject of the sentence. An example of passive voice is “John likes the teacher.” The sentence’s subject becomes the teacher, but the teacher is not doing anything. Instead, the teaching is just the recipient of John’s liking. Passive voice is often used to complicate sentences and add rhetoric, removing the answer. Basically, people are trying to sound more intelligent than they are.
6. Positive emotions: Higher performer answers contain about 25% more positive emotions( happy, thrilled, excited) than low performers.
None of the listed above are true disqualifiers; they are just something to pay attention to when interviewing candidates.
Checking for Honesty:
One of the most significant concerns for recruiters throughout the recruitment and hiring process is candidate honesty. Although degrees and certifications are much harder to deceive, skills and experience can be easily manipulated. Career Builder found that 75% of employers have caught candidates lying on their resumes, with the most common areas of deception being candidates embellishing skill sets (62%) and responsibilities (54%). Due to the nature of teaching children, recruiters must ensure every candidate has given honest answers throughout the process. People tell lies in four primary ways:
1. Omission: Why did you start your own business? “I felt stifled working for such a big company, so I took my good ideas and struck out on my own.” Unfortunately, this candidate omitted the part where they were fired.
2. Commission: Why did you start your own business? “Customers told me that I was the reason they were so loyal to the company, and they’d rather deal with me directly” Questionable at best, another lying through commission is through simple denial or affirmation: Did you finance your business with your own money? “Yes,” even though the money came through other avenues.
3. Embellishment: Why did you start your own business? “I had the best teaching reviews in the company, and I knew I could succeed independently.” Except that 19 people shared the “best teaching reviews in the company.”
Transference: Why did you start your own business? “My research showed that a community like this needs the service” Actually, it was the candidate’s friend who researched his community, which is similar to the candidate’s. Transference means taking someone else’s truth and making it your own.
These are just some of the lies that recruiters encounter. That said, recruiters are not interrogators and should not set up interviews. Remember, interviews are nerve-racking experiences for most people; therefore, you should refrain from assuming different tips and tricks involving eye or body movement, voice, and sweating. Below are some methods you can use to help ensure candidate honesty.
TORC Method
The Threat of Reference Check(TORC) method creates an atmosphere of accountability. Before the interview begins, ask the applicant if their references are accurate. If they have not provided any concerns, ask that they provide one or two professional references. The recruiter should tell the candidate that they may contact their reference for verification and discuss personal development. Doing so makes the candidate less likely to lie about their previous experiences. Whether or not the recruiter calls upon references is up to them; however, reference calls always provide more background information on the candidate.
Reference Check Red Flags
Suppose the applicant has requested not to contact one or more of their previous employers; ask the applicant why. For example, it may be because the former company no longer exists or because their reason for leaving is different than what is listed on the application. If the applicant provides only personal references, ask for work-related professional references. Professional references are a better indicator of job performance. Be aware of notable inconsistencies. If at any point a former employer provides information that does not align with what the applicant indicated on their application or in the interview, ask additional reference questions to ensure you correctly interpret the response. Depending on the extent of the discrepancies, follow up with the applicant and provide them the opportunity to explain. Be cautious of overly optimistic references. Most references will share the strengths and weaknesses of their former employee or colleague, especially if you ask the right questions. That is why it is important to check more than one reference and talk to former supervisors when possible.
Detailed answers vs. Broad answers
One way to make lying more difficult for applicants is for them to provide clear and detailed answers. Broad and unclear answers may be a sign of fabrication. When an applicant provides an ambiguous answer, ask them to provide more detail. If the candidate cannot give more information or tries to change the subject, this could be a sign of lying. It often comes down to asking candidates the right questions and being aware enough to spot the holes. Specific years of experience in a role will suggest that a candidate has particular knowledge and examples of this knowledge, such as training, leading a team or letting employees go.
Thanks to Mark Murphy for his book “Hiring for Attitude” and Dr. Brad Smart for his book “Topgrading,” which this blog takes heavy inspiration from.