Professional & Enterprise Development

CT024-3-1

Recruitment Strategy - Advertisement, Job Interview

Structure of the Lesson

Planning for a Job advertisement

Interview

Learning Outcomes

Describe how to timetable a recruitment process

Interview process

Use

If you have mastered this topic, you should be able to use the following terms
correctly in your assignments and exams:

Job Advertisement

Step 5: Job Advertisement

How to design and write an effective job advertisement?

1. The job is your product

2. The readers are your potential customers (appropriate job-seekers)

3. The aim is to attract relevant interest (establishing relevance in the minds

of ideal candidates)

4. Design should concentrate on clarity and conveying professional image

5. Branding should be present but not overbearing

Job advertisement

Things to avoid

1. Over designed graphics

2. Extravagantly presented words (distracting)

3. Fonts too small or too big

4. Capital letters & Fancy Fonts

5. Lots of words in italics

6. Too much technical details about the job or the company

7. Boring and uninspiring descriptions of roles

8. High emphasis on the job and not enough on person

Job advertisement

Checklist

Job title

Employer or recruitment agency

Job base location

To whom the position reports

Outline of job role and purpose

Outline ideal candidate profile

Indicate qualifications and experiences (essential and desirable)

Salary or salary guide

Full Time or Part time , Contract or Permanent

Job advertisement

Checklist Cont

Other package detail

Explanation of the recruitment process

Application instructions

Contact details

Job advertisement

Look at other job adverts to get ideas for how to lay them out

Look at jobsites on the internet

There are lots of poor ones out there!

Think about which get your attention and why

Job advertisement sample

Innovate Corp.

Job title: Web developer - E-commerce - .NET

Salary: RM45K depending on experience and skills

Job description:

You will join an experienced team and build e-business solutions for
key customers such as Toys 'R' Us, Reuters and Unilever. You will be
challenged to develop systems that handle a large number of users,
complex transactions and extensive integration, while hitting high
standards of usability, reliability and manageability.
Innovate Corp is a Microsoft Partner and our solutions are built using their
very latest technologies. Development work is on the .NET platform in C#.
Person requirements:

Ideally you will have some experience of .NET and ASP.NET. You might also
have some object oriented knowledge and a familiarity with software design
patterns. More important than any of this is a keen desire to be a great software
developer.
We have a technical career development path leading to MCSD.NET certification.

Degree requirements:

While good A levels and a good degree are important, a demonstrable

passion for technology is essential.

Location: Klang Valley

Number of vacancies: 2 Vacancy type: Permanent

Job status: Full-time

Closing date: 30 October

How to apply: Email debbie.mills@innovate.com

Please send your CV and an informal letter.

Step 6: Interviewing Process

A face-to-face meeting of two people to accomplish a known purpose by

discussion (in this case to hire the right person for a certain position)

Asking the rights questions in the interview is good for getting the right
kind of information.

It is important to plan for the right questions

Interviewing Process Cont

Four kinds of questions :

Rapport-building questions (help put candidate at ease)

Open-ended questions (invite candidate to respond with a good deal of

information)

Probing questions (asked when more specific/focused information is

needed)

Non-question questions (make candidates more comfortable responding by

asking with language that does not end in a question mark eg May I suggest you
try the new library?)

Interviewing Process Cont

More points on the interview process :

Interviewers who are poorly trained are unlikely to be effective in their

selection of graduates. Imagine the embarrassment of the interviewer and
the cost to the organisation, associated with a candidate who clearly
shouldnt have made it through the first interview but has. Lack of training
doesn't pay.

Candidates are quite sophisticated in their interview techniques, are well aware
when interviewers lack skills. A waste if the candidate leaves the interview with a
low perception of the interviewer and organisation.

Interviewing Process Cont

More points on the interview process

The interview is meant to be a two-way process. Interviewers need to be

prepared to answer questions about the organisation

You and your interviewers have to be very clear about what you hope to
get from the interview, how the candidates are to be assessed
Keep interviewer-response form will to assist with the decision making

Interviewing Process Cont

Reserve list

It is sensible to include some contingencies (emergencies)

You can expect to have a dropout rate from the list of your
applicants/interviewees, so it is wise to keep some of other candidates in
the background .

Interviewing Process Cont

Conducting the interview

Avoid questions that can be answered with a "yes" or "no" or that prompt
obvious responses, such as "Are you self motivated?"

Ask questions that force the candidate to go into detail (open ended
question/probing question/non-question questions)

Pay attention to the candidate's non-verbal cues

Does she seem alert and interested or does she slouch and yawn?
Are his clothes wrinkled and stained, or clean and neat? A person
who can't make an effort for the interview certainly won't make one
on the job if hired.

Leave time at the end for the applicant to ask. This is the time when
applicants can really show they have done their homework and researched
your company

Interviewing Process Cont

Conducting the interview

End the interview by letting the candidate know what to expect next
 How much longer will you be interviewing? When can they expect to
hear from you?

After the interview, take 5 or 10 minutes to write down the applicant's

outstanding qualities and evaluate his or her personality and skills against
your job description and specifications.

Interviewing Process Cont

Interview stages

Identify the criteria to be assessed

include a scoring system to assist with the choosing process

E.g.

Communication skills

10 --- 9 --- 8 --- 7 --- 6 --- 5 --- 4 --- 3 --- 2 --- 1

Can communicate very well average communicator Quiet and reserved

Interviewing Process Cont

A good interviewer is trained to question every word you

say. They are used to polished, text book answers. They
want to know about the real you.

1. Make a list of the key characteristics and experience required for the role.

2. Think back over your career for specific examples of when you have
demonstrated these.

3. Be able to describe each example BRIEFLY.

4. Make sure your examples are specific, not woolly.

Job Interview Questions

The Top 10 Job Interview Questions

1. Why do you want to work for us?

2. Give us an example of a situation where you didn't meet your goals or

objectives.

3. Give us an example of a situation where you faced conflict or difficult

communication problems.

4. Where do you see yourself in 3 / 5/ 10 years?

5. What would your current manager say are your strengths?

6. What would your current manager say are your weaknesses?

7. Why should we give you this job?

8. Give us an example of working within an unreasonable deadline or faced with a

huge challenge

9. Do you prefer working in a team or on your own?

10. What is the first thing you would change, if you were to start work here?

Tough Question Strategy

2 CHOICES:

Panic and give one of those "regret-it-later" answers.

Employ the "tough question strategy" and give your best answer
So what is the strategy? How do you answer tough interview questions?

Tough Interview Questions

Arent you overqualified for this position?

Answer

Even though overqualified can be shorthand for old or expensive, it is

important to stay positive.

Express your enthusiasm for the job and pride in your qualifications. Explain what
makes you interested in this position

ILLEGAL QUESTIONS

What classifies as an illegal question varies vastly between

countries

As a general rule (UK and North America), questions concerning marital status,
sexual preferences, ethnic origin, health status or family plans are not allowed

If the answer to a question could be used to discriminate against you on grounds

other than your ability to perform in the role, then it should not be asked

ILLEGAL Job Question

For example:

If asked whether you are married, you could be opening a can

of worms by answering "yes" or "no". Whether you're married or single, it is not a
concern. So you could answer:

With all due respect, it is important to me to keep my work and personal life
separate. My marital status shouldnt be relevant to my career here at company
XYZ."

WEAKNESSES- CRACK A JOKE

"I'm easily bored, a bit sloppy and you wouldn't like to meet me on a
morning before I've had a coffee - I'm an ogre!"

Practical Session: Interview Strengths And Weaknesses -

Step 1

What would your manager miss about you? And what won't they miss?

Tell me about a time when a project / objective went badly.

What do you find most difficult / dislike the most about work?

Practical Session: Interview Strengths And Weaknesses

Step 2: Prepare before the interview

Think about your strengths.

As for weaknesses, it's often better to think of them as "development

areas", rather than "faults".

Tutorial: Interview Strengths And Weaknesses

Step 3: Learn how to answer it

Think of 3 of your "weaknesses".

What's the "positive side-effect" of that trait?

 Are there any "negatives" that you need to address? How do you perform
despite this weakness? How can you describe it so it sounds like a benefit
to the employer?

Tutorial: Strengths And Weaknesses

1. Write down in your notebook 3 strengths and

3 weaknesses

2. Keep a copy for yourself and hand in one copy to your lecturer

3. How do you plan to address the 3 weaknesses?

ASKING GOOD INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

err... nope... I think we've covered everything.

To make a great final impression!!

ASKING GOOD INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Make your questions relevant, genuine and intelligent.

Do not ask about something that doesn't interest you; it will show in your
body language

What are the 3 things you want to know about the job, the team, the
company? What does your interviewer like most about working there?
What would they change?