My experience of recruiting new staff

noelphobic

do_i_give_up wrote: »

Shame you didn't put on the position you were advertising. Some people myself included apply for jobs, check spellings (annoying USA grammar corrections at time using spell check) to find you don't get an interview or feedback because you are over qualified, or they class you from their assumption you are a short term risk. An example i had myself just last week. I applied for a position, completed the online application, then an online test, then a telephone interview to be invited to an face to face interview. now taking into account the job position was 25 miles away in a city centre where expensive car park charges (in my opinion) are enforced. So i got up extra early, got suited and booted, arrived 30 minutes early paid £10.00 for parking (so all in all cost me me around £18.00 including fuel costs, which on JSA of £144.00 a fortnight) to be told that although i answered the CBI and conducted the telephone role play i didn't get the position due to the excuse of short term risk as totally unacceptable. On receiving this feedback i was upset and out of pocket (lets just say i went without food for 3 days to help fund this) I was asked what i had said to the question of long term goals. I replied honestly that in 5 - 10 years i would like to have my mortgage paid off, then remortgage and invest in property. Now if they are so narrow minded to think that after 5 years i would leave and be a property tycoon making millions, that is totally insane. Surely they should be able to see that even if i was able to do this i still needed to work as i would need to pay the remortgage! Why do employers ask these questions at interviews and only want an answer of ...I wish to be the manager/CEO of the company they are joining? Surely going through the stages should show commitment to the company?

I found this quite hard to follow. The paragraph is far too long and you were rambling. If you sent an application form/CV like this and/or talked this way in an interview then I doubt you would get the job. I don't understand your answer to the question about long term goals either. I think they would expect you to answer in terms of where you wanted to be in your career, rather than the fact that you hoped to have paid off your mortgage.

I don't have a great track record myself, mainly down to poor interview techniques on my part, but am working on it. I also reflect on the feedback I get from interviews and try to improve as a result.

MothballsWallet

brightonman123 wrote: »

HAs OP ever used a recruiting agency? I often wonder what info they get from firms, to give to candidates so they can prepare..


every one I have been to, and had an interview arranged, just said look on x y z website - they gave no idea what the firm does / treats staff etc..


for the commission they earn ( have seen invoices!), rather a poor show imo!

I had one agency who got me an interview give me the wrong company website address, and I didn't manage to find the correct one before the interview (this was before I had broadband or a smartphone).

dayzee_2

As someone who was unemployed for 3mths this year (redundancy). I found 2 things difficult.

1. my JS advisor did not understand the job I did, or my skillset. I have niche skills that are difficult to transfer into a different sector. However, I still needed to apply for at least 14 jobs a week (her words not mine), and i found this impossible and faced the threat of sanctions many times. The only reason I did not get sanctions was because she was "impressed" at the companies who were interviewing me.

2. Feedback is almost impossible to get for interviews or CV.

I found it difficult when I would never receive feedback from interviews. Maybe in the middle of my interviews I was swearing and never knew. Maybe I was not answering questions properly. Feedback is very helpful and needed.

I have no idea if my CV is up to standard anymore. Recruitment agencies never said anything to me, so I presume it is standard, but I have no idea.


I have also been on the other side recruitment, and due to all rules etc, I can't tell a candidate the reason they won't get this job is because they are dressing poorly, and not selling themselves etc etc. And I wish you could.

do_i_give_up wrote: »

I was asked what i had said to the question of long term goals. I replied honestly that in 5 - 10 years i would like to have my mortgage paid off, then remortgage and invest in property. Now if they are so narrow minded to think that after 5 years i would leave and be a property tycoon making millions, that is totally insane.

But how is that related to the job you were applying to? If I had received that answer, I would just presume you want a job, any job. You were about earning money and did not care if it was at that job, or working min wage elsewhere as long as it covered your mortgage.

You need to focus on why you will be at the job in 5 years time. You want to move up to supervisor position. You want to obtain more skills and have better business acumen. You want to be sales person of the month for a company that sells a product you love. Yeah they are always vague answers, but shows you want to work there, at THAT company.

SBOSlayer

dayzee wrote: »

You need to focus on why you will be at the job in 5 years time. You want to move up to supervisor position. .

Just a random thought, that's the worst question I've ever been asked lol! I always have a prepped answer, but *shudder*. Honestly, my personal career direction may change in this time lol. However, it is quiet and important question to have a very fine tuned answer for.

What's interesting is that it's not really common to work for a company over 5 years these days... or at least that's what i've been told. Apparently it is better to switch jobs, but idk... I guess i'm not a big grown up yet hehe. Don't know if that's truly the case or inaccurate... but, I must admit I get bored of routine and like new challenges ^^

sh0597

If you're applying for an entry level job then there's a decent chance the company is going to invest in you by training you and also that you will take a bit of time to become truly productive.


That's why they ideally want someone who will return their investment by staying at the company for 5 or more years, I think if you join the armed forces you are actually contracted to them for a number of years and must pay a penalty to leave early. They don't want to spend thousands training someone who decides they are bored after 6 months.

dayzee_2

SBOSlayer wrote: »

Just a random thought, that's the worst question I've ever been asked lol! I always have a prepped answer, but *shudder*. Honestly, my personal career direction may change in this time lol. However, it is quiet and important question to have a very fine tuned answer for.

What's interesting is that it's not really common to work for a company over 5 years these days... or at least that's what i've been told. Apparently it is better to switch jobs, but idk... I guess i'm not a big grown up yet hehe. Don't know if that's truly the case or inaccurate... but, I must admit I get bored of routine and like new challenges ^^

Oh I agree. I have no idea what I will be doing in 5 years time personally, or in employment.

I tend to work for a company about 2.5 years before I move on. I do tech based things and if the company is not moving forward, then neither is my knowledge base and that is not an answer to give. However, I always expect the question and try to fit it in with the company. After all they don't want to be interviewing for your position in 6mths time.

I was almost grateful when I was made redundant as my answer was alone the lines of "If you asked me this question 6 mths ago it would be very focused and with clear goals. However being made redundant has opened many doors for me, and I am discovering what I want and where i want to go. My answer is not going to be quite clear and focused at the moment. However, I want to work in a role where I can grow and learn from others around me. I want to improve my business acumen and I feel X company can help with examples. I would like to take on a more leadership role, add some examples here. On a personal level I will be looking at doing my MBA part-time outside of work which i think will help me by giving examples, and how it will benefit company with examples". True? Not at all.

[Deleted User]

Some companies enjoy constant recruiting - I started at one company it was clear they had a new team each year so some do deserve what they get

Not all companies train their staff, I'm not grumbling because it means there is no hold on me

And thanks to the w.w.w a lot of wrongful facts can be branded around and go against you when mentioned in an interview, I miss the days of when you used to be able to phone and ask for the PR department!

mattcanary

dayzee wrote: »

Oh I agree. I have no idea what I will be doing in 5 years time personally, or in employment.

I tend to work for a company about 2.5 years before I move on. I do tech based things and if the company is not moving forward, then neither is my knowledge base and that is not an answer to give. However, I always expect the question and try to fit it in with the company. After all they don't want to be interviewing for your position in 6mths time.

I was almost grateful when I was made redundant as my answer was alone the lines of "If you asked me this question 6 mths ago it would be very focused and with clear goals. However being made redundant has opened many doors for me, and I am discovering what I want and where i want to go. My answer is not going to be quite clear and focused at the moment. However, I want to work in a role where I can grow and learn from others around me. I want to improve my business acumen and I feel X company can help with examples. I would like to take on a more leadership role, add some examples here. On a personal level I will be looking at doing my MBA part-time outside of work which i think will help me by giving examples, and how it will benefit company with examples". True? Not at all.

Your answer is mumbo jumbo. I wouldn't be impressed by it at all. It has too many aspects to it, and sounds too vague. How can they all be true?

SBOSlayer

dayzee wrote: »

I would like to take on a more leadership role, add some examples here. On a personal level I will be looking at doing my MBA part-time outside of work which i think will help me by giving examples, and how it will benefit company with examples". True? Not at all.

This be my future plan An MBA, the creme de la creme lol.

sh0597 wrote: »

. They don't want to spend thousands training someone who decides they are bored after 6 months.

True, but your workforce make your business - they are the ones with the tacit knowledge, who know the customer etc. I think most definitely this is true, just wish some would treat their employees better :P

TBagpuss

googler wrote: »

Are you seriously suggesting you would reject a good-quality candidate just because their CV doesn't follow what you perceive as current trends?

No. Which is why I didn't say that.

I was pointing out that people who are looking for job don't always get good advice about the best way to present themselves, so the poor applications may be down to bad advice rather than them being poor candidates. Which is pretty much the opposite of what you are suggesting.

That said, Depending on the volume of applications, employers may be looking for ways to narrow down selection. If there are 3 good quality candidates, it makes sense to interview them all, even if one of them has a poorly presented CV / cover letter.

On the other hand, if there are 150 good quality candidates and the employer is trying to narrow it down to 5 or 6 to call for interview, then presentation may become much more important.


Dayzee - did the recruitment agency use your CV? When we get details from agencies the CV usually seems to be drawn up by the agency, presumably based on the one the candidate has given them - they seem to each have their own standard format, which starts to become obvious of you see several candidates via the same agency.

Out of interest, did you ask the agency for feedback on your CV at all?