NuStaff

When hiring candidates, it’s common for employers to feel that words written on a CV and conducting traditional interviews are enough to find the right fit for a role.

With the skills gap continuing to grow across many sectors, based on 2026 workforce trends, employers need to explore innovative methods to spot talent. By looking beyond content on a CV, adapting interview techniques and creating stronger hiring strategies, employers can get a better picture of candidate qualities that matter.

In this article, we will explore modern interviewing methods that employers can carry out when hiring candidates. These include behaviour and interview performance, assessing the skills gap through skills testing, implementing working interviews into hiring strategies, forming unbiased interview panels to improve decision-making and how to consider workplace culture when hiring. We will also explore how NuStaff provide support with innovative interview techniques so employers can hire with confidence.

Candidate Behaviour and Performance in Interviews

Interviews are valuable for employers as they help analyse behaviour patterns and provide good insight into how a candidate will fit into roles and within designated teams.

The best way for employers to determine candidate suitability is to create effective interview techniques to observe soft skills and to get to know them as a person. This includes asking them about how they tackled challenges in previous roles and how they work within a team.

Assessing candidate behaviour and performance in interviews can include:

• Using the STAR Method
• Posing real-life scenarios within interview questions
• Creating practical tasks to assess candidate problem-solving skills

Assessing the Skills Gap Through Interview Skills Testing

Interviews are the perfect occasion for employers to physically assess skills that candidates bring to the table.

That’s why implementing skills testing into strong hiring strategies and interviewing techniques is valuable, whether recruiting for seasonal hiring, temporary staffing or permanent roles. It promotes diversity hiring and provides employers with the opportunity to narrow the skills gap. For candidates, it’s a chance to demonstrate their worth beyond qualifications and showcase their capabilities.

Skills testing can be assessed by:

• Providing reading and writing tasks
• Creating problem-solving interview tasks
• Creating role-play-based tasks and scenarios

Implementing Working Interviews into Hiring Strategies

Creating conditions for skills demonstration, as part of interview techniques, is beneficial for both employers and candidates.

It’s a chance for employers to see how candidates cope in the working environment, how they interact with others, how they apply their skills into real-life situations and encourages long-term employee retention.

For candidates, it’s a chance to contribute to tasks within the workplace which creates a sense of achievement and provides an insight into what the job will be like.

Employers can achieve this method by:

• Creating tasks relevant to the job role
• Designing tasks to complete within a sufficient timeframe
• Provide clear communication of task expectations
• Use accurate criteria to analyse candidate performance
• Provide feedback based on candidate performance

Unbiased Interview Panels to Improve Decision-Making

Deciding on the right candidates for roles can be a daunting experience for employers, but can be even more so when an interview panel is biased.

This is an unfair approach not only for candidates, who may miss out on opportunities due to who is on the panel, but for employers who may end up hiring someone purely based on the panel’s influence rather than hiring the right candidate for the job.

By creating a fair and unbiased panel as part of strong hiring strategies, candidates can gain roles they deserve while employers can achieve diversity hiring through correct compliance and fill roles based on balanced decision-making.

Employers can create unbiased panels by:

• Gathering panellists with diverse experience
• Providing appropriate training for panel members
• Following the agreed interview criteria
• Utilising structured interview techniques
• Asking the same questions to all candidates

Considering Workplace Culture when Hiring

Hiring candidates that fit into company culture is just as important as hiring someone who is right for a role.
It’s important that employers keep this in mind when carrying out hiring strategies and interview techniques, as this can strengthen the workplace culture, promote diversity hiring and encourage employee retention within existing teams.

Employers can encourage hiring to strengthen workplace culture by:

• Following agreed hiring criteria
• Ensuring correct compliance is followed
• Making sure candidate values align with company values
• Observing candidate soft skills to ensure successful workplace culture fit

How NuStaff Help Employers Look Beyond a CV

NuStaff provide expert support for employers when it comes to looking beyond what’s written on a CV to spot the right candidate and focusing on what candidates can contribute to a role.

Our team of specialists offer valuable temporary workforce solutions and recruitment solutions to help employers with:

• Narrowing the skills gap
• Following compliance
• Enhancing employee retention
• Implementing skills testing in interview
• Assessing candidate interview behaviour and performance
• Implementing working interviews into hiring strategies
• Forming unbiased interview panels to improve decision-making
• Strengthening the workplace culture

Contact NuStaff for Expert Advice:

📞 Call us: 03442 645 456
📧 Email: info@nustaff.com
🌐 Visit: www.nustaff.com