The Red Flags in the Ocean of Interviews

Employee interviews are like heading out into the open ocean, just to find the right fish in the sea. While the ocean brings with it buried and hidden treasures (if you’re lucky), there are always red flags to look out for, and keep at bay. Otherwise, it could end up with recruitment goals getting completely washed out.

With virtual interviews and phone interviews, proper candidate assessment can look like a drop in the ocean, but it doesn’t have to be so. By exploring the right fishing techniques, you can smell the stink AKA the red flags of a potential employee from a mile away. So instead of crying an ocean (figuratively, of course) after recruiting the wrong person, here are some red flags to look out for while interviewing them.

• Sounds too perfect for the job: Potential employees tend to overcompensate with their previous experiences and their perfectionist never-go-wrong attitude when they have some kind of skeleton in their closet. Proper pre-screening and candidate assessment, which includes thorough AI-based screening, goes a long way, in identifying these red flags.
• An ocean of the ‘we’ attitude: Keep a note of the language your potential candidate uses while describing previous projects. While team spirit and recognizing team effort is a great attitude, if he/she uses ‘we’ for everything, it could be a big red flag. Either their contribution to the work doesn’t stand out, or he/she is a serial responsibility avoider. Either way, this is a big red flag to look out for.
• Rehearsed answers resurface: Being clear in your thoughts is one thing, but throwing in rehearsed cliches while attending an interview is a whole other thing. Watch out for rehearsed answers, cause they almost always mean that a candidate is trying to cover something up. Look for sincerity, spontaneity, and honesty when it comes to candidate screening.
• Fixated on the benefits: During a phone interview, or even a face-to-face one, if a candidate is asking too much about the benefits that come with the job, well, his/her sincerity can be questioned. From annual leaves, to pay scale, to other perks, if the candidate is obsessing over what the company could give him monetarily, he may just be in it for the money and nothing else.
• Shies away from giving references: If your candidate is hesitant about giving references from his previous work, then he is watering down something important. This reduces his credibility on the spot and is a major red flag. Proper candidate screening can help this cause by providing proper references who aren’t just random people your candidate recommends.

With this, it is clear that a candidate needs to be understood from top to bottom before you find yourself caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. With AI-based screening, Callify.ai ensures proper candidate assessment, which will help you find the right fish in the ocean.