Recognizing "Applicant Rust" When Interviewing Candidates

They might come off as nervous during an interview.  Their résumé could lack polish or feel disorganized.  While it’s important to evaluate candidates for their organizational and communication skills, check yourself twice if you’re discarding someone because of “applicant rust.”  (Put another way, be wary of “professional job seekers!”)  Eventually, you of course want all applicants to demonstrate exceptional leadership skills during a hiring process.  But sometimes it’s prudent to give an applicant that you know has great potential a little bit of feedback early on in a hiring process — akin to your helping to polish off some of that rust.  This act itself is essentially a performance task: observe how they respond to you, how they accept critical feedback, and whether they make necessary adjustments.  You just might uncover a gem of a hire!