Why do you interview candidates?  Because it has always been done that way, because all hiring managers do it, or a million other reasons – several companies have decided to stop interviewing, and the results have been amazing.

In the construction industry, there is typically a shortage of qualified candidates, yet there are several companies that have found a way to not only hire employees regularly, but end up finding the best talent, they otherwise would have missed.  Why?  They stopped interviewing!

An interesting concept, right?  These companies have determined after years of statistics and research, that their interviewing was just costing them money, and was not producing as they needed.  What is gleaned from an interview?  Information about the person – but nothing that truly shows you they can do the job.

You can change that by removing the interview process.  As a hiring manager, you can usually tell by reading a resume and cover letter whether the candidate may be a good fit, but instead of inviting them in for an interview, invite them to work.

That’s right, hire them to complete a project.  Pay them, give them a time frame to complete it, and watch them work.  This technique has been used successfully for several years.  Make sure it is clear to your candidates that this is a trial work project.

This will clear out any time wasters that are not fully committed to working for you, or do not possess the necessary skills, and will show you the skill set of those that accept the challenge.  Those that accept this trial, will give you a variety of workers – those that can work on smaller projects and those that will become your top talent.

While this technique is not for every construction company and hiring manager, it does require discipline and patience.  The next time you interview a job candidate, ask yourself, can I really tell if this candidate will be a good employee?

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