How to Determine a Candidate’s Learning Style

When you are considering hiring a candidate for a position in your organization, you want to ensure the employee is going to do a good job learning the ropes. After candidates become staff members, you also want to ensure that training is effective and that employees are always learning and improving their skills. In order to assess whether a candidate can be trained by your organization, you need to know the candidate’s learning style. Knowing how your existing employees learn is also invaluable, so you can tailor your training to the needs of your workforce.

There are actually seven different learning styles, including visual, aural, physical, verbal, logical, solitary, and social.  In order to determine how job candidates or staff members learn best, here are a few tips to identify what learning styles your employees have:

• Ask your employees or job candidates how they best like to obtain information. Do they prefer picture diagrams, written directions, or hands-on learning where they try out the tasks for themselves. Do they prefer to learn in groups or on their own? The best way to find out how people learn is to ask them what has worked for them before.

• Ask the candidate or employee to teach you something. Pay attention to how they impart information, as they will usually gravitate towards a particular style that is reflective of how they personally like to learn. Do they verbally explain, do they use analogies to help you understand, or do they physically show the information?  Watching what they do gives you insight into how they best like to obtain and relay info.

• Observe employees as they learn. Offer different types of training and see what techniques help employees to absorb the information most quickly and effectively. Since different workers have different learning styles, offering varied training means everyone can get the info they need.   

Working with a staffing service also allows you to gain invaluable insight into job candidates’ learning styles and abilities. SmartTalent has a long history of evaluating employees and matching workers with the right employers in Fife, Kirkland, Renton, Lynnwood, and surrounding areas. Contact us now to find out more about how our staffing agency can assist your business in building a strong staff that is ready to learn.