Interviewing 101 for Job Seekers

Those who are best prepared WIN!!

Get familiar with the company and players

  • Web site, press announcements and published profiles
  • Research leadership, revenues, funding Crunchbase.com
  • Look at all open positions published on their site, Linked In and other similar resources. Where is investment being made?
  • Who do you know that works there? Internal references are golden – linkedin.com

Prepare Yourself!

  • Be prepared to cover your relevant educational background and each successive position you have held. Why you were hired, your role and examples of the success you had that would be relevant to the conversation.
  • Be prepared to articulate reason for leaving each job. Positive statements about the new role and why you made the decision to go to the next opportunity.  Always demonstrate personal growth and opportunity.  Be positive and be succinct – this is NOT an area to spend much time.
  • Practice telling your story and reduce it to its simplest and most impactful form.
  • Have several relevant examples of achievements you are most proud of.
  • Have several thoughtful questions about the company, the role and the business priorities.
  • What are your strengths, what sets you apart, makes you unique and why YOU for this role?

The Interview

  • Strong handshake, eye contact, speak their name. Think about body language and position as you get settled.  Forward leaning, good posture.  Again – Eye contact.
  • As you get settled and the interview begins let the interviewer frame the discussion, but make sure to interject early in the conversation one simple question, such as – “Thank you for having me in. I am excited about the opportunity and have studied the job description, done my homework and believe I am a great fit.  To make best use of our limited time would you please outline for me the keys to success for this role and the non-negotiable attributes you need to see?  I will do my best to focus on what matters to you and the team.”
  • Have your story for each transition and reason for making career moves prepared in your mind. How did it grow your skillset, make you better and qualify you for this role?  Have a good quality notebook with notes written ahead of time for accomplishments, thoughtful questions, or any other subject is a good idea.
  • Compensation – if he/she wants to cover money that is a great sign. If they ask what you are “looking for” simply say you are looking for an opportunity where you can grow professionally and this looks really attractive! Remember NEVER quote numbers!
  • ALWAYS close on the next steps in this way – “Do you have any concerns at this point, or areas I can clarify further?

If YES – address directly and succinctly, then ask if your answer was sufficient.  If NO go to close – “Based on our conversation I see this as a great fit.  This looks like a good opportunity for me and I’m confident I would be successful in the role.  What are the next steps in the process?”

Contact Me Via: LinkedIn  |  Email

Importance of the Feedback Loop When Recruiting in a Competitive Job Market

Here at Broadreach Staffing we work hard to build close client relationships that include tight feedback loops when recruiting for them. In today’s job market it is not unheard of for a strong candidate to be to be “on the market” for less than a week, which means unless you are prepared to move quickly, top talent will go to the company that is out to “win”. This article is meant to help you “win”!

If you think about the evolution of recruitment for a moment, we start up conversations with potential candidates that up until this point may or may not have been looking for a new job.  Once that happens, the candidates’ ears are typically open to other recruiters and opportunities and boy can things change in a hurry.  Phone interviews are scheduled, feedback is sought, live interviews scheduled, feedback sought, second round of interviews and yet again more feedback sought.  What happens next depends on the pipeline of qualified candidates a company is fielding.  This process can take many weeks to complete before offers are in the works.

In today’s job market, which is very competitive in the software engineering world for example, I’ve seen top talent swooped up after a single interview.  Meanwhile, I am waiting on and prompting for feedback from my client after the initial phone screen a couple days ago.  Many times, I get extremely positive feedback and they want to move the candidate forward through their process, but due to scheduling and other delays, it might be a week or more for that next step.  Unfortunately, it’s often Goodbye Jack, our highly qualified candidate has already accepted another offer.  Painful for all of us.

Our jobs as recruiters are to understand where candidates are in their job search, what’s most important to them, timelines they are looking to move and assess how in demand the candidate is in so we can inform and advise our client appropriately.  When we have done our jobs effectively, we will have presented a highly qualified candidate that is ready for the hiring manager to interview.  We will also have established an open channel of communication to ensure feedback is complete and timely so we can manage the candidate accordingly and advise our client in the event our candidate is looking at imminent multiple offers.  When feedback is slow or incomplete candidates will lose interest and focus on companies that show a strong interest in them.  If you have a healthy pipeline of highly qualified candidates you might be ok, but in the long run the companies that implement a close working relationship with their recruiting teams (internally and externally) and ensure timely and complete feedback will significantly improve their overall hiring process and close the gap in the time to hire for critical openings.

At Broadreach Staffing, we understand the value of time in the search for talent. That’s why everything we do revolves around this fundamental question, “will this save our clients’ valuable time?”

Please contact me at my email as I would love to work with you on all your critical recruitment needs.

My LinkedIn Page

What’s in a Resume?

Sending your resume to either a prospective employer or recruiter is like sending your calling card, your personalized marketing piece and most importantly it is your first impression.

Your goal should be to grab attention right up front, be positive and make sure to emphasize what you can bring to the position.  Research shows that the first scan of a resume can be as brief as 6 seconds. That said, a simple easy to read format is key.

Your potential employer will want to understand your accomplishments and be able to peruse your timeline quickly.  This is where you show who you are, detail your experience and unleash your full potential.

The Basics. Along with your name and contact information at the top formatted in a clear and easy to read font like Calibri, Cambria, Helvetica or Times Roman, it is also good practice to include a section of core competencies, skills, key qualifications, or a professional profile in a prominent area of your resume.  By doing so, a potential employer can quickly locate the qualifications needed for the position and be enticed to read further.

Your work or professional experience. Now it’s time to identify your work experience and achievements, starting with the most recent. Make sure to include your job title, company and dates of employment.  What comes next is the most significant component of your resume – the achievements and performance section.  This is your opportunity to shine, so be specific, emphasize your accomplishments and include numbers or percentages where possible. Increasing or reducing numbers can help define your accomplishments and makes an impression about of your passion.  Don’t just list your responsibilities, describe the result of your involvement when possible.

Education.  Education is another important piece of information most employers or recruiters will look for. The placement of your education can vary depending on its importance to a specific job.  The name of the school, location, degree obtained, GPA and year of graduation are standard components to include.  Honors or academic recognition, coursework, activities or other achievements obtained during your education (that are relevant to the job you are applying for) should also be included.

What about customization? One way to grab attention is to repurpose the job description’s requirements. Review the job description you are applying to, look for the keywords describing the skill, culture or experience your potential employer is looking for.  Now find ways to match your skills and talents.  Take keywords from the job description and use them in your resume as often as possible.  Keep in mind the use of keywords should not be overdone and must appear as a natural part of your own experiences.  This is recommended for each job you are applying to; one size does not fit all in most cases.

Your resume is your first impression to any company or recruiter.  It should convey who you are at your best.  Layout, flow, spelling and grammar are all key areas to fine tune and double check.  Keep it simple, make it easy to read and most importantly, showcase your skills. The goal is to position yourself as the best fit for the job so no one will want to pass up an interview with you.

Contact me with questions:  Email | LinkedIn

Recruiting strategies – How do hiring managers and HR Business Partners work together? 5 tips

The HR Business Partner (HRBP) definition has dramatically changed over the years.  They wear two main hats – HR and business manager.  This includes the day to day HR issues of comp and benefits, guiding HR policies, etc.  But also includes understanding and contributing to the overall goals of the company. They need to be business minded, be employee focused, have the people skills and have a well-rounded knowledge of the operations.

The complexity and operational differences of departments (sales, finance, marketing, R&D, IT, operations, etc. etc.)  can be dramatic.  Keeping up for a hiring manager and HRBP can be daunting.  One important common ground and partnership for both HRBP and hiring manager’s – talent strategy/recruiting.

The main recruiting activities typically fall on the shoulder on the HR Business partner to find, hire and retain. The hiring manager typically look to them to develop the plan, tools, deliverables and then hire quickly with limited interaction or help. As a hiring manager – we have all been guilty of it at some point and need to invest time in the process and learn to work better and smarter together.

So, how can the hiring manager and HR business partner work better together and truly partner?

5 Tips for Success

1 – Planning – invest time and meet with your HRBP, strategy development.  Work with your HRBP on the developing a sound recruitment process.  Work together on your needs, culture and team dynamics.  Review job descriptions.  Make sure it covers the skills and requirements that work best for you.  What is the interview process?  How are you as the hiring manager going to make this easy for the candidate and the HR business partner?  Is this a new position or replacement?  Get buy-in from your HRBP

2 – The Recruitment Process – Work together on the process to attract a pool of job seekers.  Interview techniques, screening, assessment tools.  Who owns the different stages of the process?  Think about how you streamline and accelerate the process and attract and hire quality candidates.  Usually from department to department the process will differ some.  Build some common best practices.

3 – Re-occurring meetings – weekly or bimonthly meetings to review what is working, how to pivot or adjust the strategy until the hiring process is completed.  Review the process.  Is phone screening working?  What interview questions are important to you as the hiring manager.

4 – The offer letter – understand the offer, what is in it and what is going to be important to your future employee.  How do you handle the counter?  What is the process of approval and steps needed to keep it moving!  As the hiring manager you need to be involved and be a consultant.  Don’t take this for granted!

5 – The first day and onboarding – get involved.  Work with your HRBP to be an active and visible in the employee’s onboarding.  We’re talking about continuing to make the candidate/new employee feel wanted before they officially join the organization. Many a company has failed to do that, only to see their new employee never show up for their first day of work.

HRBP and the hiring manager should not be islands in recruiting which is often the case.  As the hiring manager you own the process.  The HRBP is there to help and do much of the heavy lifting.  Bridge the gap and develop that partnership.  The results will save you time, get you “A” talent and make your organization stronger.

There are more tips, details and ideas.  Please comment and share your experiences, tips and observations. Any comment is welcome!

Reach Me at doug@broadreachstaffing.com