Should You be Conducting Team Interviews for Scientific Candidates?
Posted December 29th, 2014
The use of team interviews is a nontraditional recruitment strategy that is becoming increasingly more common. Given the struggle of many employers to find qualified scientific candidates, it is tempting to dismiss the concept of the team interview as overly complicated and unrevealing. But for a certain swath of employers, team interviews can streamline the recruitment process and deliver better candidates. Ask yourself these questions to help determine if it’s the right strategy for you:
Do You Have Very Specific Needs?
If you are looking for scientific candidates with very specific skill sets, team interviews can help you differentiate the subtle differences between candidates faster and in more granulated detail. The competitive nature of this type of interview process also encourages the participants to highlight the credentials that most distinguish them.
Do You Have Major Staffing Demands?
If you need to staff an entire lab quickly, relying on a team interview can help you expedite the recruitment process and connect with more candidates faster. It’s important, however, to not base all your hiring decisions on the team interview alone. Be sure to back up any decision you are considering by scouring the candidate’s resume and conducting a phone or individual, in-person interview.
Do You Need More than Just Science Skills?
When vetting scientific candidates, the focus is often placed on their education, experience, and specific skills. But for some positions, soft skills like being a clear communicator, thriving under pressure, thinking quickly, and showing leadership are just as important. Team interviews offer a revealing look at a person’s character that you just don’t get in a one-on-one situation.
Are You Looking for Team Players?
Team interviews offer you a unique opportunity to assemble a team and observe how they work together. If you need to hire multiple candidates that will be working on the same project, interviewing them as a team helps you forecast whether they will be a good fit. Consider putting them in the lab, asking them to collectively complete a simple task, and then watching who stands out and who shrinks from the group.
It’s worth reemphasizing that team interviews don’t work in all situations but can be a revealing alternative in some. If you’re looking for the best scientific candidate out there, it’s always worth considering new recruitment strategies, especially if your track record of late has been underwhelming. Get the help you need assembling a team of qualified candidates by working with the staffing specialists at Bayside Solutions.
