Interview them Right – Create your Employer Brand

During My Professional Tenure of 15+ Years in HR, I have had the privilege of interacting with many job applicants and Interviewers.  I have used my learnings from these interactions in this blog in the hope that my suggestions help bring a positive shift in the interviewing techniques of various stakeholders.

One of the Biggest Challenges faced by Organizations is to recruit the right fit and reduce hiring mistakes that result in the additional cost of recruitment and inconvenience.

How you recruit is the first step towards creating an EMPLOYER BRAND. Employer brand is the term commonly used to describe an organization's reputation as an employer, and its value proposition to its employees and prospective employees.

Creating A Positive Employer Brand in the eyes of prospective employees is important because:

1. People (Employees) talk within and outside the industry/company
2. Similarly A candidate who has been interviewed by you will talk about their experience with others , might give feedback on Glassdoor and other social media sites.

These feedbacks influence the decision of available pool of candidates to apply for a vacancy/ get interviewed / join in an organization.

So How DO we DO it?

 Know your candidate !! 

Ensure you know their credentials well enough before calling / meeting them. Going through the resume while the candidate is sitting in front of you looks a little unprofessional.

Telephonic HR Round : Create your first impression !!

• Irrespective of the source ( Consultant / Internal Hiring Team / Employee Reference etc) , Company HR should make a customary call or send an introductory email !!
• Say Hello & Introduce yourself !!
• Ask if the candidate has gone through :
• Website
• Company profile
• Job profile / Salary Range of the Job
• Work Culture (Timings / Work Days)

• However Long / Short / Difficult, inform the Candidate about the Interview Process. This will help the candidate be prepared for the duration / No. of Rounds etc and there will be no unpleasant surprises for either side.

Face to Face Round: Make your Mark

• Front Offices are called so because they are the front / face for all stakeholders walking in through the  doors of your company. They should be briefed by HR on how to interact with Candidates.
• Keep a few copies of the HR Newsletter at the Front Office for candidates to go through while they are waiting for the interview to begin with.
• Interviewers should not make the candidates wait for more than 15 minutes.
• HR should make the Candidate Feel Welcome.

Be prepared with your questions.

Categorize your questions into

• Generic
  • Tell me something about yourself
  • Why are you looking for a change?
  • What made you apply for this job
  • What made you apply for this company
  • Have you done some market research on our products/services/reputation as an employer?
  • What have you heard about us?
  • Tell me about your family
  • How supportive is your family towards this job
  • Will they raise issues if there are late working hours / working weekends?
  • Why is there a break in your CV (if any)?
  • What are the reasons for an unstable career (if it is unstable)
  • If you get an offer from our organization, how long do you see yourself working with us. We are only interested  long term commitment and expect people joining us to stay with us for a minimum of 2 years. Are you okay with that?

• Functional
• • What is your current/last role in your organization?
  • Who do you report to? Will he/she give a good feedback if we do a reference check on you?
  • Tell us the positives and negatives of working with your current boss
  • Tell us the positives and negatives of working in your current organization
  • Are you handling a team?
  • Whats your team size
  • What are the targets that you are handling?
  • Which clients (internal and external) do you cater to?
  • Name 3 achievements
  • Name 3 failures and what you learned from them
  • Where do you see yourself 5 years from now? What are you going to do about it?
  • This opportunity falls in the monotonous / high stress / high brain activity / High flyer zone. Are you comfortable with it? Do you think your family will be supportive of it?

• Closing Questions
• • Expected CTC
  • Expected Date of Joining
  • Take a Feedback on Your Hiring Process

ENSURE

• The Candidate feels respected/valued when he comes for an interview with you.
• Do not be rude to the candidates, you will only end up creating a negative impression in their minds.