Too often recruiters will have to recount a time when they thought they’d found a unicorn candidate—only for them to become a bad hire or leave quickly. On these occasions, it’s more than likely that the job fit was poor. Bad hires cost employers $15,000 per employee at minimum, and retention rates are notoriously poor across the board at the moment. 

Avoiding bad job fit scenarios can create a healthier workplace and save countless resources. In this piece, we’ll be discussing job fit, and how you can assess whether an employee would fit well with your organization—or if they wouldn’t.

What is Job Fit?

Job fit is actually fairly simple as far as recruiting terms go. Put simply, it’s how suited any given employee is to their work. Those with a good job fit are more likely to stay at their jobs and have increased satisfaction doing their work, while poor job fit can result in the opposite. There are a number of things that affect job fit, aside from the line of work.

In November of 2021, a record 4.5 million Americans left their jobs, searching for greener pastures. In many cases, employers weren’t offering the flexibility the employees were looking for, were demanding too many hours of their time, or weren’t paying enough. Work-life balance especially has become a priority for many people as the pandemic reminded them of time’s value. 

Ways to Assess Job Fit

Because of this shift, it’s incredibly important to discern early on whether or not a candidate is a good fit for your organization—and if you’re a good fit for them. 

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to do this.

Answer the Right Questions

In order to confirm that the job is a good fit for your candidates, it’s crucial that you are open with them throughout the hiring process. If you’re able to disclose basic information like salary and benefits, this can cut some time out of the hiring process, but job fit questions tend to be more specific in nature. 

Many younger candidates will ask about hours, overtime, and paid time off. All of these contribute to overall work-life balance. If your organization’s policies don’t fit with their preferences it’s unlikely they’ll stick around long enough for you to recoup your training cost, or that they’ll feel valued in the way that they need to be.

Hire for Soft Skills

The pandemic has helped both workers and employers alike realize that soft skills are more valuable now than ever. A bounty of soft skills indicates a flexible and logical person, making a good candidate transform into a great employee when hired. There are a number of important soft skills that should catch any seasoned recruiter’s eye:

• Communication Related Skills
• Problem Solving/Critical Thinking
• Empathy/Emotional Intelligence
• Positive Attitude
• Leadership Skills
• Work Ethic

These skills among others can make for a balanced and reliable worker, with a lower chance of becoming a bad hire than someone with slightly more relevant experience.

Office Culture Participation

If office culture and community events are a big part of your organization, a new employee who isn’t interested at all may find it challenging to work for you. The workplace trust built through these events is unique, and those who find themselves on the outside of said trust may have trouble communicating well with the rest of the team. Questioning potential employees on what level of participation they prefer when it comes to community events can prevent a bad job fit.

Make Use of Recruiting Tools

Recruitment software can both speed up the process of job fit assessment and improve your quality of hire. AI resume screening software can go through resumes quickly while pinpointing candidates with the soft skills necessary to make them a good fit. 

AI chatbots, such as our own Wendy, can dispense pertinent information to interested parties through human-like conversation. By answering specific questions regarding policy and job duties, or about what it’s like working for your organization, chatbots can ensure a good candidate arrives at the interview prepared and excited.  

There are a number of different recruitment software options that can help your organization assess job fit. PandoLogic’s suite of AI tools brings unparalleled flexibility and consistency to recruitment, with self-learning technology that can improve as it completes tasks. Our toolbox can work with recruiters and candidates alike to ensure that your hires are a good job fit.