How to Hire the Right Candidates over the Qualified

Ensure that you are fit to conduct the interview and you are not biased in any way. Have thorough knowledge of the job so you can know what you are looking for in the candidates and ask the right questions. Be up to date with trends and new knowledge about the role. This helps avoid rating the candidate with new knowledge wrongly, whereas you are the one who is not up to date.

If you don't have technical knowledge about the job role, get someone who is knowledgeable and experienced in that field within the organization or outside the organization to interview with you. Don't rely on your knowledge alone. No matter how certified, professional, and experienced you are, you don't know it all. Don't always try to do it alone.

Look out for candidates that answer your questions using the STAR method (Situation, Target, Action, Result). Is the candidate sharing situations they encountered? Is the candidate talking about targets that were set and achieved or why they were not achieved? Is the candidate talking about actions they took towards achieving targets? Did the candidate share results they produced in their past workplaces? Frame some key questions around these. This is a great way to get insight into their past experiences and key accomplishments. It will help you find out whether the candidate is a disciplined and goal-oriented person or not.

If you want to learn more about a candidate, be open and conversational. Ask them about their skills and what they are passionate about, whether relating to the job description and requirements or not. The more you bring up topics the candidate feels comfortable and confident talking about, the more you know them. Knowing their skills and passion and how the candidate presents them in the discourse helps you collect valuable data about them.

Beyond their physique and how they look on paper, attitude and knowledge must be tested and balanced. For boldness and confidence, observe whether the candidate looks at you straight in the eye or they avoid eye contact. For knowledge, observe their fluency in speech if they keep stuttering or thinking about what to say. Monitor the candidate's gestures, arm movements, utterances, eye contact, and perhaps handshakes. These can reveal the kind of person they are and how interested or enthusiastic they are about the job.

Ask the candidate whether they have had difficulties working with supervisors, colleagues, or management in the past, and how they handled such cases. Find out how the candidate handled pressure, challenging tasks, heavy workloads, difficult superiors, colleagues, or subordinates, and shifting priorities.

Great candidates with promising potentials are usually very curious, inquisitive, and willing to learn. They want to continuously acquire new knowledge and skills to add to their arsenal. These kinds of candidates can grow with your company and become invaluable resources. So watch out for questions they ask about the job, personal development, or career advancement. Does the candidate sound knowledgeable but ready to learn and teachable, or do they seem to know it all?

Pay attention to questions they ask. Great candidates usually have questions about the job, company, and line of business. Try to observe whether they are enthusiastic about the job or company, how they process data, diagnose problems, etc.

The idea of creating hypotheses or giving problems to candidates to solve is not about them passing the test at the end, it's just a smart way to ascertain their thinking pattern, creativity, how they analyze situations, and develop processes towards finding solutions to given problems. Sometimes, create hypotheses outside the job position but related, to test their interpersonal and relational skills with coworkers and other departments.