Q. Our company is considering using personality or behavioral testing prior to hiring people. What has been your experience using these?
I’m a strong believer is using some sort of assessment prior to hiring someone, especially for key employees. These assessments can add a lot of valuable insight about the candidate. Not all assessments measure the same thing, so it is important to know what it is you want to assess. There are general assessments, ones specific to functional area such as sales, ones that measure intelligence, many assess a person’s communications style, and still others target specific aspects of the candidate’s personality and behaviors. So selecting the right assessment for what you want to measure is critical.
It is also important to have enough peer level people take the same assessment to use as a benchmark. An assessment that shows how the candidate stacks up against the others is very useful information. Over time the assessment will reveal the traits of those hires that are successful and those that didn’t work out. Identifying the traits of both is important when assessing the candidate.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Q. I left my last job in early 2010. Should I show I left in 2010 on the resume or just leave it as “Present?”
Your resume has to be 100% correct. Showing you are still employed is not correct. I know candidates want employers to think they are still working when they review the resume. I get that, but here is what candidates don’t get when they have incorrectly stated, “present.” As soon as the company calls you and asks if you are still with company you have to reply, “No, I left in 2010.” Now they know anyway. Plus your future employer is thinking you tried to deceive them. Deception is not a great way to start.
As a recruiter that is what goes through my mind when it happens to me. I’m going to find out anyway. Not being up front and honest only delays the deception and makes it worse.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Q. How important are recruiters in a job search? I have not had much luck working with them.
Working with recruiters during your job search really isn’t a matter of luck as much as it is meeting the very specific requirements our clients want. The fact is recruiters place a very small percentage of the candidates in their database. So working with recruiters from a candidate’s perspective means there isn’t a high probability they will have a job right for you. Remember recruiters work for the company. That means for every job search only one candidate is going to be hired. Considering on any one search we conduct, we review between 150 and 200 candidates, the odds of any one candidate getting the job is very small.
So here is my recommendation for the candidates I coach when it comes to working with recruiters. Let the recruiters do their job and you do your part. The best way to work with recruiters is to make sure recruiters can find you. That is what recruiters do. We find people. So the higher your visibility in the market the higher the probability the right recruiter (the one with a job for you) will find you, engage you and hopefully place you. This is why building solid networking relationships is so important in a job search. The more people that know you the higher the odds are you will be referred to a recruiter by one of your networking relationships. Being highly visible so recruiters can find you is the best way to work with recruiters during a job search.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Q. I interview better in person than on a phone interview. What are some tips to improving how I phone interview?
Most candidates conduct a phone interview the same way they conduct an in person interview. When in fact they are completely different and require a different approach. There is no eye contact, body language or a warm friendly introduction and handshake on a phone interview. Usually there is just a cold hello. You only have your voice.
There are basically three things that can be evaluated during a phone interview, energy/enthusiasm, communications ability and a basic understanding of your skills. So you have to adjust to these conditions. Here are some tips: 1) always stand up and walk around during a phone interview. This helps create energy and enthusiasm. 2) You must learn how to use your voice. Things such as using voice inflection, timely pauses, tone changes to stress points, lowering your voice, speaking slower and enunciating clearly and pacing the speed of the interviewer’s voice are all very important. Not to mention using proper sentence structure and avoiding the word “like.” 3) Since most phone interviews are shorter than in person interviews you must be succinct. You don’t have time to ramble on and on as the interviewer will begin to wander. You should practice keeping your answers to about one minute in length. While you are talking they are sitting there listening. Sitting and listening for one minute seems like five. Since you can’t see them you can’t tell from their expressions if they are bored, losing interest in what you are saying or if they put the phone down and are now checking their email. So you must get right to the point in your answer in order to keep the interviewer’s interest.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Interviewing | bradremillard November 27, 2012 | 
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