Recruitalicious

In today’s job market, more and more organizations are conducting phone interviews to screen candidates before they get to the face-to-face interview. This delivers better qualified candidates to hiring managers and cuts travel costs for bringing candidates on site. I have been doing phone interviews for the last three years and find it amazing what can happen during a phone interview. Here are some “do’s and don’ts” based on my experience.

DO
• …ask the recruiter to contact you back at a more convenient time that will work for you, if you are not prepared.
• …make sure that you are using a land line or cell phone that has a great connection.
• …find a quiet environment free from background noise to conduct the interview.
• …keep a copy of your resume in front of you with a pen and paper.
• …listen to the questions that are being asked and take a second before answering.
• …ask the recruiter to repeat the question if you don’t understand it. You want to communicate effectively and truthfully.
• …have notes jotted down on your great past achievements.
• …smile while you are talking. This will present a much more positive image of you to the person on the other end of the conversation.

DON’T
• …eat, drink or smoke during the call
• …babble. Answer the questions but don’t tell your life story.
• …put the person that you are speaking with on hold to answer the other line.
• …order fast food at a drive thru. This is one of the best that I have ever had. The person actually put me on hold to order their food. Very rude.
• …interrupt the person asking questions. Wait until they are finished speaking.
• …bad mouth your past employers. This is very inappropriate and makes me wonder what you will say about our company down the road.
• …ask about salary at this time. We are still deciding if you are even qualified for the position.
• …ask “How did I do?” at the end of the interview. The best question to ask is “What is the next step?”

Most phone interviews last about an hour, and a successful phone screen could lead to a face-to-face interview, so do your best to prepare yourself and move on to the next step!

Photo credit: bitzcelt

It took me awhile to find something to write about for this week. I wanted an idea that was a little more specific than social networking sites in general. So, I decided to focus on Twitter, and Twitter alone. Twitter serves as a virtual conversation, a way to pass along ideas, see what everyone’s talking about, and learn some new information along the way. But, like physical conversations, Twitter can be overcrowded and noisy. And when you’re a recruiter, you’re on a social networking site for a specific purpose, and you want to be noticed among all the other talk happening at the same time. A CruiterTalk.com article discussed four ways for recruiters to creatively use Twitter. I found the article to be very interesting, and wanted to share some of the insight it contained:

1. Creating a Twitter account for one specific purpose helps to keep the conversation noise to a minimum, and therefore be able to hear what you want. For example, recruiters can refer to a database of people they’ve found elsewhere, either from résumés sent to you or e-mail addresses. Then, you can find these people on Twitter and follow them. That way, your account follows only those you want to see for a particular job. Read the rest of this entry »

A push exists for recruiters to integrate social media into their everyday routines. It’s not just about phone calls anymore– suddenly we’re expected to have a reach beyond the telephone line. Lately, new recruiting efforts have emerged, thanks to the rise of social media. This trend seems as though it’s here to stay. Matt Alder’s article, “Six Key Elements of Social Recruiting,” lays out what he believes are important ideas to strengthen a company’s social recruiting skills. While I agree with his elements as imperative to social recruiting, I think a big part of the picture is to combine the digital world with the physical world. Read the rest of this entry »

My key to successful recruiting: Relationship Building                          

The last ten years I have been recruiting mainly in the healthcare field with a strict emphasis on Registered Nurses, (RN).  My belief is that there is no text book definition on what makes a great recruiter. Every recruiter has their own keys for success and it is how we use them that make us successful. I learned early on that mine was building a relationship first and then doing my recruitment process second.

There are two sides to the recruitment process the client side and the candidate side. Let’s first look at the client side. This is where it all starts. Read the rest of this entry »