First time interaction and Screening candidates
recruiter...@gmail.com
I just felt like writing today. I was supposed to get into a call with
some US folks and had to stay up a bit, so I thought let me pen (in
this case 'key') down some words.
Purpose:
Saving time by properly investing some.. (doesn't that sound a lot
like "The taxman is coming, so save money by properly investing
some!!!). The first discussion is about a mutual understanding between
the candidate and the recruiter. Where you try to understand the
candidates' priorities, and the candidate gets to understand the
position/company/client etc.
Desired outcome:
The undesirables are eliminated, and time is invested only on those
that seem worth talking to further.
What to do?
1) Listen very carefully
While the candidate might not welcome a call that is unscheduled, it
might take some knack to bring the candidate to a comfort level. There
are various ways to have the call prescheduled, one of which would be
mailing a reply to the applicant informing a time when he can expect a
call from you. Once you call up, and the candidate is at comfort, the
discussion could typically begin with the "tell me about yourself"
question. While the candidate is speaking about himself, make sure
that you are cross checking what he is saying with his resume. Ensure
that you have as much possible verified.
Once the candidate is through with his short-say, ask a few questions
that probe into details about his/her present activities. Ensure that
the covering letter is in resonance with the same. While the candidate
tries to project herself into fitting the boot of the open position,
try to make your estimates as well. For that, you need to be sure that
you know the position that this candidate might fit in well before you
pick the receiver to make the call.
Ask questions about what the candidate wants to do (with career, with
life etc). See how aligned the position is with his aspirations, and
how well the company/client could offer the other subtle interests/
preferences. If the candidates clearly expresses her interest, I am
very sure you would be able to picture a team/position within the
organization where the candidate would/could fit in. Make sure that
the interests are in line with the position before you talk about the
same. In case the interests are more aligned with some other position
you have, go about telling details of the same. You may want to start
with an exclamatory note to create the excitement. (like... "Guess
what! you are lucky I have the right position for you..."). If there
is not active position that matches the candidates' choice, then do
not fail to mention the other options available for the candidate that
she might consider applying for.
THE CATCH... In the above situation, one should keep in mind that
where a candidate is VERY clear about the technologies, the role, the
company profile that she wants to work for, chooses to go for option
'z', then you might as well dump the candidate then and there.
Because, #1, a candidate who just shows, the apparently not genuine,
interest in a position, are the ones that tend NOT join. Moreover,
these candidates are either, (i) desperate for a job and can just pile
up offers the way tropies hang in ancient palaces, (ii) is not genuine
because of lack of clarity in wants and choosing (either because of
point (i)), or (iii) is purely dumb because she did not understand
what you were talking about!
If an applicant (and not a headhunted candidate), ensure that you ask
what s/he knows about the company/client that they have applied for.
This would make evident as to whether the applicant was using a
generic cover letter or a custom-written one. This would also give you
a clear picture as to how much home-work the candidate has done before
applying, and that can be applied in actual employment, meaning, how
pre-prepared he would be with work and everything else that matters!
2) Do not focus on the language, accent and other factors like stutter
or lack of proficiency, etc.
You might actually get to form an opinion about the candidate because
of these. Hence one should try to avoid as much as possible, but
again, there is the case of what the benchmark standard for verbal
communication skills are in hiring for that position. But the pro on
telecons over face to face discussions is that we tend not to get
biased by the looks of candidates (not meaning how pretty she is ;-)
but whether she is well-dressed or otherwise)
3) Listen to the content:
While talking about projects/assignments done, keep ears sharp open
for what the candidate has to say. Do you hear things in detail than
mentioned in the resume? Or does it sound plainly as if she is reading
her resume out to you? Do you hear about the project she is working on
making any sense in terms of her actual work, or is he narrating the
description of the project and telling stories about her visit to the
clients' site? :-)
How to judge?
a) Further to what was written in the last post, try to identify
contradictions to what was written in the resume/cover letter.
Contradictions are always bright tools to eliminate those that you do
not want to talk to any further :)
b) How much does the preferences (roles, company, location and
everything else possible) aligned with what you have to offer? Set
yourself a variation level that you would choose to accomodate. Make
sure that the candidate is aware of what all options she would have to
what she is expected that cannot be met. Example conversation given
below:
_________
Candidate: I want to work on Core Java on server side of the
application
You: Well, I appreaciate your clarity, but at this point of time, the
only position that is centric towards Core Java as the technology is
in our framework development team, and hence you would actually not be
working on the application itself. How okay would you be with that?
_________
I am very sure that with this level of transperancy in the position
being applied for, candidates would truly enjoy the experience of
being interviewed in the company. Hence, improving the chances of
joining by a large extent. Moreover, when the candidate gets a feel
that the recruiter knows what s/he expects out of him/her (the
candidate), the level of interaction goes to a greater depth than the
normal (Would you be interested in a position with XXXX company?)
I am sure that reading this write in detail and trying to apply it on
even one single conversation would make the difference in the
candidates' response evident to you. Trust me.
Peace, Love & Empathy!