Interview Process - Make Sure The Chemistry is Right!

You can have the training, the experience, and the ability to do the job well. But in the final analysis, it is "chemistry," how you relate to the people involved and how you handle the interview, that usually determines whether you're offered the position. That's the conclusion of a major research project by the Bureau of National Affairs.

People often waste their interview time explaining "why I want this job" when they should be concentrating on "what I can do for the company." Yet most interviewers' questions do give you the opportunity to look good if you understand what the questions really mean!

The entire process of employment (application forms, resumes, interviews, references, etc.) is a lot like a sporting contest. Unfortunately, unlike football or basketball, the rules involving the "game of hiring" are unwritten. You learn them only through experience. As you know, experience can be a painful teacher. Some of the rules of hiring are subject to judgment and interpretation depending upon the situation. Others are not. Those concerning compensation fall into the latter category and should be adhered to.

Assuming the potential employer is aware of your current salary, the unwritten rule regarding compensation is "Never discuss money until the end of the interview. " Before a single word is said about it, you and your potential employer should come to an agreement that: 1) the organization can effectively profit from your services and; 2) you will find an opportunity for personal challenge and development within the organization.

If both of these conditions exist, money usually will take care of itself, frequently as an afterthought. Discussing salary requirements prematurely may create an obstacle to this objective and terminate the interview before you and the employer realize the mutual benefit of an association. What may be a reasonable salary expectation on your part may seem unrealistic to an organization until you are able to explain your experience and capabilities. You may never get this chance if you discuss compensation too early in the interview. For this reason, almost always indicate "Open" when an application requests "Salary Desired" or "Least Acceptable Compensation. "

After the interview you should send a thank-you note to keep from being forgotten and to distinguish yourself from other good candidates who may not be so thoughtful. It should be mailed within 24 hours. In it mention the facts you learned about the job and say that the interview confirmed your initial interest in the position. Now is your chance to use the inside information you gained during your interview. What did they tell you were some of the company's and/or department's problem areas, growth plans, needs? Use that information to briefly restate your assets in a way that shows how you can contribute to those specific company goals.

A former head of several branches of a large national executive search organization has found that, for white-collar positions, the thank-you note after an interview is a very important factor when it comes to deciding who gets the job.

I strongly advise against accepting a counter offer from your current employer for a number of reasons. In most cases, a person who seeks new employment does so for a variety of reasons (greater exposure, new challenges, better working conditions, more potential, etc.) aside from, or in addition to, making more money.

Even though your existing employer is willing to match your new dollar offer, nothing has changed that will affect the other fundamental reason(s) for your seeking new employment. In addition, you are at a definite psychological disadvantage in terms of future promotion and/or salary increase.

The very fact that you have sought new employment indicates a disloyalty to your present organization. The company may also feel that it can delay your next raise indefinitely since it now knows that all it has to do to retain your service is to match your next outside offer.

Finally, your present company may be playing a waiting game. Since it knows you are basically unhappy, the willingness to match your offer could be motivated by a desire to buy time in order to seek your replacement.

Good luck to you, and let's hope that the "Chemistry" is right!

10 most common job-hunting errors along with some practical advice

1. Poor resume. Accomplishments should be emphasized. Education and experience records should be concise.
2. Failure to network. Don't be reluctant to make use of friends and acquaintances.
3. Limiting job sources. Don't scorn the classified or employment agencies.
4. Canned approach. Don't reprint cover letters or send a "generic" resume.
5. Short search. Don't kid yourself; be prepared for the long haul-five months or more.
6. Inadequate interview preparation. Every interview is different and responses should be timely, flexible and geared to the prospective employer.
7. Poor interviewing techniques. It's a give-and-take, an honest relationship must be established.
8. Restricted job search. Geographic locations, commuting time, size and type of company and other personal preferences should be secondary. Check all possibilities.
9. Negative attitude. Even if you think you have all the answers, don't criticize your managers.
10. Poor physical appearance. Spruce up.

Top 10 Ways to Handle Too Many Job Requisitions!

I looked at some of the various factors that influence the load that a corporate recruiter can work. Today I find that I actually have more Job Requisitions on my desk to work than I can really handle. What follows are some thoughts on how to deal with the situation. Your thoughts will be appreciated and possibly implemented!

So what's on my desktop today?

* 1 Administrative
* 3 Legal
* 17 Engineering
* 10 Finance
* 3 Human Resources
* 3 Information Systems
* 5 Operations
* 2 Sales

That's 44 Job Requisitions with very few duplicates, located on all sides of the India, in at least 8 different disciplines. Maybe you could handle that and still have time to spare, but I can't so I've had to come up with ways to continue to be effective rather throwing in the towel.


1) What there is to do today is what there is to do today. What I do today is what there was to do today. Sounds weird doesn't it? But it's clear that I am not going to do more today than I actually do today. Now I may wish that I could do more but that's a pipe dream. When the day ends I'll have done what I did and nothing more.

2) Who's screaming the loudest? It works best to return calls and get to work on the tasks for the hiring managers who scream the loudest. You know the types: those who call multiple times each day to see what you've done since the last time they called. They are not going away! Find some resumes. Send them and move on. Maybe you'll have a few hours to work on something else before the next call?

3) Work the funnel. Most experienced recruiters know the funnel analogy. The resumes flow into the funnel and the placements flow out. When you're overloaded and you just don't know what to do first, just work whatever is closest to flowing out of the funnel. So you'd clearly extend an offer if you were ready to do that before you'd call a reference on another candidate or source candidates for another requisition.

4) Give some work away. What's on your desk that you can give to others? Ask you manger to reassign some reqs. See if you can get assistance with other tasks. Can someone else check some references for you? Perhaps someone else can screen some resumes? You get the picture?

5) Update your managers. You may have done nothing for a particular manager but hiding from them only creates more work and creates an unhappy customer. What follows may actually be my favorite thing to do: preferably call, if you can't do that then email, and let your manager know that you know their req is important and that you'd like to give them an update. The update may be that you have time scheduled to screen some resumes in the next few days. Make sure you really do have it scheduled and they'll appreciate the update and will look forward to resumes in a few days.

6) Schedule everything. If you're running from one fire to another and getting nothing much done then you probably have a scheduling problem. Schedule everything you have to do. Be realistic about how long things take to do. Schedule catch up gaps. For example, where I consult, we conduct debrief meetings following every interview with the entire interview team. Meetings are routinely scheduled to last 30 minutes which is fine for most groups but one of my groups always takes longer than that. I block the following 30 minutes for all their debriefs so I won't get behind.

7) Schedule some more. Didn't believe me in point 6 above? Schedule everything, and I do mean everything. If it isn't on your schedule then it isn't getting done.

8) Set realistic expectations. This is often touted as a great thing to do. Make promises that you can keep. Decline requests that you are able to decline. Keep your lines of communication open. Let people know that they may not receive the same high level of service from you that they are used to for a period of time due to your increased work load.

9) Eliminate the non-essential. When things really get out of control you're just going to have to not do some things. Are there meetings that you can decline? Are there things that you can move to a list of things that will be good to do later but are not important enough to be on your schedule and therefore will not get done now or anytime soon?

10) Run screaming from the building! I'm not really serious about this but you may just need to take a break or risk total burnout. I have to force myself to heed this advice because I'm a get it all done when it is supposed to be done personality. I can usually do that but not always and my default way of dealing with too much to do is to just work harder and longer. That works for a short while but not for long. Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the roses. The work will still be there when you come back.

So what do you think of this list? Any other practices that you use when you have too much to do?