How job auditions can be a perfect alternative to job interviews

Hiring processes across the world have been interview-driven for eons. Candidates were selected on the basis of how confident they appeared, the qualifications they had, and the job qualities they offered. 

They’ve charmed the interviewee with their well-crafted resumes. However, if the candidate fails to perform the expected tasks post-selection, it ends up with the resource leaving the organisation while not knowing what actually went wrong.

Traditional recruiting methods include scanning resumes, interviewing candidates, matching credibility, checking references, and making an offer. As much as these techniques have proven effective in selecting a candidate, they tell us nothing about predicting the candidate’s job performance in the company.

A fresh alternative to the traditional methods of recruiting is job auditions. A job audition is a hiring technique that is a simulation or a trial of the job role wherein the candidate is assessed on whether s/he possesses the required skill set that’s necessary to succeed in the role being offered. Employers can also hire candidates for a short-term or temporary period where their ability to perform the role is assessed to get real merit of the candidature.

Predicting job performance

Recruiters can have a hard time knowing how a candidate will actually perform at work. Other than a job audition, it is difficult to think of a method that gives you a glimpse of how the candidate will perform in the role.

Job auditions can be in the form of technical or mock assignments. These auditions can assess both the soft and hard skills of the candidates, for instance, by asking job prospect to create a sales pitch,  submit a coding test, or even present a marketing proposal. 

Beyond confirming the skill set of the candidates, hiring managers have a better way to predict the future performance of the candidate in the role. As per Linkedin’s Global Recruiting Trends, 54% of recruiters prefer going ahead with job auditions for selecting a candidate and find it to be one of the most useful interviewing techniques. 

The concept is very much like actors auditioning for a role in various video projects. Irrespective of the actor’s training background and his past work experience, the casting team, and producers of the project is concentrated on the project they are trying to create. 

Job auditions are almost the same. The material on a candidate’s resume is just an add-on to their personality, but every job role will have its own requirements that the candidate should perform, irrespective of their past experiences and learning. 

Adding context and reducing biases

Often, hiring is done in a context vacuum. Due to the traditional construct, hiring managers are compelled to associate competence with job titles in a generic sense. For instance, all marketers could be applying for the same role. However, the job role may not be for all marketers with all kinds of experience. Often, and especially in present times, job roles are being tailor-made to suit the organization’s role. 

Job roles have evolved, and the role descriptions give a great insight into the diversity of skills that are required by employers. While hiring for any role, resume screening is a mandated exercise initiated by the traditional construct. However, this leaves out a lot of potential candidates that can do well in those job roles but were only assessed based on their resumes.

Candidates are not selected just on the basis that they will perform the role, but purely because they can excel in it. This foresighted vision can only be attained through job auditions. Job audition not just does away with a context vacuum but brings more clarity to the hiring process. 

Resume screening is still very much prevalent and has a certain prejudiced approach to it. Job auditions allow hiring managers to interact with candidates in a much more productive way. Rather than focusing on which school they attended, auditions allow recruiters to gain an understanding of what the candidate enjoys doing and how efficiently they can do it. 

Through auditions, employers can help candidates make an informed choice, giving them a realistic expectation of what the job entails. With evolving techniques, employers should try out these emerging methods to hire the right people for the job. It is imperative for organisations to review their hiring process, in order to make more informed decisions and hire the right talent that will not just perform the job role but excel in it.