We’re filling a HR Coordinator spot on our team to handle a good bit of the transactional load for the department. Interesting selection, we really didn’t have anyone in our networks, so of course we posted it to all the normal boards – Monster, local SHRM organization.
As a result, we got hit with 150-200 applicants. It’s a direct report to my HR Manager, so he’s moved
through the process. We were down to six final candidates this week. All are great candidates, now we just have to pick the best one…
Take a look at the profiles below and tell me who you would pick. What’s that? You need to know more about the actual job? You are such a pro – find the job description here.
Here are the candidates – tell me who you would plug into the role:
-Candidate #1 – Banking Industry, mixture of coordinator type role and recruiting experience. Great communication skills. 5 years experience…
-Candidate #2 – Mixture of industry experience, mixture of coordinator type role and recruiting experience. A little more of an introvert than candidate #1.
-Candidate #3 – Current HR Manager, tough environment that includes recruiting, employee relations, etc. Looking to get plugged into a broader HR community than she has access to now, willing to take a lateral move or half step back from a responsibility perspective to get that access. 4 years experience…
-Candidate #4 – New college grad. All the behavioral markers are off the chart, but no experience…
-Candidate #5 – Currently in a coordinator role, has two years experience doing what they would do in our role. Good candidate, kind of on the shy side.
-Candidate #6 - Banking Industry, mixture of coordinator type role and recruiting experience. Great communication skills. 5 years experience…
OK – I know that’s limited information, but based on the job description and profiles, who would you pick and why? Hit me in the comments to let me know who you would choose….
Candidate #4 would likely be my choice and for a number of reasons. Just out of college and high marks on the assessment is a good start. You would not have to deal with “that’s the way I have always done it” comments all day long as you could train candidate #4 to learn the SourceMedical process and he/she would be an eager learner of the KD ways of HR. Finally, it would give your HR Manager a chance to grow in this coaching role by having this newbie as a direct report.
Clearly you could take the safe path and go with experience – but give me someone that wants to learn, is hungry and has an open mind and a positive attitude any day:-) You asked for it…
I narrowed it first to the applicants with experience, who did not come across as shy or introverted. The reason being they will also be responsible for new hire orientation – you really want someone confident enough to stand in front of a room, which wouldn’t be comfortable for the shyer candidates, and the new hire would not have the experience to answer questions in a way the more experienced candidate would.
Candidates 1 and 6 have banking experience, so it would be important to evaluate how well that would translate over to health care. Candidate 3 is willing to take a step back, but how long would that candidate want to stay in a step-back role, and how long would you ideally want someone in that position?
If you have a good career path the candidates can move up through I would go with #1 or #6. They probably have the experience and skills required but they may get bored with the position sooner because of it. If there isn’t a path, I would go with #5 because they are more likely to want to stay with the position longer to learn and develop their skills. Just my two cents.
I would go with #5. I feel direct experience is going to get you further quicker with filling this position. This candidate can hit the floor running. You are filling an important position in the HR department, and this candidate needs to come off experienced and knowledgeable. The new hire orientation process is crucial for new employees. Also, this individual will be handling benefits and open enrollment, which need to be handled accurately and effectively.
#4 seems like a best choice as long as you can shift some of the LOA responsibilities onto someone else in the interim and ease her into it. i’m leary of a fresh grad espousing to employee #154776 on the difference between intermittent leave and consecutive leaves and whether you can stack leave pregnancy leave or parental leave with medical leave and uh-oh, it’s a worker’s comp issue but they need to take a leave of absence because they are now disabled and does that time off count against their FMLA entitlement? yah. i’m glad i don’t have to manage leave anymore.
but are we really requiring 3-5 years for an HR coordinator nowadays? that seems steep to me!
Wow, am I the only one who likes #3. Maybe it’s the “tough” descriptor.
Just based on this information, I’d go with #5, hands down, for several reasons. The required experience is 3-5 years, and this candidate has 2 years of direct experience, so this job is a smart next step for her, a bit of a stretch, something she can be challenged and excited about. I’m not concerned with her being a little shy…she’s not interviewing these people, she’s helping them, and orientation is a happy, welcoming time, not intimidating…I bet she’ll shine. Also, there is a lot of detail work here, less glamorous more introverted stuff like running reports and making sure all benefit info is accurate….she has proven success in doing this.
The fresh grad is too much of a risk, sure she’s brimming with enthusiasm, but what does she really want to do? Is it this job, or is it recruiting or something else, what if she doesn’t like this job?
#3 the HR manager willing to step down and is tough…absolutely not. Going from a manager to a coordinator is a big step back, and she may bristle taking orders from others and be frustrated by the lack of control power, even though she says its what she wants…if she’s doing this to ultimately broaden her experience and get ahead, this doesn’t seem like a good move…too far back.
The others concern me because they are all at the high end of the experience range and also have all done recruiting. People who enjoy recruiting probably won’t like this job, it’s a very different skill set….now if some of these people hate recruiting and want to get away from it, that’s different….but that wasn’t stated here so am only going by what we know.
Good luck!
Pam