Who should I interview?

While waiting for applications from your job posting, we suggest making a simple review system. Create an excel file with your list of essential and desirable knowledge/skills and competencies across the first row and use the first column to insert the applicant names or identifiers. As you review applications, you can check off criteria as a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, or develop a scale for indicators that are more important to you.

If you have a system, you’ll be able to use other people to help review (such as your current WIL student) while keeping the process equitable.

Finding candidates that meet the minimum requirements for the job should be your top priority. Return to your list of essential and desirable knowledge/skills and competencies/characteristics in the WIL Student Position Design Guide and identify positive and negative indicators that you can look for in their application.

While searching for your ideal candidate, keep your requirements realistic. Keep the list of essential criteria short, and be flexible on some of the other desired aspects. Remember, work-integrated learning is a learning opportunity for students to develop new skills, improve existing skills, and have opportunities to put these skills into practice.

Assessing fit based on an application package isn’t easy, but it’s important to consider if you’ve engaged in WIL to help build your talent pipeline. When we asked our co-op students how likely they were to accept a full-time job that matches their skills, but not their values, almost 50% indicated they would be unlikely to accept. 

Finding candidates that are the right fit starts before you post a job. The first step is to understand your company culture and work within the organization to build that culture as a team. Then, you can describe the company and team culture in the job description which will help attract candidates who match your values.

To assess cultural fit from the application packages, go back to your list of requirements and select a few that are important to your organization’s culture. As you review applications, you will be looking for evidence of the skills and behaviours associated with that skill. You might decide on a brief list of behaviours to help assess cultural fit in your review process.

For example, if collaboration is important to your workplace culture, positive behaviour indicators include:

• Working effectively with others
• Proactively seek the opinions, ideas, and expertise of others
• Seeking to improve working relationships

When you evaluate for cultural fit, keep the indicators measurable so you do not introduce bias into your recruitment process.