Most candidates — even high-level executives — need to be prepped before the interview. The reason for this is obvious: they all think they’re great interviewees. Most aren’t. Making matters worse, the hiring managers they’ll be meeting think they’re endowed with some special instinct that allows them to accurately assess candidate competency. Most aren’t. Since I [...]
Artices Tagged ‘interviewing’
In a recent discussion, an unemployed job-seeker shared that she had been on five interviews and was certain that she wasn’t offered a few positions because the salaries they were offering were lower than what she was making at her previous job. She had concluded that the companies were most likely wary of hiring her [...]
Fun Friday: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done for your business?
August 6th, 2010
It’s Friday – so let’s have a little fun! Today’s challenge: Tell us about the craziest thing you’ve done to either win new business or close a deal. This could include things that helped you get a candidate to an interview, get an offer to close, get in front of a new client, etc. Here are a [...]
Foul Language, Body Piercings, Cologne, Oh My!
May 25th, 2010
Ever had a candidate who needed significant amounts of pre-interview prep? What’s the worst experience you have had? Have you ever heard about one of your candidates arriving at the interview with inappropriate attire or questionable style choices? How did you handle it? Check out this “humorous” training video from Assured Healthcare of Gurnee, Illinois, made [...]
Are Mo, Larry, And Curly Doing Your Hiring?
May 13th, 2010
I’m serious. Let’s get real, have you ever hired someone you knew little about for a job you knew less about? It happens to all of us. I started my own company for the first time when I was 29 years old. I had a pre-teenager, a young son, and a new baby due any day. The company [...]
CA Court: Kelly Services Must Pay for Interview Time
November 17th, 2009
Are staffing firms liable for employees’ interview time? A judge in California has ruled against Kelly Services, claiming it must pay for time spent in job-placement interviews. The defendant argued that she was not compensated for time spent preparing and traveling to and from four interviews with three Kelly Services clients. The judge rejected Kelly’s defense, [...]
Learn to Read Your Candidate Quickly and Effectively
November 4th, 2009
As you know, the stakes are pretty high in today’s job market. A placement can be won or lost depending on how your candidate gets his or her point across. What do you know about the candidate’s style in the interviewing process? Do you know how to pick up crucial cues? Do you know how to [...]
The Value-Add of ‘Supplementals’
October 2nd, 2009
In a tight market, why not encourage candidates to go beyond the traditional resume to showcase their backgrounds and the kind of deliverables they could bring to a new position? Supplementals provide a key advantage. Consider: News articles about projects and initiatives Examples of “dashboard” metrics they created to track results Case studies that highlight situation/analysis/results New product pitches Research projects “Get started” [...]
How Thoroughly Do You Prepare Your Candidate?
March 17th, 2009
We often assume that everyone knows how to prepare and perform at an interview. But all too often, this is where candidates are weak and need some direction. Many candidates are fresh out of college and don’t know the protocol, while others have been in the same position with the same company for many years [...]
What Does Quality Mean?
January 29th, 2009
Having been on the client side as a corporate human resources professional, I have designed RFP processes and worked closely with hundreds of hiring managers as well as staffing service providers. Whether it was deciding on which recruitment and staffing provider to place on our vendor list or awarding contracts, direct hires or temps, our [...]
Listening Between the Lines
December 4th, 2008
Was it a multi-million dollar mistake? Maybe it was more. And sadly, as the head of an executive search firm, I see it all too often. What I’m referring to is when employers hire a resume rather than a person. They bring in a candidate with exceptional credentials, get mesmerized by the individual’s accomplishments or [...]
A Hire Versus THE Hire
September 3rd, 2008
Michael C. Munger, chair of political science at Duke University, has written a very insightful article on how to treat candidates. Now, before you think these are “over-simplified” tips beneath your level of expertise, consider his amusing article in The Chronicle of Higher Education. In it, Munger describes two separate instances when he was in the [...]
Tips to Squash Candidate Hesitation Once and For All
July 21st, 2008
Position and perception are everything, so start acting like a career agent and people will trust you like their career agent. Trust builds respect, respect builds relationships, and relationships turn into placements and referrals and even clients. Here are 10 reasons why some candidates may hesitate: They are concerned that they will not achieve their long-term goals [...]
The false notion of candidate control damages the performance of most recruiters in the qualifying call. Candidate control is a myth. Candidate Leadership is the reality and the main driving force of this critical conversation that will move your candidate forward in your search process. There are three objectives in the qualifying call, and four steps [...]
This is a phrase I hear constantly when talking with companies about their hiring needs. Everyone seems to be looking for that magic account executive or perm recruiter that can bring accounts, turn a switch and voila… Billing! Unfortunately, Cinderella gets the better of how this story ends.I agree with the value of [...]
Can employer ineptitude in interviewing candidates lose placements due to poor preparation and simple-minded questions on the part of the interviewers.This often happens when dealing with HR people who do a cursory howdy-do before sending the candidate to a line manager for the real interview. Things to be considered and communicated to the employer: It’s OK [...]
If a face-to-face employment interview can be classified as an “unnatural act,” then the typical telephone-screening interview between a client and a perspective candidate is tantamount to a blind gamble. This statement is based on feedback from hundreds of staffing industry professionals who have witnessed the product of their good work vanish in [...]
Answering the ‘Tell Me About Yourself’ Question: A Candidate’s Guide to Making a Great First Impression While Interviewing
April 1st, 2003
Let’s face it, interviewing is stressful enough without having to answer stupid interview questions. But unfortunately, many interviewers, because of habit, lack of preparation time, poor training, or yes, even laziness, often ask stupid questions. Of those, one of the most challenging is the oft used “Tell me about yourself” interview opener.What most candidates ask [...]
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