Out and about with a friend recently, we passed a village school which jogged her memory and she recounted an unfortunate tale about a recruitment decision she’d heard.  The heroine of her story was an accomplished chef at the village school, who had applied for a high profile role at a nearby prestigious and independent school.  Promotion beckoned.

A successful interview later our heroine received hugely positive feedback although she was not appointed.  The explanation provided was that the independent school did not think it prudent to poach from the local village school.  Our heroine was not impressed and the independent school’s reputation in the local community was tarnished with time-wasting.

Passionate about our own HR credentials, my friend and I spent the next few miles discussing whether (or not) this was a fair recruitment decision.  Should the chef have been shortlisted and invited for interview in the first place?  This real life story demonstrates the challenges of short-listing and interviewing candidates who do not meet your essential criteria or ethics.

Be clear about any doubts you have and seek supporting evidence during the interview.  A lack of face to face customer service skills isn’t great feedback for a candidate who explained in their application that their experience is call centre-based.  Where business ethics may influence decision-making, strive to make this clear to candidates at the outset.