Viewing All Posts Tagged ‘interview’

By Phil Haynes. August 10, 2009Filed Under Industry Commentary | Leave a Comment 

Job Seeker Advocate

I’m ushering in a new look (Thanks NZ Team!!), new name and new focus on the AllianceQ Blog.  I hope you like the changes and enjoy reading “Recruiting on Q”.

Today, my focus shifts to the Job Seeker.  Of all the reasons to focus on this population of people, none is more compelling than spending time with Recruiting departments and hearing some of the prevailing attitudes toward them.  Wow!  You’d think the job seeker was put on the earth to bog down and frustrate corporate recruiting departments.  I think your Marketing and Executive teams might have something to say about that!

Time To Buy

The job seeker is inextricable tied to your corporate profits.  Follow me here; a job seeker applies to one of your jobs – why?  Probably for a myriad of reasons but one of them is always “money”.  I don’t hang with a lot of independently wealthy folks so everyone I know works for pay.  What do we do with that pay?  After taxes, we buy “stuff”.  Therefore, every job seeker is also a consumer, and a potential consumer of your company’s “stuff”.  Or not.

  • 1 in 4 job seekers has been badly treated by a prospective employer.
  • 53% of job seekers will not purchase products and services if they have been badly treated.
  • 55% tell at least 3 people about their bad experience.

There are many ways a company can increase the positive feelings these job seekers have with their brand.

None is more important than simply acknowledging there is more to do and committing to doing it.

 

By Phil Haynes. May 20, 2009Filed Under Industry Commentary | Leave a Comment 

Interview Illusion

I just read the June edition of Fast Company (www.fastcompany.com).

In it there is an amazing article on page 51 called “Hold the Interview”.  In it, authors Dan and Chip Heath make a very compelling, fact-based argument against interviewing candidates.  The research they quote says that much more often than not, the interview is NOT a predictor of success.  They go on to suggest that one of the best predictors of job performance is a work sample;

“if you are hiring a graphic designer, get them to design something.  If you are hiring a salesperson, get them to sell you something.  If you are hiring a chief executive, ask them to say nothing – but reassuringly.”

 But the most compelling statement in the article is the last paragraph;

Giving job tests might be the easiest competitive advantage you ever acquire.  While your competitors hire friendly people whose “biggest weakness ” is “working too hard, ” you’ll be discovering the true stars.

So now, all of the HR and Recruiting Professionals reading this are saying to themselves (or aloud) “yeah right – no interview – that’s absurd”.

What’s absurd (and absolutely intriguing in it’s obviousness) is that the FEATURE article of this issue is the 100 Most Creative People in Business.

There are NO HR or Recruiting people mentioned in the feature article.