Neil Hernandez's Blog

Simple Recruiting Exercise

One of the critical skills for any recruiter is evaluating a resume to determine if there is a fit. Thus, I feel before any recruiter is hired, it is wise to test a recruiters skill in this area.

One way to do it is to give a job description. Then, show two sample resume and then have the recruiter state which resume is the best fit and why.

Another way to do it is to show a job description and then show a resume. Then ask the recruiter if they would would interview the candidate. A) Yes B) No C) Maybe. Then justify their answer.

A recruier has to demonstrate that basic skill.

Example of Candidate Brief to send along with resume

Example of Candidate Brief to send along with resume 

Neil:

Candidate Name has passed my initial phone screen for the Software Engineer position
in Lake Forest, IL. 

The following is a summary of the phone screen:

LOCATION: Brian lives in Antioch, IL so the commute is acceptable to Lake
Forest, IL.
EXPERIENCE: 10+ years of relevant experience in Software Engineering. Includes extensive experience with full life cycle software development including developing, coding, testing, and implementing.
SALARY: Candidate fits the salary expectations.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Great.  Enthusiastic personality.

OTHER NOTES: Brian can start asap.  He has left the AMA and is ready to start working.

Brian is expecting a call.  He can be reached anytime at
847-603-xxxx.  If he's not there he might have run out for a sec - feel free
to try his cell at 847-875-xxxx.

Phone Screen Script

Below is a great phone screen script that I use:

 

Hi Candidate Name, my name is Recruiter Name. I found your resume from source.

Are you still looking for a job?

Great. I have a job here that appears to be a match. What I was hoping to do was ask you a few questions as well as explain the job and the company to determine if there is a match.

Does that sound fair?

Great.

Are you currently working?

What do you do right now?

Why are you considering another opportunity at this point?

What type of opportunity are you looking for next?

Great.

Let me explain the opportunity that we have and then let me get your thoughts.

(Explain opportunity)

So what are your thoughts on the position?

Why would something like this be a match for you?

Candidate name,  after speaking with you it appears there is at least somewhat of a match between what we are looking for and what you are looking for.

Here is what I'm going to recommend next.

(Explain next steps of the recruiting process)

 

 

Add salary information to job postings

Would you rather have candidates go to you or would you rather go after candidates?

Personally, I like to create situations where qualified candidates go after me.

I found out one of the best ways to create a situation like this is posting a job ad on the Internet. I like to give as much detail as possible on the posting so potential candidates have a good idea of the position that they are applying for. I like to include the salary information on the job description because I want people to screen themselves base on the salary information.

I've run ads where I included the salary information, and I've run ads where I did not include the salary information. When I don't leave the salary, I always get people who apply that are either way below or way above the salary range. What happens is that I waste time. Why would I want to see a candidate who is asking for $40,000 / year for a position that is paying $100.000 a year. If I had originally listed that the position pays $100,000/year I increase the chance that someone seeking a $40,000 salary or a $150,000 salary will apply for the position.

Personal or Professional Email Accounts?

I usually like to keep recruiting emails separate from personal emails. But the choice is completely up to you. Some people like to use only one main email account for both personal and recruiting emails. The advantage of doing this is that you won't have another email account to worry about. You'll know that you are getting every single email because you only have one email account. The disadvantage is that if your email account domain name at the end - that is what comes after the @ sign - does not match your company name, then it may not be desirable. For example, if you use YourName@aol.com or YourName@Yahoo.com as opposed to using a more professional sounding account like: YourName@CompanyName.com.

I feel that there is no advantage to you whatsoever if you have a professional email account but rarely access it. I've heard of recruiters who have a professional account, but only check emails on there about once every few weeks. That is not a good idea if you want to promptly answer emails. So, I would use the account that you feel most comfortable using and that you know you will look at on a regular basis.

Understand the Position

One of the first steps every recruiter must become good at doing is understanding the position that you are recruiting for.

This usually means to get you hands on the job description. Your first job is to get hold of the job description . You can usually get this from the company website, or if not there from the client, or from the account manager or recruiting manager assigned to the client.

The person who usually knows most about the position is the direct hiring manager for the position. So the ideal situation is to arrange a meeting or phone call with yourself and the hiring manager. If you can't meet with hiring manager, you should try to meet with the next best available person that knows the position. This could be the recruiter for the client, your account manager, your recruiting manager, a fellow recruiter that had previously worked on the account, or someone else. The goal is to extract information about the position from the most accessible person that knows the most about the position.

Then your task is to study the position. I mean really study. Your job is to find a candidate for the position, so it is to your best interest to know as much about the position as possible. If it is a position that I have never recruited for and don't know much about,  I have even read the job description line by line about 5 times, wrote down key points of the job description on paper, and studied it some more.

I cannot over emphasize the importance of really taking the time to understand the position. If you have a full grasp of what the hiring manager is looking for, then it will make your job finding the candidate a whole lot easier.

Understanding the Company

The first step to fill a position is to understand everything you can about the company that the position is for. You don't need to know everything about the company, but you need to know enough to sell the job. What is enough to sell the job? Generally, it depends on the level of candidate. Low level candidates generally do not expect to know much more than the basics of the company. Basic information of the company can include:

• Name
• Industry
• Location
• Size (Big, Small, Medium)

When you get to higher level candidates, it would be helpful to know more information. This is primarily to establish your credibility.

Please keep in mind that these are general guidelines. Most of the time candidate won't ask nor will you find it is necessary to even go beyond disclosing the basics of the company. However, there may be situation where it will be advantageous to know some additional information about the company. As you recruit for this position you'll have opportunities to learn more about the company. Try to find additional valuable information including:

• Amount of sales last year
• Public of private company
• Sr. executive team names
• Sr. executive team backgrounds
• History of the company
• More information about the products or services the company sells
• Mission statement of the company
• Information on company culture
• Any other pieces of information you can use to sell the company