Today, the world of work is changing. Organizations around the globe are adapting to a changing workforce, a changing economy, and entirely new ways of doing business. While many are on the job hunt, do you ever wonder what those HR recruiters are thinking as they vet for the right candidate? I’ll share insights into what HR professionals are looking for in applicants as they are building and expanding their teams. I’ll share practical tips that you can use to aid in your job search, your interviews, and recruitment process. I’ll give you a format to use when answering questions in your interview and how to discuss transferable skills. Understanding HR process can help you to make better application, land on a job and set into a new working environment.
Author Amber Vanderburg, International Keynote Speaker - Founder of The Pathwayz Group.
Before applying for a job, you should first, understand the culture of the company and figure out if this is a good fit for you. Do you want to be a part of this team? By asking this question you should understand really the culture of the company, because it will have a dramatic effect on your health, relationships, etc.
You can understand the culture, first, by understanding the industry in which the company works, because there are particular features of each particular industry. Second, you should understand how a specific department within that industry works especially if it is a large organization with many different departments. Ideally, you can talk to people working at this specific company or department using Linkedin or other associations of people related to this field. You can ask people particular questions about the culture of the company.
You should first understand that there are different HR approaches for hiring for different types of positions depending on your desired position you should identify the most efficient approach for yourself.
Standard online applications. It is a common type of hiring, however here your CV might not get a lot of time for consideration. Typically, an HR has only a few seconds to skim through each application. Thus, online applications are a very time consuming process without a high output.
Internships, college programs, etc. This approach allows you to test each other before signing an actual working contract.
Recruitment events
Sourcing. It is a type of hiring where an HR picks candidates by himself to fulfil high level positions.
Referrals. It is a very effective approach to get more attention to your CV.
A resume should be tailored for each specific job application. It should be short, concise, and related to this particular job. Usually it is about 1 page per 10 years of experience. You can use a template from google for example, or other service to keep it clean and simple to follow. Instead of a long list of your skills or achievements, identify 1-2 major ones and highlight them in your resume. It will help recruiter to remember you better and your major features. Understand the particular job requirements. Take several major points that they would want to see in the future employee. Make a list of those requirements and find strongest examples from your experience to each of them. It can be professional experience, extracurricular activities and other examples. You can provide statistics for some of your achievements to straighten them. I would recommend 3-4 highlights for your resume. They should reflect the ultimate value you can provide for the company. Remember to convey clearly the main take out massage that you want a recruiter to remember.
During recruitment process HRs are looking for an ideal team player for their company. The ideal team player possesses 3 key features according to Patrick Lencioni as he writes in his book “The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues”. An ideal team player is: 1) humble (ready to learn, adapt, listen to others, admit mistakes, and improve), 2) hungry (a drive to do grow and develop), 3) and smart (emotionally intelligent). It is important to have all these 3 factors. Interview it is your chance to tell the stories that go beyond the fact from your resume. Prepare 4-5 stories that will demonstrate well your competencies. Demonstrate with examples to your recruiter that you possess all these features. Do not demonstrate a big ego that can prevent you to become a good team player. Be prepared to answer questions about your adaptability, willingness to change/learn and how you react in difficult situations. Yours answers will help an HR to understand how you will handle similar situations in the future. Show your positive attitude, emotional intelligence and the ability to fit the team.
After being hired, you should be provided with an onboarding process. If at your company the onboarding process is not clearly set, you should come forward and ask questions about the company. It is an important moment to understand their expectations, requirements, standards, etc. before you start your work at the company. It will help you to do your work better from the beginning, meet their expectations, and be more fulfilled with the company’s culture.
Recruitment specialists receive very specific training to be a good and efficient recruiter. It is their job to find the best future team member and by the way they treat candidates can tell you a lot about the company. Your interaction with the recruiter can be very representative about your future experience of working in this company.
The interview process should be well-arranged. A multi-level interview process should be reasonably set depending on a particular position. The rounds of the interview process should be very clear in term of timeline and format. The interview process should be adapted for the company type and goals. Interview questions should be specific and efficient to find exceptional and most suitable candidates. 2.
At the stage of hiring, HR decisions should be unbiased (sex, race, nationality, etc.) and a good HR knows how to avoid biases in the process. A good HR should be good at negotiating salary, be well prepared to negotiate different form of compensation in your best interests, but keep equity among his current employees.
After being hired, you should be provided with a good onboarding process. The poor onboarding process could be a sight of a bad company culture.
General qualities of a good HR include intentional creation of company culture and identification of the best strategy to do so. Good HRs keep documents and procedures well organized. They comply with regulations and industry standards.
A good company and HR know what they can provide to keep employees happy, motivated and productive. Good HRs know how to use well-developed a benefits package (medical insurance, paid vacations, free drinks, retreat events, etc.) to motivate their team. They provide proper recognition of employee’s value, they know to retain their best talents and how to keep them motivated. They provide genuine and specific recognition. Also, good HRs organise training and courses, coaching programs and provide a powerful, well documented feedback to employees.
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[1.] Talk Understanding HR: Hire, be hired, and stay hired.
[2.] Patrick Lencioni “The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues”.
[3.] Amber Vanderburg and Madecraft “HR Guidelines Everyone Should Know”.