How your company can hire more effectively.

Part I

The second highest priority for HR departments throughout 2010 according to a recent report on global assessment trends is external recruiting/hiring. But where do companies fail in their recruiting/hiring efforts? How do companies find and retain top talent or if you are using an outside recruiting/staffing agency, how do you effectively cull through the stacks of resumes to find those gems in the rough? Despite the economic downturn and a market flooded with eager job seekers, finding good candidates can be even more challenging than before. If you use job postings you may find your Inbox overrun with candidates as desperate job seekers fling their resumes at any open position remotely matching their skill sets.

Here are a few ways to maintain a healthy recruiting process.

Why should I work for you?
Many recruiters when sourcing for candidates are satisfied in posting advertisements for their open positions on the major job boards or in newspapers mainly because candidate response is high. As I mentioned above, desperate job seekers will apply to open positions remotely matching their skill set hoping to get an interview. The obvious drawback is that 90% of your candidates may be unqualified for the job and the remaining 10% might only look good when compared to the un-qualified. Recruiters and HR departments then push through a group of candidates skilled enough to do the job but not skilled enough to do the job exceptionally well. Job postings will always attract numerous resumes, but they must also be crafted to attract top talent. Too often HR/Recruiters list the responsibilities and requirements of the job believing incorrectly that candidates will screen out themselves. While this does work to an extent, listing only the requirements and not the benefits of working for your company, screens out top talent. Like with a professional athlete over whom many teams are competing, you too need to explain up-front, why a superstar should come work for your organization. Listing the unique benefits of working for your organization will give you an edge over your competitors.

Don’t be afraid to at least list a salary range. David Dickens, GM of Jobing.com mentions in his blog that listing the salary will screen out candidates overqualified for the position and hourly candidates who need not apply to a high-end exempt position.

Dr. John Sullivan, a well-known leader in HR, reveals in a 2009 article that many organizations are now employing video to demonstrate the “excitement and passion” at their firms. A few are using unscripted employee videos on their sites as well. One popular tool, Video-View, allows employers and candidates to interview themselves with a webcam. The interview is immediately recorded and a link to the video is provided. This tool enables organizations to screen candidates, but also allows hiring managers to interview and post video of themselves touting the exceptional benefits of working for their firm.

With video, hiring managers can show off their corporate enthusiasm but also reveal to the candidate a bit about themselves and their management style. This allows the candidate to consider if they might be a good behavioral fit to work hand in hand with the hiring manager.

Part II of my blog post “Pre-Screen, Pre-Screen, Pre-Screen” will be out soon! Until next time.
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Conducting A Better Interview - Quick Tips

Over at American Banking News they have a great article with tips for conducting more successful interviews. They suggest three basic strategies for conducting a better interview. First, let the interviewee talk. People hate long silences, resist the temptation to fill a lull in the conversation instead give the candidate an opportunity to fill the silence. You may learn something important. Secondly ask open ended questions, don't give the interviewee the opportunity to answer with a simple yes or no. If you get a one or two word answer to any of your questions, press the interviewee by asking them to clarify or expand their answer. Finally, utilize behavioral questions to bring out the style and personality of the candidate.
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Corporate Culture At Zappos.Com

Over at the New York Times they have posted an interview with Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh. In the interview Tony talks about why he is so passionate about defining and maintaining the Zappos.com corporate culture. It turns out he had to learn the hard way. In Tony's first business, LinkExchange, the focus had been on hiring people who could do the job rather that people who fit the culture. As the company grew, it changed into a place Tony didn't even want to work any longer. After the sale of LinkExchange in 1998 Tony got involved in Zappos.com and quickly decided that the first thing to do would be define the corporate culture. He didn't make an arbitrary decision about the culture, instead he asked the entire company to comment. Eventually the company decided on 10 core values. The 10 core values at Zappos.com are so important that people are hired and fired based on how well they fit the culture.
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More employers using screening and recruiting firms

According to an article at the Triangle Business Journal more and more companies are adding steps to screen candidates to their hiring process. With so many people out of work, companies are getting inundated with resumes. To help find the best candidates they are utilizing behavioral and skills tests to ensure the candidate is a good fit.

To meet the needs of companies like these, Execuserve is now offering full service recruitment consulting and outsourcing. Execuserve will screen and rank your applicants and even send a video interview of candidates right to your inbox. To learn more about Execuserve's new full service offering contact us today at (800)385-1993 or sales@execuservecorp.com.
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The Worst Interviews Ever???

Something a little lighter for today, at the CookeVilleTimes.com there is an article that made me laugh out loud. The article entitled "They Said That In An Interview?" chronicles some of the worst candidate interviews I have ever heard of. I think the quote I like the best is "I only ever worked with one other person and I pretty much told him that he was an (expletive deleted) and he left me alone after that." Leave a comment and let us know about some of your worst candidates.
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Online Recruitment At KFC Saves Time And Brings Better Employees

In an article over at HR Magazine David Woods discusses the success KFC has had in rolling out a new online recruiting system. KFC estimates it has saved its managers 16.2 years worth of man-hours since the chain began testing in 100 of its stores in the UK and Ireland. There is a great quote from the head of recruitment Dan Hayward, "By providing online competency tests and helping managers focus on the most promising applicants, the system helps KFC find and hire the cream of the crop."

Dan really understands the point of behavioral testing and employment screening. By using pre-employment tests KFC has not only saved valuable time, but also made sure they hire the best candidates for their organization.

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Conduct A Better Interview - Uncomfortable Questions

Over at the Wall Street Journal, blogger Alina Dizik has written an article on dealing with uncomfortable interview questions. It seems many candidates are surprised by the types of questions and situations that are presented to them during interviews. While candidates might not perceive this a beneficial, it is a good thing for both the interviewer and the candidate.

One of the biggest problems with interviews is that everyone knows what to expect and how they should answer the standard questions. How many times have you asked the question "What is your greatest fault?" only to get a pat answer like "I work too hard." or "I care too much."? When candidates prepare for an interview they put on a nice suit and a nice persona to match. This works great for the candidate during the interview, but it makes the interviewer's job much more difficult.

By the time a candidate comes in for an interview, their skills and experience should already have been evaluated, so really what we are looking for is whether or not they will fit well in our company culture, or in the team they would be working with. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to tell what the candidate is really like underneath that polished alter-ego.

To gain better insight into a candidate we use a two part solution. First we give each candidate an in depth behavioral assessment before they come in for an interview. Our assessment Hire-Intelligence creates a customized behavioral interview guide for each candidate based on their answers. Next we use the interview guide Since the interview guide is created specifically to probe the candidate in targeted areas the questions will definitely take the by surprise. This helps to uncover the real candidate.

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