Sharing the Match score with the candidate can lead to an inappropriate situation where you end up getting a less accurate picture of the candidate, as they become too aware of what you are looking for and what they may lack on paper. Instead, use the Match score in your preparation to gain prior insight into which candidates best suit the job profile, and to become clear on where the candidate does not match.
During feedback, there is always a skewed power relationship. The candidate is there because they want the job and you have a large influence over whether they get it.
When providing feedback, your job is to assess, while the candidate will try to impress.
The candidate will show their very best side, while you are trying to get the most candid and accurate picture of them so that you can best assess how he or she will perform in the job.
These conflicting interests mean you should avoid sharing the Match score during feedback. Doing so will clarify for the candidate exactly what you are looking for – what is “right” and “wrong”.
That will give the candidate greater incentive to show himself or herself as the exact profile your workplace is looking for, and they will therefore give a less accurate picture of themselves.
Use the Match score in preparation for the feedback
Before giving feedback, we recommend that you use the Match score to gain insight into how well the candidate matches the criteria you have assessed as being most important for the job.
The great advantage of the Match score is that, unlike humans, it does not subconsciously favour certain candidates on the basis of clothing, appearance, race, gender, recognisable personality traits or other impressions that are relatively unimportant in relation to how well a candidate will perform in the job.
The Match score ensures that we see the candidates in a fair light, where we are not influenced by our own bias. We gain a very simple insight into which candidates best match the job profile based on the raw data.
If you look closely at the Match scores for individual competencies, you will see which specific competence scores deviate most from what you were looking for. You can use that knowledge to identify specific aspects of the candidate’s personality that you would like to learn more about.
One example could be that the preferred candidate is to join a team where you place importance on making room for individual wishes and needs and for everyone to be heard. You have therefore chosen Cooperative (high Considerateness and low Autonomous decision making) as an important competence, yet, at the competence level, the Match Score reveals that the candidate scores much higher on Autonomous decision making than was prioritised in the job profile. The candidate is therefore likely to find it difficult to make room for others and will make many of the decisions on their own.
It is of course important that during the feedback you ask the candidate:
- What challenges they typically run into when they cooperate in a team.
- How the person reacts in situations where it is important that everyone’s opinions are heard and their needs are met.
It is your task to identify how the person relates to, and thrives on, having to allow other people’s opinions and needs to be heard and met. You can therefore use the Match score to determine exactly what needs to be clarified during feedback, providing the best prerequisites for assessing whether the candidate will succeed in the job.
