8 Tricks on How to Screen for a Good Fit on a Team

Wondering how to screen for a good fit on a team? Well, you are in luck today because that is exactly what I am talking about.

Now, it is no secret that recruiters and hiring managers are aware of several red points and green points while interviewing applicants. Employers are always wondering how to find right fit candidates who can be the best cultural fit for their organization. Despite an impressive resume, a recruiter must gauge further if the applicant will be able to perform his day-to-day tasks.

For this, the recruiter summons the candidate for face-to-face interaction. F2F is the round where the hiring manager tests a candidate’s skills to assess if the person is the right fit employee or not. When hiring a candidate, recruiters juggle with tons of resumes, schedule multiple screening rounds and interviews to figure out if the candidate in their pipeline is right or not.

So, What Makes Candidates Best-fit Applicants?

We can’t deny that we do get blinded at times while hiring a potential candidate who later turns out to be a mistake. Yes, the harsh truth! Then we all wonder about the loopholes that led to this wrong hire.

Well, there are numerous aspects on which you can judge whether a candidate is a perfect match for the job and the company or not. Let’s look at a few to set the process right and gauge the best-fit candidate:

Dive into their past

Our experience is one crucial factor that determines our success in the roles we pick up in the future. Have a detailed conversation with them to test if they are prepared for the position. We suggest creating a roadmap of your past employees in that team and read through the data.

So, if you are wondering how to screen for a good fit on a team, this will help you understand the kind of people who prefer that role and stick to it for a longer duration. Look for someone who has a track record of positivity, problem-solving, and growth when facing new challenges.

Sense their enthusiasm

You must also check the way the candidate expresses and communicates his answers as this depicts the level of enthusiasm an applicant has. Check if they take pride in their previous work. This is how you can find right fit candidates.

Their excitement while answering your questions, can hugely signify their interest in joining your company. You can even gauge this from his body language and the way he speaks.

Are they career-driven?

One more aspect that you must consider when hiring your next employee is their commitment to developing their careers.

The right fit employee is not a job hopper. If your candidate career hops or worked with several companies in the past then maybe you shouldn’t hire them. After all, we all want employees who are loyal and see their job as an opportunity to grow as a professional.

Have they influenced people around them?

When you are hiring for managerial positions, such people are best-fit applicants. A robust and performance-oriented team comprises both great leaders and great followers. Not everyone would like to be a leader or be satisfied with being a follower.

Irrespective, they should be great communicators to be irreplaceable team members. When you interview a candidate, look for someone who likes helping colleagues and finding solutions to problems. This is an important quality in a best-fit candidate. Don’t judge them solely on the output of their answers (be it good or bad). Instead, invest in people who can add value to the team.

Get to know them (and how they think)

Companies like Google, Apple, and Microsoft, are already known for their intense interview processes and unique interview questions. This also a great way to answer the doubt of how to screen for a good fit on a team.

One such question that Google asked its candidate was “If you could be remembered for one sentence, what would it be?” We aren’t compelling you to ask a similar question to your candidate but rather get inspired to understand the things that matter to them the most because that will show up in their work. This will also help you gauge best-fit applicants who fit into your company’s culture.

Work failures

Failures are a part of our life, and our work life is no different. We all have seen failure in our career at some point or the other; you must learn about your candidates. To find right fit candidates, such people are also needed.

If they are not reluctant to share their past failures, then take it as a sign of their transparency and honesty. Such people put in all possible efforts to work for a shared vision.

They are well Informed

The best-fit candidate is the one who has done prior research about the company and the job role he is applying for is considered to be a perfect fit for an organization. They know what the companies expectations from them regarding the work are.

Apart from this, the candidate is eager to know more new things related to the work and the product they will be working on. This shows that the right fit employee is genuinely interested in working with the organization and wants to build a career instead of just looking for huge paychecks.

Probation Period

Disclose the details of the probation period to them and see how they react to it. The probation period should be mandatory for all job positions you are planning to hire.

This trick of how to screen for a good fit on a team helps safeguard the organization, and will also come in aid in making changes in the candidate’s way of working if the need be. Irrespective of how accurate your hiring process is, you still need a probation period on a safer side.

Editor’s Note: Originally published on 11 September 2019 at 11:58 AM. Updated on 26 May 2021.