However, so many potentially viable candidates lost their jobs during the Great Recession and have been out of work for extended periods that conventional wisdom doesn’t necessarily apply to employment status these days. So reports Entrepreneur.com.
With the economy finally improving and more jobs opening up, it’s more important to give full consideration to finding the potential hire who can add the greatest value to an organization. Instead of dismissing attractive candidates out-of-hand because they’ve been unemployed for many months, or even years, consider asking them (and yourself) the following questions:
- Why did they lose their last jobs? If these are serious candidates, you’ll need to verify their responses.
- How long have they been unemployed, and why?
- How have they been spending their time while job-hunting?
- Have they tried to improve their skills or doing temp work to be productive?
Candidates’ answers to the above can make a big difference in your decision process.