Dive Brief:

• Recruiters are more focused on hiring for talent than ever before, says Mel Kleiman, president of Humetrics and an internationally-known authority on recruitment. He writes for TLNT that hiring for talent is a more sustainable recruitment practice, because candidates can learn new skills and be successful for the long-term vs. hiring for skills that quickly become outdated due to technology advances.

• The LinkedIn 2016 Global Recruiting Trends report supports his ideas. Half of all organizations use performance assessments to measure quality of hire, while 49% base their quality of hire on employee retention rates. Retention and performance come from employees’ ability to adapt to their new role successfully and with the future in mind. They use their talents to achieve this goal.

• Kleiman says, “When you hire talent, those people will be able to move the organization to the next level because they can quickly learn and apply new knowledge.” He emphasizes that talent management is critical to organizational success.

Dive Insight:

It used to be that people were hired based primarily on their individual skills, such as the ability to conduct certain tasks and use certain types of software. While some of this still exists in certain industries where these skills are in demand and critical for performance, and in fact recruiters still base a lot of their hiring decisions on skillsets, there is something to be said for talent that is transferrable to any skill. 

The examples of interview questions provided by Kleiman are excellent for understanding candidates at a talent level. They also lend themselves to candidates who are self-driven and able to manage their own career growth. When a candidate is able to think creatively to solve problems, using strong interpersonal skills and critical thinking, this is a good sign that he or she is capable of performing well under pressure on the job. 

Review the great list of talent-based interview questions that Kleiman provides, as well.