The dreaded “Job Hopper”.  As an insurance recruiter, the number one reason that employers don’t interview candidates is the perception of job hopping.  The concern is sometimes valid, but not always.  There are many reasons given for job changes.  Just because there are short term jobs durations, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t interview the candidate.  What’s important is to listen to the answers and decide if they are veils for being let go or being an underperformer, or legitimate circumstances that were outside of the candidate’s control.

Asking in-depth questions around job changes can make the difference between hiring a poor performer or hiring your next rising star!

1. Assessing Candidate Stability:

You are looking for evidence of stability and commitment to previous roles. By understanding why a candidate left their previous position, you can gain insight into their work history, career progression, and overall stability. Frequent job changes or issues in previous roles can raise red flags and additional follow up questions need to be asked to enable deeper understanding.  Watch for body language and verbal clues.  Is the applicant starting to look up as if they are trying to think of a reason for leaving? Are they starting to sound uncomfortable or stumbling for answers? Do they blame others that it didn’t work out? Did they leave due to boredom or lack of challenging work?

2. Identifying Key Motivations:

You want to uncover the driving factors that led the candidate to leave their previous jobs. Understanding these motivations can provide you with valuable insight into their priorities and values. You want to ensure that your position is aligning with your future employee’s motivations and expectations with respect to the company culture, values, and growth opportunities.

3. Assessing Candidate Fit:

Understanding why the candidate left previous roles also allows you to assess their overall fit within your company. For instance, if the candidate mentions a conflict with their previous manager or colleagues, you may want to consider whether similar issues could arise within your organization. By probing deeper, you can gauge how well the applicant will integrate into your firm and how they may fit with the personalities on the team.

4. Revealing Red Flags

Sometimes experienced candidates are not 100% truthful about why they left a previous role, and you need to dig deeper when you hear soft answers like “it was mutual”, “I was laid off”, or “it was a toxic environment”. These could actually be red flags for poor employee performance.  Ask the candidate how many others were laid off and in which departments? Ask if the firm offered a letter that states that it was a layoff and if you can call the former manager for a reference.  If they get uncomfortable at the mention of talking to a former boss, this could be a sign that they were actually let go. If they say it was mutual, ask what the company could have done differently that would have fixed the situation.  If they can’t answer that question with a logical and thoughtful answer, you likely have a person who was let go for performance or other team fit reasons.  The key is to uncover why the position was not successful and decide if that is a deal breaker for you for the role you are hiring for.

Using a recruiter can be very helpful in uncovering reasons for job changes.  Often times the candidate will tell us the real reasons why they made the changes and then we can make sure that they are a strong culture and team fit for you.  It saves you time and keeps you from interviewing the wrong people.

If you need help filling a position before the holidays, contact me and let’s talk about your position and hiring timeline.