What would you do if your team wasn't happy with the shortlist of candidates you provided?

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Answer Example

In prior roles as a recruiter, you've likely encountered an instance or two when you've worked hard to identify several top candidates for a role, and yet your team isn't impressed with those candidates. This can be frustrating because of all the hard work it takes to get to that point. Tell the interviewer how you would manage this type of situation and what you would do to fix it.

"The first thing I would do is go back to the list of criteria that my team and I had established at the beginning of the search and confirm that it is accurate and comprehensive. Since I strive to only bring in and continue building relationships with candidates that strictly meet that criteria, my guess would be that perhaps there was a miscommunication early on about what was needed for the role. This would need to be adjusted so that I could start over finding candidates that met those requirements. I would talk to all of my team members and the soon-to-be manager of the new hire to make sure I clearly understood what they needed. I'd also ask for their feedback about what they didn't like about the candidates on my current shortlist so I'm 100% clear on what I need to change as I move forward. Finally, I'd choose to take this all in stride because this is just part of the process sometimes as a recruiter. It's important to be resilient and to bounce back."

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How to Answer: What would you do if your team wasn't happy with the shortlist of candidates you provided?

Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Stripe job interview.

20. What would you do if your team wasn't happy with the shortlist of candidates you provided?

How to Answer

In prior roles as a recruiter, you've likely encountered an instance or two when you've worked hard to identify several top candidates for a role, and yet your team isn't impressed with those candidates. This can be frustrating because of all the hard work it takes to get to that point. Tell the interviewer how you would manage this type of situation and what you would do to fix it.

Answer Example

"The first thing I would do is go back to the list of criteria that my team and I had established at the beginning of the search and confirm that it is accurate and comprehensive. Since I strive to only bring in and continue building relationships with candidates that strictly meet that criteria, my guess would be that perhaps there was a miscommunication early on about what was needed for the role. This would need to be adjusted so that I could start over finding candidates that met those requirements. I would talk to all of my team members and the soon-to-be manager of the new hire to make sure I clearly understood what they needed. I'd also ask for their feedback about what they didn't like about the candidates on my current shortlist so I'm 100% clear on what I need to change as I move forward. Finally, I'd choose to take this all in stride because this is just part of the process sometimes as a recruiter. It's important to be resilient and to bounce back."

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