Recruitment is a great time for organisations as it can help breathe new life into your business, encouraging innovative ways of thinking and helping to fill any existing skills gaps. Recruitment is a positive step forward in facilitating the development and advancement of your business and ensuring you find the right person for the job is extremely important.
There is no legal obligation to carry out all scheduled interviews and you have the option to cancel all or as many interviews as you feel necessary. If you wish to cancel an interview, you should try to do it as early as possible to retain a good reputation. Cancellations can be done in a phone call or through an email.
Be aware that you will be significantly limiting the pool of talent available to select your candidate from if you are not willing to see everyone you had decided, on initial sift, was worth seeing. You cannot be completely sure that the particular person is the best choice and there will not be a candidate better suited for the job in the following interviews.
It is advisable that you widen the pool of talent by advertising the vacancy broadly and represent that in the interviewing process. By following this advice, you will be better prepared to offer the job to the next most successful applicant, if your preferred candidate rejects the offer. Also, by going ahead with all the interviews, you might identify people who may suit a position elsewhere in the organisation.
If you decide to cancel the remaining interviews, as with most employment decision, you need to consider any potential elements of discrimination. Look at the remaining candidates to see if there could be any argument that the reason they were not seen is because they have a protected characteristic. All staff conducting the interviews should have received training regarding equal opportunities within recruitment and the relevant legislation. Any individuals who feel that they have suffered discrimination during the recruitment process because of their race, age, sex, disability, sexual orientation or religion etc., can make a claim to an employment tribunal.
Finding the right fit for your organisation is never as simple task. It requires you to ask the right questions to ensure that the person you finally select matches the job role specifications, and that their personality marries well with your company culture and existing employees. I would always advise for employers to interview a range of different candidates and avoid making any hasty decisions. Equally, don’t procrastinate on the decisions you make, as the candidate you want may easily be snatched up by a competitor.
Further reading on employing staff
