4 Things to Convey to Candidates in the Job Interview

4 Things to Convey to Candidates in the Job InterviewThe job interview is a two-way street. In the interview, professionals are trying to determine which job and company is the best for them. And, as more standorts become available, job seekers can afford to be more selective when it comes to choosing a new employer. Just as there are certain things job candidates should convey to interviewers in order to land the job, there are a number of things interviewers should convey about the organization and position in order to convince a candidate to join the company.Here are some of the fruchtwein important things you need to communicate to job seekers during the interview 1. Company cultureInterviewers must convey the sense of the corporate culture from a personal perspective, apart from what corporate marketing literature states. What matters most to candidates today is having their ideas considered for value and implementation, a sense of ownership in projects they are assigned, and th e real potential for advancement based on contributions to the higher strategic objectives of the organization beyond normal duties and responsibilities. Knowledge of these factors early in interview stages helps shape the tone of the interviewers response. Interviewers can frame their pitch by asking questions of candidates, such as the elements of a corporate culture that the candidate would find attractive and important how they value working with others vs. being an individual contributor and what aspects of their career objective areimportant to them in the next 5 to 10 years. The responses will vary from candidate to candidate, but the responses help shape various selling points for recruiting specific candidates. Donn LeVie Jr., Author and Speaker, Donn LeVie Jr. StrategiesInterviewers must convey the sense of the CorporateCulture in the interview DonnLeVieClick To Tweet2. Unique benefitsEspecially if youre a smaller scale company and cant compete with corporate salaries, its important to highlight the benefits that are unique to your business. If you offer the ability to work from home, a flexible schedule, free coffee and snacks, and/or a fun company culture, be koranvers to highlight those things to your potential employee. You can ask your potential employee, What are you looking for in terms of scheduling? or What sort of schedule are you interested in? Chances are, especially if youre hiring Millennials, they want a fun company culture and flexible schedule. Dana Case, Director of Operations, MyCorporation.comWhyMyCorporationhighlights unique benefits during the interviewClick To Tweet3. Whats in it for themIt is extremely important for interviewers to consider the value proposition the job holds to the potential candidate. Quite simply, whats in it for him/her that is specific to the candidates current situation? The conversation needs to be tailored to the candidates needs. It could be the need for a clear career path, a detailed explanation of a training program, a better compensation plan, a vivid picture of how this person will be mentored into the new role the list goes on. Its our job, as interviewers, to uncover these needs and wishes and to honestly respond. Interviews should focus initially on the candidate and what they are looking for. My first question to a passive candidate is always, Are you actively looking to make a change or just open to hearing about opportunities? Their answer sets the tone for the whole meeting and is a good lead-in to asking, If you were to make a change, what would the ideal next position look like to you? These are very open questions that invite dialogue, help you learn what the candidate is looking for without any filters or assumptions on their end. It also shows that you value their interests and wishes for their own career, which is an excellent rapport-building tool. Anne Finn,Corporate Recruiting Manager,Eliassen GroupWhat would your ideal job position look like? InterviewQues tion via AnneFinn23Click To Tweet4. A realistic snapshotAt ActivityDeck, we firmly believe that, while its important to show the perks and highlights of the job, its equally important to show them the real picture. Once you tell them what they will really be doing and what will be expected from them, you develop a relationship of trust and honesty with the candidate. And once you do this, the candidates reciprocate.In order to build a relationship of trust, the interviewer needs to be very clear about the roles, responsibilities, and the perks of the job. Telling them the truth will help candidates understand the position and the company, and will improve employee retention, too, as employees are prepared for the perks and challenges of the job. Ankit Seth, Co-Founder, ActivityDeckWhy you need to give a realistic snapshot of the company during the interview viaActivityDeckClick To TweetWhat do you think is the most important thing to convey to candidates during the job interview? Le t us know in the comments

How to Beat Hiring Software

How to Beat Hiring SoftwareHow to Beat Hiring SoftwareThe Problem To economize on using real people to screen job applicants resumes, some companies are turning to recruitment software, also known as screening apps, to sift through the pile. What are pseudo-requirements? Not only do writers for websites have to worry about keywords, but so do increasing numbers of job applicants, in a growing number of fields. Moreover, some resume screening algorithms even score applicants based on formatting. Then there is the matter of pseudo-requirements. That is, lengthy must have lists of ultimately unnecessary requirements that serve no other purpose than to eliminate virtually all resumes from consideration, whittling down the pile to a handful, if that. This is an approach akin to demanding an MBA as a screening device for jobs that really do not require one. Peter Capelli, the George W. Taylor Professor of Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, offers a part icularly egregious example of excessive pseudo-requirements in a recent magazine interview. A company looking to fill what he describes as a standard engineering location could not identify a single qualified candidate out of 25,000 applications submitted. Of course, another possibility is that, given the ease with which people now can apply for jobs online, the company indeed may have received a torrent of applications from genuinely unqualified people. Another anecdote from Capelli involves a software developer who was turned down for a job that involved using a well-known software testing tool, never mind that he had built that very same tool himself. He was turned down because he did not have prior experience with another very simple tool that someone with his expertise can learn in just a few hours. Alternatively, it might be argued that he should have answered yes to the question, given his confidence that learning the tool would be quick and easy. Equally, absurdly, Capelli n otes that some companies require experienced candidates to dredge up their high school GPAs for their applications. The list goes on and on. Top Tips to Beat the Software According to Capelli, his discussions with various experts has uncovered these top tips for getting your job application past resume screening software Headers and Footers Avoid using headers or footers, since they tend to confound most resume reading software. Reflect the Job Description Adjust the content of your resume to reflect the wording of the job description in question. For example, if the job description includes CPA be sure that CPA appears on your resume. Stated slightly differently, this is an example of the importance of including the proper keywords in your resume or application. However, do not copy and paste the job description verbatim into your resume. Not only is that unlikely to work, it may backfire. Layout and Typeface Avoid unusual fonts and layouts, as well as functional formatting. ansich t tend to confuse the software. Use a simple style, including listing your experience in reverse chronological order (most recent first). Buzzwords Buzzwords in Context Be sure that buzzwords are used in proper context. Advanced resume parsing software can check the context of buzzwords like Java or C. Thus, to demonstrate more in-depth knowledge and experience than someone who just took a single course in subjects such as these, discuss your knowledge and experience in detail. File Format Put your resume in text format. PDF files often get read incorrectly by the software. By contrast, resumes submitted in Microsoft Word typically are interpreted correctly. Graphics Avoid using graphics. They also pose huge problems for resume parsing software and can be interpreted as a jumble of nonsense characters. Postal Address Never forget to place your postal address on the resume, since it often is a key modul in how it is filed by the software. If you fail to include it, you may have n o chance to be under consideration for the position. Correct Spelling, Syntax, and Grammar Not included among Capellis suggestions, but equally important, is making sure that there are absolutely no misspellings or typos in your submission. Computers tend to be rather, if not completely, unforgiving of such errors. However, an added complication is that spell checking software often does not recognize legitimate alternate spellings of common words (e.g., traveler as a variant of traveler), and editing software often parses sentences incorrectly. Meanwhile, although lapses in writing skills often result in rejection by human readers on this score alone, there nonetheless is a possibility that a human will recognize what you really mean, and forgive this error if your resume or application is otherwise compelling. Source Why Good People Cant Get Jobs by Peter Cappelli, copyright 2012, Wharton Digital Press (as summarized in Home Depot Syndrome, the Purple Squirrel, and Americas Job Hu nt Rabbit Hole, by Trey Popp, The Pennsylvania Gazette, January - February 2013).