Finding or placing personnel is a great responsibility. In order to achieve a perfect match, where both sides are equally satisfied and happy later on, it is important to clarify not only superficially whether the job requirements are fulfilled by the potential candidates. There are some key points that absolutely must be examined in more detail if a perfect match is to be achieved. For this, it is essential to specifically retrieve relevant information during the search process.

The goal should always be to make the perfect choice. The aim is not to select just anyone who meets the specified requirements "to some extent", but candidates who fit the requirement profile as well as the company and its culture in terms of their personality. To find this out, it is first of all necessary to ask the right questions and invest enough time. From our experience, there are 10 points that are particularly relevant for the perfect match between company and candidate, regardless of whether you are searching independently or hiring a staffing agency.

The 10 most important points

When it comes to finding out in advance whether someone is particularly well suited for a particular job, it's not just education that plays a role. Other areas that are sometimes neglected in the recruitment process, such as the applicant's personality, work preferences or idea of work-life balance, can also be decisive. We have compiled 10 points that, from our own experience, are particularly important in the selection process to ensure that an employment relationship lasts in the long term. Both the employee and the company must be happy. This is the basic prerequisite for a trusting relationship between employees and employers:

1. Skills:
   Do the skills required for the job really match the applicant's profile and abilities? Are the main requirements met and is the necessary professional experience available to competently perform the tasks defined for the job? If relevant skills are missing that cannot be acquired in a short period of time, this can quickly lead to discrepancies. Therefore, even in urgent searches, one should not rush to select candidates who "almost" fit just because suitable application dossiers are missing.
2. Entry level/requirments:
   It is essential to clarify exactly how much professional experience is desired, or necessary, for a position - Is a junior with development potential who needs some training time but has a lot of potential okay, or does it definitely need an "old hand" and senior who can hit the ground running and perform right away? Often this question is left open in the job description, and both employee and employer are subsequently frustrated when the required performance cannot be delivered.
3. Preferences:
   Sometimes it is not a question of skills whether an applicant is suitable for a job or not. Perhaps he or she has the necessary skills but does not like to perform the most common activities required by the job, or simply does not particularly enjoy them. Sometimes it takes a bit of intuition to get this information.
4. Personality/expectations:
   The personality of the applicant also plays an important role. After all, you spend most of the day at work. Does the candidate fit into the team in terms of his or her nature? A more reserved character will probably feel uncomfortable in an "upbeat", communicative and cheerful environment, and vice versa.
5. Commuting to work:
   In the initial euphoria, the two-hour drive to work may seem doable to the applicant. However, this can quickly change during the daily commute. Therefore, it is advisable to address the work commute, especially if home office is not possible on a regular basis.
6. Work-life balance:
   Also to be discussed early is the applicant's idea of his or her work-life balance. Does the job's intended split of on-site and home office work fit? Is it necessary to be in the office early every day, are there frequent evening or even night shifts? Here, too, the applicant should be told the truth - otherwise reality will quickly catch up with him.
7. Corporate identity:
   What is the corporate identity? What is the corporate culture? What is the emphasis placed on? Can the applicant identify with the employer's industry and products/services? This is a point that is often disregarded, but in fact has a great influence on employee satisfaction.
8. Type of employment::
   Temporary or permanent: both are possible, but not both are popular with or ideal for everyone. If applicants are at the beginning of their professional career, a permanent position, where they can gain experience, is usually more suitable. A very experienced applicant may be well suited for a temporary assignment or project because he or she has the necessary skills to "perform" immediately. The important thing is that the ideas match.
9. Workplace/work atmosphere:
   The workplace can also be crucial. Do you work in an open-plan office or in a single office? Is it excessively noisy because everyone is constantly on the phone? Are the spatial conditions suitable? If the employee does not feel comfortable at his or her workplace, other points of criticism about the job will quickly emerge.
10. Salary:
    Last but not least, the salary expectations of employer and employee should match - are both sides happy? It makes little sense to sell the applicant a salary as the starting salary if this does not correspond to reality. The employee will quickly notice that the salary is not increasing and draw his or her own conclusions.

Clarifying all these points with potential candidates requires a lot of time, which is often not available in the day-to-day business of the company. In the final analysis, it makes little sense to compromise in the search for personnel and to accept the fact that new employees rarely fill positions optimally and that turnover is high. Instead, it is advisable to leave the search for suitable employees to professionals who will make the right clarifications before they even present potential candidates for the perfect match. This saves time, money and nerves in the end. Recruitment agencies, such as skillcloud AG, often already have a pool of potential candidates they already know well to draw from on your behalf.

Would you also like to benefit from the advantages of a placement service? Then let the specialists at skillcloud advise you.