What Your Recruiters and Their Style Says About Your Employment Brand

by Ron Thomas 

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“You are the best interviewer I have ever had!”
That is what my wife was told last week after she finished interviewing a prospective employee. She said that the statement made her day. However, my wife is not in HR; she was the hiring manager for this role.
Contrast that with a phone call later in the evening from a friend had gone on an interview. She told me how the recruiter was so terribly rude.
“The recruiter acted as if I had ruined her day,” my friend told me. She said the recruiter rushed her through the answers to her questions and kept looking at her watch. “Why did she bother to invite me to a face to face?” she wondered. She could just as easily rescheduled if she was having a bad day.

Recruiting as the first step

There was another recent story I heard from someone who flew out to the Midwest for an interview with all the prospective team members.
First up was the hiring manager, a senior officer, for a 45 minute scheduled interview. Well, the hiring manager showed up 15 minutes late, apologized, and seemed rushed and extremely distracted.
The interview only lasted about 15 minutes. The hiring manager apologized, saying she would have to leave since she had a flight scheduled in an hour. She left the room to check on her team to see whether they were ready to see the candidate as the next step in the interview process. The hiring manager was never seen again. The candidate saw the rest of the team and had a good interview.
Weeks later, this candidate received an email stating “that after much consideration, a decision was made to go with someone else.” Upon further checking, she found out the other candidates all got their allotted time with each member of the interview team.
We have all heard these horror stories and I for one get upset when I hear them. Now, I know there are good and bad apples everywhere. We should never use a broad brush to paint any profession. Like in most industries, for every good recruiter, there are scores of incompetent, ineffective, indifferent and sometimes indiscreet recruiters. That being said, there is no excuse for rudeness.

Medical profession takes note

I read an interesting New York Times article the other day. It discussed that how, as part of the admission process to medical schools, doctors are now put through a string of assessments to gauge their bedside manner and communication skills.
At a new medical school, Virginia Tech Carilion, the administrators decided against relying solely on grades to determine who got in. Instead, the school invited candidates to the admissions equivalent of speed-dating: nine brief interviews that forced candidates to show they had the social skills to navigate a health care system in which good communication has become critical.
At least eight medical schools in the United States — including those at Stanford, UCLA, and the University of Cincinnati — and 13 in Canada, are using some variation of this procedure. Think for a moment of the impact on the health care system in the future.

Recruitment as part of the talent management strategy

Does a person finish school stating that at the top of their career pyramid is a position as a recruiter? Or is it a way-station on the road to an HR generalist position or some other role? Is this a career destination?
In companies that I have worked at, the next step up from HR coordinator was junior recruiter. In a lot of cases, there was no formal training done. Give them the low hanging fruit (entry level jobs), they can handle that.
As part of any talent management strategy, the recruiter is the “gatekeeper.” They are the face of the company. They are the brand. Should we just leave it to chance and hope that they will figure it out?
The brand of your organization is in their hands. Every potential piece of talent is going to be viewed through that initial contact prism. You cannot afford to skimp on this step.
At a former employer, my team developed a thorough interviewing & hiring seminar. Every hiring manager and recruiter was trained not only in setting up the strategy for interviewing, but also syncing that with the hiring manager. The seminar emphasized that building the relationship, and the importance of representing the brand, were key parts of the hiring strategy.

The recruiter as a branding agent

Do not take this step lightly. Recruiting is a nobel profession, and the weight of your company is in the recruiter’s hands.
If you can’t get this first step right, you can put a pin in all the other initiatives going forward. Otherwise, you have new employees coming in with low expectations, and the ones you passed on left on the curb having all the social media power to tell their story about your brand.

Tell Me About Yourself: Tips To Answer this Tough Interview Question

This is probably the most important question to answer during your interview. It is usually the first one. The key is to prepare yourself for this question. Write down and practice. Time yourself. It should not be a 10 minutes monologue. Here are more tips on how to answer this question from Recruiter.com.

At least once, every job seeker dreads the seemingly innocuous interview question, “So, tell me about yourself.” A standard in the interviewer’s arsenal, this open-ended classic can be scary.

However, just like any other interview question, if you are prepared and practice, it can be a no-brainer.
Start with your name: A no-brainer, many job seekers panic right off the bat by incorrectly assuming the interviewer asked a loaded question. In reality, the interviewer just wants to see how well you can sell yourself. Just state your name and feel free to include a line or two about your passions and hobbies – but don’t overdo it. You need to pace yourself and save precious monologue time for significant details regarding your career. Your total answer should be short and complete.
Follow up with your background: You should include a brief history of your education and experience. Think bullet points and hard facts – don’t waste time on inconsequential details. In terms of goals and aspirations, mention where you came from, where you are currently and where you want to be. Don’t be surprised if the interviewer starts taking notes while you talk. This is a good sign and means the interviewer is engaged and actively listening. They may refer to these notes and ask questions regarding your statements after you finish talking, so make sure you are honest and that all of your facts line up.
Relate it to the position: This is where the interviewer will know if you’ve done your homework or not. Your goal is to recount specific projects and achievements that are relevant to the position you’re applying for and mix them in with in your background history. You’ll want to research the company beforehand and focus on key requirements of the job description. You need to imply that you are the solution to their staffing need.
Turn the question on them: Don’t be afraid to ask the interviewer questions. If you say, “I’m originally from Boston,” follow it up with “Have you been there before?” If you state “I worked on a consumer marketing project,” follow it up with “Does your firm tend to focus on B2B or B2C marketing projects?” These examples probably don’t fit you, but the point is that you have to engage with the interviewer, not just rattle off points. It’s a conversation.
Avoid overexposure: Less is more. Get in and get out. The same rules apply to this age old question. If you sit there babbling on and talking your interviewers ear off with your life story you’re ultimately going to leave a bad impression. Smile, keep a positive and excited tone during your abridged, micro-autobiography and let the rest of the interview commence. You’ll have time to ask your own questions at various intervals throughout the process. Good luck!

10 Questions to ask (From Monster.com)

Own the Interview: 10 Questions to Ask

By Larry Buhl, for Yahoo! HotJobs
For many job seekers an interview can seem too much like an inquisition. That's usually because they're doing all the answering and none of the asking.
"Somewhere in the interview you have a chance to impress the employer on your own terms and see if the job is a good fit for you," says Florida-based career coach and executive recruiter Jonathan Milligan. "And you absolutely should take this opportunity. By asking the right questions you can determine if the job is right for you and also show you're engaged and interested in the job."
Employment experts identify five key question areas where you can gain insight, put yourself in a good light and take some control in the interview.
Identify Their Pain:

• "What is one of the biggest problems the company faces that someone with my background could help alleviate?"
• "If I started in this job tomorrow, what would be my two most pressing priorities?"

Find Out Where the Company Is Going:

• "Where do you see this department/company in five years?"
• "What are the long- and short-term goals of the company/department/work group?"

Determine Whether You'd Fit In:

• "How would you describe your company's culture?
• "What tangible and intangible qualities attracted you to the organization?"

Show You're Really Interested:

• "What additional information can I provide about my qualifications?"
• "What are the next steps in the selection process?"

Ask Follow-Ups:

• "Can you clarify what you said about...?"
• "Can you give me some examples of...?"

"By requesting clarification or examples, you show interviewers you care and that you're thinking deeply about the issues they brought up," says learning and development consultant Bill Denyer. He suggests taking notes in the interview, using keywords to jog your memory of what was discussed but not burying your head in your notebook.
What you don't want to ask are questions with obvious answers, according to Susan RoAne, author of Face to Face: How to Reclaim the Personal Touch in a Digital World.
"You really need to do your homework," RoAne says. "Before the interview, go to the company Web site and use search engines to get up to speed, and browse social networking sites to see who knows what about the company."
And never, never ask an interviewer, "How long is the vacation?" or "What does your company do?'" RoAne added.
Some experts suggest waiting for the inevitable "Do you have any questions for us?" at the interview, while others recommend looking for conversation openings to ask appropriate questions.
"It depends on the situation," Milligan says. "If the interviewer seems to be reading from a sheet of questions, don't interrupt. If it's a more casual conversation, you may have chances to turn the questions back on the interviewer."
RoAne advises job seekers to remember "the job interview is a two-way street."