As recession hits the world market, and the global pandemic continues to be a fearful presence, hiring has taken a backstep in a majority of companies. Yet, as placement season rolls around, and talented freshers are on the outlook for a job, few companies want to pass over the opportunity to employ these fresh minds for their own projects. Technical and soft skills have to go hand in hand for being a successful employee, yet several HR panels often fall short of checking the necessary technical qualifications of candidates, leading to wrong hires or other issues later on.
How can this problem be solved?
A specific interview or exam based solely on coding is a step in the right direction. Focussing on the specific technical abilities of each candidate allows for full freedom to check out their limits and boundaries, as well as how well they operate in their comfort zone.
For coding, an exam makes it clear as to how a potential employee might perform under duress, time their performance and unbiasedly access their results. This also gives the candidate an edge to showcase their prominent skills in an actual platform instead of verbal or theoretical questions about the same.
For non-coding related technical skills, it is impertinent to have different exams or testing procedures to properly evaluate the required skills. Having an expert in the field on the panel can help in this process.
Knowing exactly what you want in an employee makes it a lot easier to find someone who can fit that role perfectly. Shortlisting people who either have experience in that role, or skills suited to it, will make the whole process smoother, and the next steps less clunkier.
Discussing the exact roles of the position helps the employer and employee decide if they’re a perfect fit who can work seamlessly towards their shared goals, or if more searching is necessary. It also helps shorten the interview process, as only the specific technical roles are to be fitted.
It is always a good practise to learn details of previous jobs and projects of a potential employee. Diving into why they chose those, how they performed and in which capacity, how fast they grew and why they left- all the details are a good way to get a summary of their whole career, and evaluate how their technical skills are applied in real time projects.
Last, but not least, asking questions or giving a specific scenario to ascertain how someone would deal with a technical issue outside their comfort zone is a key to selecting candidates who can face difficulties head on, and how different issues can be managed.
Conclusion
These are only a few different processes that can be utilised to evaluate technical strengths of a person, and other innovative methods can also be utilised, like a hackathon, coding competition, timed project building, team activities, etc. In these trying times, when hiring has to become a more specific, pinpointed tactic to budget the company’s profits to the tee, tried and tested as well as newer ways to access the exact technical superiority of each candidate, are of utmost importance.