Recruiting…..you hear horror stories,…..you hear great experiences and success stories, from everyone involved – candidates, recruiters, hiring managers, HR.
The fact is, recruiting touches everyone– companies looking to hire, recruiters (whether in-house or 3rd party), candidates looking for a job, even the average Joe on the street who hears/sees ads for Indeed, ZipRecruiter, etc.
We’ve all been on one end of the process or the other. While not a recruiter myself, I am fortunate to work for a company with a great team of recruiters. On a daily basis, I get to hear their interactions with candidates, with hiring managers, and with our clients. They truly care about what they do, and who they are speaking with, and making sure they are providing the best possible candidates for our clients, while also working to prepare and providing an open, helpful experience for the candidates.
I asked this team to provide me with some insights and top tips that make them great at their job and that they would recommend for candidates, for recruiters, for hiring managers, etc. Below are some of Eclaro’s top recruiting tips:
Recruiting Tip #1 – Should I Stay or Should I Go?
To the candidate: When presented with a counteroffer from your current employer, it is important to ask yourself again why you are looking for a job in the first place. Many people that take counter offers find themselves not happy and are looking again within a few months.
To the employer: On the flip side of this, do you even want to make a counter offer? Is the employee in question an asset to your organization that you can’t risk losing? According to SHRM, replacing an employee can cost between 50-60% of that employee’s salary with overall costs ranging anywhere from 90-200%. Other than determining if you want to keep this person, the other important question to ask is why do they want to leave?
Recruiting Tip #2 – What Is It Exactly That You Do?
To the recruiter: How to interview a candidate for a complicated role and qualifications
Ask the candidate to tell you about his most recent project; state the business goal(s) of the project and describe his/her roles and responsibilities as part of the project.
A good candidate will have a clear understanding of the business goals and be able to state them without hesitation. He/she will also be able to summarize their roles and responsibilities, again, without hesitation (other than a few seconds to collect thoughts) and will able to answer in an organized fashion.
A successful answer to these questions will give a recruiter insight into the candidate’s general ‘level of intelligence’, ability to communicate their thoughts and how they would perform on an interview.
If they have a firm grasp of the project goals and the roles on the project, they probably have a firm grasp of the technology they used.
Recruiting Tip #3 – The Proof is in the……. Keywords
To the Candidate: Submitting a quality resume
Use job description terms to tailor your resume. Different companies vary in using terms for similar processes. Experienced candidates may read a job description and understand that although the terms or acronyms are different, the process/responsibility described is the same. A frequent refrain from candidates "I know what they mean by this sentence...my company just called it ....fill in the blank"
Modifying your resume with some of the specific terminology used in the job description will help ensure that your resume will be better understood by HR recruiters or "gatekeepers" who may not fully appreciate the nuance of a resume that is using unfamiliar terms.
Some Caveats:
Don't copy the job description: Keep your original content and where appropriate use the right term or process that is listed in the job description to ensure it will pass the first review.
Don't copy the Acronyms: If the acronym was not used at your company don't put it in your resume. You should only state how it was called at your company.
Recruiting Tip #4: Don’t put your worst foot forward
It seems like it should go without saying that you want to make a good impression on a job interview. It’s shocking as a recruiter to hear that people often say things that create an incredibly negative impression with the hiring manager.
Often hiring managers will ask you to explain a time when something didn’t go well, to see how you work under pressure, problem solve and interact with others.
In response, candidates sometimes complain about past work environments, inadequate resources, difficult customers, bad managers, etc. These responses are received very negatively. The impression is created that the candidate does not have a ‘filter’ (i.e. the good judgement not to bash a former employer/manager), or that they don’t take responsibility for their work and outcomes but are rather deflecting responsibility on to others.
In preparing for an interview, plan how to respond to these questions and think about how you will convey these circumstances, take responsibility, show your problem solving skills, and your ability to rebuild trust and confidence after a negative situation.
We all encounter negative situations from time to time. How we react to them is the key to professional development and future opportunities.
Recruiting Tip #5: Communicate, communicate, and communicate
To the Hiring Manager:
Recruiting is a process and is never predictable. From a senior recruiting manager’s viewpoint, the only effective way for a hiring manager to fill their open positions is through clear and open communication. Hiring managers often have an idea in their head of what they want, that may not come across in the job descriptions. As they interview candidates, they narrow those ideas down and if those ideas are communicated back to the recruiter, it is a much easier process for the recruiter to get great candidates and fill the roles.
The key to any hire is constructive feedback. Recruiters can’t do their job without it. We can’t motivate our recruiters to work on difficult search roles without it and we certainly can’t prepare our candidates for interviews without it.
If a candidate takes time out of their day, whether it be a phone or a face to face interview, feedback is critical to the process and guess what…… it’s also the right thing to do. Whether it be good or bad feedback, it’s all important to the hiring process.
Recruiting Tip #6: It’s Not Always About the Money
To the Recruiter
It’s important to remember that while money is usually a motivator, it’s not the only factor that the right candidate is considering.
I recently spoke to a candidate who is working as a software developer. While he is open to other opportunities, during our conversation, he explained that he is currently at the top of his career and very happily employed. This amazed me, as I saw there are several other people at his company with lesser qualifications, working in higher roles such as architect, VP or some other designation.
The candidate’s explanation, “I am working for an established company, and I am making a decent salary with health benefits and a bonus. Most important, I have been with them for a decade. They value me as an employee and allow me to take time off when I need to drop my kids at a school or work from home if they are sick.”
On several occasions I have come across candidates and while I am able to offer at least a 40% increase to their current salary, they won’t take the job because they are in a stable, reliable and comfortable position.
Sometimes it’s the stability and perks of the job that get the acceptance, not just the cash!
Thanks to my team of colleagues at Eclaro for providing these relevant and important tips.