Finding excellent candidates is hard work—and hiring the wrong people is expensive. Between onboarding and training costs, a high employee churn rate is bad news for both the bottom line and team morale. While there are many reasons an employee may choose to jump ship, empowered hiring processes can help HR leaders hire the right people the first time.

All HR professionals in talent acquisition are focused on finding, nurturing, and retaining top performers. Unfortunately, complicated hiring processes can turn away the top talent you’re hoping to attract. Putting candidates through onerous rounds of interviews, asking them to do too much unpaid work to demonstrate their skills, or leaving them with unanswered questions can make prospects lose interest fast.

Here’s how HR professionals can use the hiring process to attract high-performing candidates:

• Set a reasonable timeline: In-demand talent will have options. If you have too many rounds in your interview process (or too much time between rounds), you’ll see your talent pipeline start to leak. Giving candidates clarity on the process—how many steps will be involved, and a rough timeline—will give them confidence they’re dealing with an organized institution that values their time.
• Provide clarity: Do your research on the role and the responsibilities required for the position. Understand the stakeholders on the team they would be joining. When you speak to candidates, answer their questions with specific, practical information, and give them insight into the position, company, and their future team. Vague answers or a lack of clarity about the role can raise questions for talent, but providing clear answers helps them make informed decisions as they progress through the interview process.
• Talk up benefits: What benefits does your organization offer that set you apart from other companies? Do you offer excellent health insurance, above-average PTO (or parental leave), or financial wellness programs? Companies that offer quality benefits will be attractive to candidates who value those perks. If your company offers something unique or special, be sure to mention that as part of your initial call. You never know what’s top of mind for your candidates, so don’t leave anything off the table. Even asking candidates what’s important to them can help you understand how to seal the deal.

AI has made resume screening much more efficient. But AI tools can cut out excellent candidates, especially for entry-level or mid-level roles. Can’t seem to find the right fit for a particular role? Screen resumes the old-fashioned way.

A few years ago, I was working at a boutique hedge fund screening resumes for first-round interviews. The company was looking for a very specific kind of candidate—Ivy League educated with a high GPA and previous experience in quantitative roles.

One candidate caught my eye. On paper, he wasn’t a perfect fit, but his resume told a story that indicated he was intelligent, proactive, and highly motivated. In short, just what the company was looking for.

I convinced the execs to let me do a phone screen. A few weeks later, I found out he was offered the position and had accepted. I was excited to have found the right person for the role (and secretly pleased that my underdog candidate had bested the ones who ticked all the boxes!).

I think back on this hiring experience and wonder: would this same candidate have been hired by that firm today? Would he have even made it to the first round? Probably not.

Sometimes the best candidates don’t look perfect or check every single box. Trusting your skills to understand the “story” behind a candidate’s resume can lead to some unexpectedly rewarding hires.

In first-round interviews, you’re often getting to know the basics about a candidate and their experience. While it’s important to get the key details, you need to move forward. Adding some deeper, thought-provoking questions to your interview could yield unexpected information. These kinds of questions can help you weed out candidates who wouldn’t be successful in the role, or lead to surprising insights about a seemingly lackluster candidate.

Here are some questions that can help you gain deeper insight into candidates:

• “Tell me about a time when you reacted negatively to a delay or other project issue. How would you handle that problem now?” This is a more sophisticated version of asking candidates about their weaknesses. This question presupposes that we’re all human and are bound to have negative reactions from time to time. But, crucially, this question uncovers whether candidates have reflected on their experience enough to have learned from it. Candidates who can give thoughtful answers show emotional intelligence, social awareness, and a growth mindset—excellent qualities for most positions.
• “Tell me about someone you worked with who you admired professionally. What stood out about them?” This question gives candidates an opportunity to speak positively about someone they worked with and gives you an opportunity to understand what makes them tick. Listen carefully to what they say: did they admire someone’s work ethic? Their ability to pivot on a dime? Their commitment to doing the right thing under pressure? Whatever your candidate says will give you a wealth of information into what traits they value. If those align with the organization and position, great! If not—well, now you know. This question also helps identify candidates who readily speak highly of others, show appreciation, and give credit for where it’s due.
• “How have your professional goals changed in the past five years?” We’ve all asked, “Where do you see yourself in five years?”, and while the old standard remains a classic for a reason, this new question acknowledges that our goals change with time. It also gives a candidate an opportunity to tell their story in a different way, which can give you a better sense of how they got to where they are today and what they’re hoping to achieve. Understanding a candidate’s journey can identify people that are unusually highly motivated to succeed, or uncover additional skills or traits that might not have been covered in the interview.

Good hiring is as much an art as it is a science. As HR professionals, you have a highly developed skill set that can help you identify top candidates and weed out poor matches. Using these empowered hiring techniques can help you leverage these skills to attract talent that will set your business apart.

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