So, you want to benchmark?

You have just interviewed the perfect candidate. They’re an excellent culture fit and have met several people at different levels across the business that have clarified this. They have the right experience for the role and you genuinely believe in their skillset and the value they will add.

However, they are the first candidate you have interviewed for the role and you want to see others to benchmark them against.

Why?

Several reasons………

If this candidate is this great, there may be other amazing candidates out there that you haven’t yet had the chance to see. What if there is someone better out there?

If the role is a new one for the business, how do you know that this person is as good as you think?

For a piece of mind, you need to know you’re making the right decision!

I agree with all of these reasons; recruiting, bringing on board and training new staff is expensive. You have to get it right. What if you did though, haven’t we all struck lucky in our lives and at some point got something spot on first time?

I’m not suggesting that for every hire you make, you throw the interview process out of the window and go with the first person that walks through the door and does an OK job. I’m just suggesting that you consider the effect of waiting to benchmark in certain situations, simply because you feel like you should. Often the perfect candidate can slip away due to unnecessary delays in the process.

I understand that there are several situations when you can hold on (passive candidates, long processes, several good CVs) and this doesn’t apply to those. However, if you think you’ve found a diamond, don’t wait around to benchmark, because you’ll miss the gem you could have had.