Give Candidates “A Day in the Life”

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What sounds good on paper can sometimes be completely differentin action. For candidates, this might mean a job that sounds veryappealing until it's actually experienced.

Finding out that your candidate doesn't really enjoy the work you'vehired them for is not something you want to discover on Day 1 of theirnew position. So it can be worthwhile to give prospective candidatesa taste of what's to come through a “day in the life” adventure.

Let your short list of candidates spend a day with someone in yourorganization who performs the same or similar function you are consideringthem for. Have them go on a sales visit, sit in on a meeting, listento a customer service call, or otherwise experience some of the typicalactivities of their prospective job.

This job preview might save both of you time and effort if it turnsout the candidate's no longer interested. Incidentally, if your candidatesencounter a lot of surprises in their “day in the life” you mightreconsider how you are describing the job in your literature or interviewprocess.

For what roles do you send candidates on a “day in the life”? Take our poll, and see how othershave voted at www.head2head.ca.

This month's recruiting headlines:

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