In the large bucket, we label “Recruiters”, we have two basic types: 1) those recruiters that work for the hiring company, and 2) those recruiters that don’t. This second group is made up of recruiters that are either self-employed, or work for recruiting agencies that may only include a handful of recruiters, or be part of a much larger national agency. The point here is that are not employees of the hiring company. This group of recruiters maintain an office outside the hiring company. They are in effect hired guns to seek out candidates that are a good fit for open positions within the hiring company, and they are paid by the hiring company, usually through commission. I want to divide and conquer and discuss each type of recruiter separately. This current discussion will be on the recruiter that is an employee of the hiring company; "company recruiter", or "corporate recruiter" for short.
With regard to a Career Jump Start, I am making the assumption that at this point you have built some critical foundations: 1) You have created, and refined a resume that is final, or close to final, 2) You utilized your resume to plot a course for your next job and career, and 3) You have a good career introduction that you can use to solicit job leads. (See parts one through four in this series for background, and guidance.) I am assuming you have found a few jobs leads, and you have received in invitation to meet with a company recruiter. You are at the stage where you need to prepare to engage with a company recruiter.
WHAT CORPORATE RECRUITERS DO: Company recruiters, or corporate recruiters, are essentially gate-keepers. It is their job to reduce a large group of good candidates down to a group of a few, or even just a couple great candidates for an open position they need to fill. Recruiters that are employees of the hiring company follow a set procedure to select, interview, and extend an offer. These processes are instituted by company management, and almost always need to be adhered to by the recruiters. In all but very small companies a very large number of resumes submitted are reduced down to a manageable number of resumes by special software. The large number of candidates need to be reduced down to a number that can be manually scanned by the company recruiter. Typically, the recruiter has anywhere from 2 seconds to 30 seconds to read your résumé and make a decision to call you in. Regardless of the organization, the number of candidates to be called in for the initial interview can be as high as ten (although this is rare), or as small a number as a couple candidates, the point here is that if you are called in for the initial job interview, you are down to competing with only a few other candidates for the open position.
REASONS FOR OPTIMISM: It may be surprising to many, but the corporate recruiter who calls you in for the initial job interview wants you to get the job. If you are called in, it has already been established that you have skills, and experience that the organization wants, and values. It is to the recruiter’s benefit to place you. The sooner the recruiter delivers the right candidate, and offer, the sooner their job is done, and they can move on to other placements, and other demands of their job. Short story, if the recruiter brings you in, they are hoping to place you.
WHAT RECRUITERS LOOK FOR: At a high level, the recruiter is looking to see you have the skills, education, and experience to be successful in the open position. With this in mind, if a job description for the open position exists, bring a copy with you, and re-read the job description again right before you head in for the interview. Highlight the education, experience, skills, and certifications that are in the job description, and have examples in mind to talk about in the interview that underscore you have the education, skills, and experience called out in the job description. Company cultures vary, but it is generally best to respond to a question in two, or three sentences. If the recruiter wants additional information, they will ask for it. Recruiters also look for a track record of success, so be prepared to talk about your successes. In advance of the interview, consider a problem, or challenge you had to address in your job or your life – consider the actions you took to address the problem, and consider the outcome, or resolution that resulted because of your actions. This is a simple and very powerful way to call out to the recruiter your successes. If you able to call out recent successes, those within the last year, or two, this is even more impressive to the recruiter. Try to have three to five success stores in mind before you go in for the job interview. If you practice these stories in front of a mirror, or even with a friend, or family member, this will make your presentation more polished. Always a good thing. The other things that a recruiter is probably going to look for are around personality, and the potential dynamics within the team or department if you are hired. They will be looking for behavioral ticks, and personality aberrations. In general, the best way to avoid being labeled as “problematic” is to focus on eye contact with the interviewer, and keep fidgeting to a minimal. One way to do this is to intertwine your fingers, and keep your hands stable in front of you, or on your lap. With your fingers intertwined you will be less likely to fidget, or motion too much with your hands. This is just one technique, but ultimately the goal is to project that you are listening closely to the recruiter, and are fully engaged in the job interview. You want to project that your mind is fully in the conversation – not drifting off elsewhere. A good career professional, such as a career coach, or career consultant can provide a great deal of value in helping you work on your presentation, and listening skills. The recruiter may also try to establish salary expectations. In general, my guidance is not to bring up the topic of salary, but if the recruiter asks about your current salary – do disclose this, and be honest. Current salary is a fairly easy piece of information for a recruiter to obtain, so there is every reason to be honest about your current salary. If the recruiter asks what your salary expectations are, my guidance to say “I would like to receive market value for the position, but salary is just one piece I would consider in the offer…” By phrasing your response this way, you are communicating you just want what is fair, but you are not locking yourself into a specific dollar amount the company might not be able to offer. A final piece the recruiter may ask about is a start date. If this question comes up this is great news – the recruiter has most likely made the decision you are a strong candidate. A great way to respond back to this question is to ask “what date works best for the team?” If you respond in this way you are telling the recruiter that you are already putting their company, or organization needs first. You are aiming to please, and the recruiter will definitely take note of this.
INTERVIEWS TO GAIN KNOWLEDGE: It does not happen very often, but there might be times when you are brought in for an interview where the main objective is not to place you – but rather to gain knowledge on a particular technology, process, or methodology you have on your résumé. These interviews to “pick your brain" are called to educate the recruiter, are rare - but do happen. I heard a good example of this at a job interview workshop last year. A former recruiter for a large newspaper described how the newspaper wanted to move from old, proprietary computer systems, to the more common IBM mainframe-based systems. Since the recruiter needed to learn more about the technology, in order to create a better job requisition, she called in many applicants that had IBM mainframe on their résumés, to pick their brains on mainframes, and mainframe language. These types of interviews are not common, but just be aware that in these types of interviews a recruiter may ask you expand on an item in your résumé, not just because they want to see if you have the knowledge, and experience, but rather to educate themselves on some piece that is key to the open or upcoming position.
IF YOU DON’T GET THE JOB: If you do NOT get the offer, the recruiter may still be of value to you. Ask the recruiter for any feedback on the interview. Some recruiters may have a canned response to this question - but others may provide useful feedback. Ask the recruiter if they have any similar positions open they are interviewing on. Chances are actually good they will keep you in mind for other positions if they liked your interview, and generally liked you. It will save the recruiter time, and effort to consider you for another open position, so it is to the recruiter’s advantage to leverage you on a different open position. Ask them if you know of similar open positions at other companies. If the recruiter connects with you on a human level, they will try to help you get a job - even if it is not their company. Ask the recruiter for any other suggestions they might have for you, and your job search. And of course, thank them for any help or suggestions they share with you.
USEFUL TIPS: Below are some best practices to remember when engaging with the hiring Company’s Recruiter:
1) If the first interview is by phone, make sure you have a quiet place to take the call, and a window of time that is free from distraction.
2) If your interview is in person, dress for success. It is better to be overdressed than too casual in dress. If you are interviewing for an executive position, save your best suit for the final interview with the hiring manager, or their manager.
3) Do your research: In addition to researching the position you are applying for, research the company. Look for recent news on the company, and if the company is public, search for, or request the annual report.
4) Review the job description and have it on hand as you go into the interview. Highlight items on the job description that you know you can satisfy. Be prepared to talk about how your background aligns well with the job description.
5) Different companies have different cultures, but in general it is better to keep your answers short, and to the point. If the recruiter wants more information they will ask for it. Try to provide answers in two to three sentences.
6) If your interview is in person, maintain eye contact. For some people this is an interpersonal skill that needs to be developed. This will improve with practice. A Career professional like a career coach can help a great deal with this area.
7) Be prepared for questions about your successes. Don’t go into small details, but be prepared to do so if the recruiter wants a deep dive. Consider a problem or challenge you were faced with, what action you took, and what the results were from your actions. This is a simple formula to use to discuss your track record of success. Have several success stories prepared to discuss.
8) The recruiter will most likely ask about challenges, or areas where you have failed. The recruiter wants to see how you respond to challenges. Do you blame others? Do you accept the situation? Do you look for solutions? Be prepared for this question.
9) During the interview do your best to listen. To answer a question confidently, but not on topic is as bad as not having an answer to the question. If the question is not clear (or if you need time to think for an answer) say “I’m not sure I understand the question, could you perhaps state it differently?”
10)) Have questions for the interviewer. Equal to your being interviewed – you are interviewing the company. A couple questions that are appropriate to any job is “how soon would you like the position filled”, and “what is the hiring processes for this position”, and “is this a new role, or back fill for a position that has been vacated?” (This question may give you some information on if the company is expanding, or if there have been problems in keeping people in the position – which is a red flag.
11) As a wrap-up, ask the recruiter if they have covered all the questions they need to get to.
12) Ask the recruiter what the next step in the hiring process will be – try to get dates if possible.
13) Thank the recruiter for their time.
14) Tell the recruiter that you are interested in the position. A close something like “I’m sure the hiring manager will have some questions for me, but based on how you described the job, and its duties, I am very interested in pursuing the position”.
15) Send a thank you note to your recruiter. The recruiter will look positively on this, and it is another way to get your name in front of the recruiter.
A professional such as a career counselor, or a career coach, or transition coach can help prepare you for your interview with a company recruiter. Doing mock interviews with a coach or other professional can only help when you meet with recruiters.
When you have a better understanding of what company recruiters do, and what things they are looking for in the candidates they interview, the better your engagement with a recruiter will be, and the better relationship with the recruiter you will have. It helps to understand that a company recruiter, or corporate recruiter’s main job is a gatekeeper for the company. From a small group of very good candidates, they identify the few very best candidates to move forward in the hiring process. If you have been called in to interview with a corporate recruiter, this is great news – as they have already established you seem to have the education, skills, and experience to be considered a final candidate. Furthermore, they want you to succeed. If you use the above suggestions with tact, and skill, you may find that you have made another ally in your job search. This is true, even if the company recruiter is not able to extend a job offer to you. Remember, you are engaging with an expert - an expert in screening candidates. With some planning and diplomacy, you can engage this expert to advantage in your job search.
Author: Brian Kail, MBA, CPC, CCC is a Career and Business Coach. For more information see AscendProCoach.com
With regard to a Career Jump Start, I am making the assumption that at this point you have built some critical foundations: 1) You have created, and refined a resume that is final, or close to final, 2) You utilized your resume to plot a course for your next job and career, and 3) You have a good career introduction that you can use to solicit job leads. (See parts one through four in this series for background, and guidance.) I am assuming you have found a few jobs leads, and you have received in invitation to meet with a company recruiter. You are at the stage where you need to prepare to engage with a company recruiter.
WHAT CORPORATE RECRUITERS DO: Company recruiters, or corporate recruiters, are essentially gate-keepers. It is their job to reduce a large group of good candidates down to a group of a few, or even just a couple great candidates for an open position they need to fill. Recruiters that are employees of the hiring company follow a set procedure to select, interview, and extend an offer. These processes are instituted by company management, and almost always need to be adhered to by the recruiters. In all but very small companies a very large number of resumes submitted are reduced down to a manageable number of resumes by special software. The large number of candidates need to be reduced down to a number that can be manually scanned by the company recruiter. Typically, the recruiter has anywhere from 2 seconds to 30 seconds to read your résumé and make a decision to call you in. Regardless of the organization, the number of candidates to be called in for the initial interview can be as high as ten (although this is rare), or as small a number as a couple candidates, the point here is that if you are called in for the initial job interview, you are down to competing with only a few other candidates for the open position.
REASONS FOR OPTIMISM: It may be surprising to many, but the corporate recruiter who calls you in for the initial job interview wants you to get the job. If you are called in, it has already been established that you have skills, and experience that the organization wants, and values. It is to the recruiter’s benefit to place you. The sooner the recruiter delivers the right candidate, and offer, the sooner their job is done, and they can move on to other placements, and other demands of their job. Short story, if the recruiter brings you in, they are hoping to place you.
WHAT RECRUITERS LOOK FOR: At a high level, the recruiter is looking to see you have the skills, education, and experience to be successful in the open position. With this in mind, if a job description for the open position exists, bring a copy with you, and re-read the job description again right before you head in for the interview. Highlight the education, experience, skills, and certifications that are in the job description, and have examples in mind to talk about in the interview that underscore you have the education, skills, and experience called out in the job description. Company cultures vary, but it is generally best to respond to a question in two, or three sentences. If the recruiter wants additional information, they will ask for it. Recruiters also look for a track record of success, so be prepared to talk about your successes. In advance of the interview, consider a problem, or challenge you had to address in your job or your life – consider the actions you took to address the problem, and consider the outcome, or resolution that resulted because of your actions. This is a simple and very powerful way to call out to the recruiter your successes. If you able to call out recent successes, those within the last year, or two, this is even more impressive to the recruiter. Try to have three to five success stores in mind before you go in for the job interview. If you practice these stories in front of a mirror, or even with a friend, or family member, this will make your presentation more polished. Always a good thing. The other things that a recruiter is probably going to look for are around personality, and the potential dynamics within the team or department if you are hired. They will be looking for behavioral ticks, and personality aberrations. In general, the best way to avoid being labeled as “problematic” is to focus on eye contact with the interviewer, and keep fidgeting to a minimal. One way to do this is to intertwine your fingers, and keep your hands stable in front of you, or on your lap. With your fingers intertwined you will be less likely to fidget, or motion too much with your hands. This is just one technique, but ultimately the goal is to project that you are listening closely to the recruiter, and are fully engaged in the job interview. You want to project that your mind is fully in the conversation – not drifting off elsewhere. A good career professional, such as a career coach, or career consultant can provide a great deal of value in helping you work on your presentation, and listening skills. The recruiter may also try to establish salary expectations. In general, my guidance is not to bring up the topic of salary, but if the recruiter asks about your current salary – do disclose this, and be honest. Current salary is a fairly easy piece of information for a recruiter to obtain, so there is every reason to be honest about your current salary. If the recruiter asks what your salary expectations are, my guidance to say “I would like to receive market value for the position, but salary is just one piece I would consider in the offer…” By phrasing your response this way, you are communicating you just want what is fair, but you are not locking yourself into a specific dollar amount the company might not be able to offer. A final piece the recruiter may ask about is a start date. If this question comes up this is great news – the recruiter has most likely made the decision you are a strong candidate. A great way to respond back to this question is to ask “what date works best for the team?” If you respond in this way you are telling the recruiter that you are already putting their company, or organization needs first. You are aiming to please, and the recruiter will definitely take note of this.
INTERVIEWS TO GAIN KNOWLEDGE: It does not happen very often, but there might be times when you are brought in for an interview where the main objective is not to place you – but rather to gain knowledge on a particular technology, process, or methodology you have on your résumé. These interviews to “pick your brain" are called to educate the recruiter, are rare - but do happen. I heard a good example of this at a job interview workshop last year. A former recruiter for a large newspaper described how the newspaper wanted to move from old, proprietary computer systems, to the more common IBM mainframe-based systems. Since the recruiter needed to learn more about the technology, in order to create a better job requisition, she called in many applicants that had IBM mainframe on their résumés, to pick their brains on mainframes, and mainframe language. These types of interviews are not common, but just be aware that in these types of interviews a recruiter may ask you expand on an item in your résumé, not just because they want to see if you have the knowledge, and experience, but rather to educate themselves on some piece that is key to the open or upcoming position.
IF YOU DON’T GET THE JOB: If you do NOT get the offer, the recruiter may still be of value to you. Ask the recruiter for any feedback on the interview. Some recruiters may have a canned response to this question - but others may provide useful feedback. Ask the recruiter if they have any similar positions open they are interviewing on. Chances are actually good they will keep you in mind for other positions if they liked your interview, and generally liked you. It will save the recruiter time, and effort to consider you for another open position, so it is to the recruiter’s advantage to leverage you on a different open position. Ask them if you know of similar open positions at other companies. If the recruiter connects with you on a human level, they will try to help you get a job - even if it is not their company. Ask the recruiter for any other suggestions they might have for you, and your job search. And of course, thank them for any help or suggestions they share with you.
USEFUL TIPS: Below are some best practices to remember when engaging with the hiring Company’s Recruiter:
1) If the first interview is by phone, make sure you have a quiet place to take the call, and a window of time that is free from distraction.
2) If your interview is in person, dress for success. It is better to be overdressed than too casual in dress. If you are interviewing for an executive position, save your best suit for the final interview with the hiring manager, or their manager.
3) Do your research: In addition to researching the position you are applying for, research the company. Look for recent news on the company, and if the company is public, search for, or request the annual report.
4) Review the job description and have it on hand as you go into the interview. Highlight items on the job description that you know you can satisfy. Be prepared to talk about how your background aligns well with the job description.
5) Different companies have different cultures, but in general it is better to keep your answers short, and to the point. If the recruiter wants more information they will ask for it. Try to provide answers in two to three sentences.
6) If your interview is in person, maintain eye contact. For some people this is an interpersonal skill that needs to be developed. This will improve with practice. A Career professional like a career coach can help a great deal with this area.
7) Be prepared for questions about your successes. Don’t go into small details, but be prepared to do so if the recruiter wants a deep dive. Consider a problem or challenge you were faced with, what action you took, and what the results were from your actions. This is a simple formula to use to discuss your track record of success. Have several success stories prepared to discuss.
8) The recruiter will most likely ask about challenges, or areas where you have failed. The recruiter wants to see how you respond to challenges. Do you blame others? Do you accept the situation? Do you look for solutions? Be prepared for this question.
9) During the interview do your best to listen. To answer a question confidently, but not on topic is as bad as not having an answer to the question. If the question is not clear (or if you need time to think for an answer) say “I’m not sure I understand the question, could you perhaps state it differently?”
10)) Have questions for the interviewer. Equal to your being interviewed – you are interviewing the company. A couple questions that are appropriate to any job is “how soon would you like the position filled”, and “what is the hiring processes for this position”, and “is this a new role, or back fill for a position that has been vacated?” (This question may give you some information on if the company is expanding, or if there have been problems in keeping people in the position – which is a red flag.
11) As a wrap-up, ask the recruiter if they have covered all the questions they need to get to.
12) Ask the recruiter what the next step in the hiring process will be – try to get dates if possible.
13) Thank the recruiter for their time.
14) Tell the recruiter that you are interested in the position. A close something like “I’m sure the hiring manager will have some questions for me, but based on how you described the job, and its duties, I am very interested in pursuing the position”.
15) Send a thank you note to your recruiter. The recruiter will look positively on this, and it is another way to get your name in front of the recruiter.
A professional such as a career counselor, or a career coach, or transition coach can help prepare you for your interview with a company recruiter. Doing mock interviews with a coach or other professional can only help when you meet with recruiters.
When you have a better understanding of what company recruiters do, and what things they are looking for in the candidates they interview, the better your engagement with a recruiter will be, and the better relationship with the recruiter you will have. It helps to understand that a company recruiter, or corporate recruiter’s main job is a gatekeeper for the company. From a small group of very good candidates, they identify the few very best candidates to move forward in the hiring process. If you have been called in to interview with a corporate recruiter, this is great news – as they have already established you seem to have the education, skills, and experience to be considered a final candidate. Furthermore, they want you to succeed. If you use the above suggestions with tact, and skill, you may find that you have made another ally in your job search. This is true, even if the company recruiter is not able to extend a job offer to you. Remember, you are engaging with an expert - an expert in screening candidates. With some planning and diplomacy, you can engage this expert to advantage in your job search.
Author: Brian Kail, MBA, CPC, CCC is a Career and Business Coach. For more information see AscendProCoach.com
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