Thursday, April 23, 2015
Preparing for Shotgun Interview
6 Tips to Prepare for a Shotgun Interview With Just 24 Hours’ Notice
KAZIM LADIMEJI | April 8, 2015
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Preparing for an interview is relatively easy if you have enough time. However, interviews don’t always go according to plan: life happens, and for whatever reason, you may find yourself requested to attend an interview with extremely short notice — the next day, even!How can you possibly prepare for an interview with only the few hours that remain after work, when you will already be tired from a full day? Can you really prepare enough with just 24 hours’ notice?
While you might not be able to conduct the kind of exhaustive preparation that would enable optimal performance, you can prepare yourself to perform at a pretty high standard, if you know how to prioritize.
If you do find yourself facing a short-notice interview, you might find these six tips helpful:
1. Avoid Buying Any New Interview Attire
You really don’t have the time to spend in checkout queues, buying shiny new interview clothes, so make the best of what you have. An iron and a bit of spit and polish should be sufficient to address most wardrobe malfunctions.
2. Get Home as Early as You Can
Avoid after-work drinks, pick up a healthy takeout meal so you don’t have to cook, and consider taking a taxi if it saves you waiting at a bus stop for 30 minutes. If you can get out of work early that day, do so. Your goal should be to get home as soon as you can, buying you as much time as possible.
3. Research and Preparing for the Interview (in 30 Minutes)
You’ll need to prioritize, as you really can’t do thorough preparation here. Ideally, you want to research the following information so you can demonstrate your prior knowledge of the business, which is what recruiters will be looking for. You’ll only have time for a surface scan, so prioritize the following information:
Names of the hiring manager, department manager, and CEO, and one positive fact or piece of information about each of them.
Names of the company’s flagship product(s), two of the company’s competitors, and at least one of the company’s differentiating features.
Geography of the business and where main offices are located.
How long the company has existed.
What you like about the company’s business/products/employer brand.
4. Prepare to Answer Behavioral Questions (in One Hour)
You won’t know exactly what questions the interviewers will ask you, but you can be pretty sure they’ll ask you behavioral questions like, “Can you tell me about a time when you handled an angry customer?”
You’ll be expected to answer these questions in a STAR format, which stands for: Situation, Task, Action, Result. This means: describe the situation you were in when you faced an angry customer, what your duties were, what action you took, and the outcome of the scenario – e.g., did you placate or satisfy the customer?
You’ll be able to find lists of typical behavioral interview questions online. Hunt down those lists and spend up to an hour practicing your answers.
5. Prepare at Least Three Questions to Ask at the Interview (in 15 Minutes)
You can’t walk out of the interview without asking some pertinent questions; failing to answer questions will reflect badly on you, making you appear disengaged. It’s best to prepare two or three questions to ask the hiring manager. Examples of good questions to ask are:
What will be my key objectives for the first six months?
What keeps you up at night at the moment, work-wise?
Can I tell you an idea about how the product could be improved?
6. Planning the Journey (in 15 minutes)
Allow yourself 15 minutes to do journey planning, mapping out your route to the interview to ensure you arrive on time.
This shotgun-interview plan gives you two hours of study time, which you should be able to squeeze into an evening. This leaves you with the remainder of your night to prepare your interview attire, relax, and get a good night’s sleep, so that you are energized the following morning.
Tips for Recruiter Jobs
Recruitment Agency Employment via
http://work.chron.com/prepare-job-interview-
recruitment-agency-19161.html
Step 1
Photocopy your resume, cover letter and references as you would prepare for an interview as a corporate recruiter or any other position. Make several copies in case it's a large recruitment agency and you have an opportunity to meet others who are interested in learning about your qualifications and background.
Step 2
Draft an elevator speech about your recruiting expertise. An elevator speech is approximately a 60-second, well-rounded introduction concerning your experience, core competencies and work philosophy. Talk about full life-cycle recruitment duties you've had and how much you know about the overall talent acquisition process. If you are interviewing for your first job as a recruiter, create an introduction about the transferable skills you have that will serve you well in a recruiter role. Transferable skills useful for a recruiter include verbal and written communication skills, negotiation techniques, consultative sales knowledge and the ability to grasp new processes in learning specific job fields and occupations.
Step 3
Talent Acquisition via https://www.recruiter.com/i/talent-acquisition/
Talent acquisition is the process of finding and acquiring skilled human labor for organizational needs and to meet any labor requirement. When used in the context of the recruiting and HR profession, talent acquisition usually refers to the talent acquisition department or team within the Human Resources department. The talent acquisition team within a company is responsible for finding, acquiring, assessing, and hiring candidates to fill roles that are required to meet company goals and fill project requirements.
Talent acquisition as a unique function and department is a relatively new development. In many companies, recruiting itself is still an indistinct function of an HR generalist. Within many corporations, however, recruiting as a designation did not encompass enough of the duties that fell to the corporate recruiter. A separate designation of talent acquisition was required to meet the advanced and unique functions. Modern talent acquisition is a strategic function of an organization, encompassing talent procurement, but also workforce planning functions such as organizational talent forecasting, talent pipelining, and strategic talent assessment and development.
Talent acquisition is quickly becoming a unique profession, perhaps even distinct from the practice of general recruitment. Talent acquisition professionals are usually skilled not only in sourcing tactics, candidate assessment, and compliance and hiring standards, but also in employment branding practices and corporate hiring initiatives. Talent acquisition as a function has become closely aligned with marketing and PR as well as Human Resources. As global organizations need to recruit globally with disparate needs and requirements, effective recruiting requires a well thought out corporate messaging around hiring and talent development. Talent acquisition professionals often craft the unique company message around the approach the company takes to hiring and the ongoing development of employees. The employment brand therefore encompasses not only the procurement of human capital, but the approach to corporate employee development. The unique needs of large companies especially to recruit and hire as well as attract top talent led to the development of a unique talent acquisition practice and career.
Recruiting professionals often move between agency recruiting and corporate recruitment positions. In most organizations, the recruitment roles are not dissimilar: the recruitment role is responsible for sourcing talent and bringing qualified candidates to the company. However, modern talent acquisition is becoming a unique skill-set. Because talent acquisition professionals many times also handle post-hire talent issues, such as employee retention and career progression, the talent acquisition role is quickly becoming a distinct craft. Some recruitment industry advisors even advocate for a talent department unique from the HR department, because talent acquisition and development is so intertwined with a company’s ultimate success and effectiveness.
As a craft, talent acquisition is of course not new; it is the simple process of recruiting good talent to meet company needs. As a profession, however, talent acquisition is quickly evolving into a unique and important job function.
Sourcing viahttps://www.recruiter.com/i/sourcing/
Sourcing is the process of finding resumes within the recruitment process. Recruiters, both third party and corporate, need to find qualified candidates for their open job orders, oftentimes with very unique or niche work experience. Sourcing refers to the initial part of recruiting (actually finding the candidates through a variety of methods.) Some recruiters perform the sourcing function through to placement; other recruiting professionals specialize in only one aspect of the recruitment cycle. Professional recruiters who specialize only in the initial procurement of names and candidates are called sourcers. Many larger companies and specialist staffing firms employ teams of sourcing professionals that concentrate only on the initial procurement of candidates. The sourcers then “hand off” the candidates to a different department of team of recruiters which handle qualification, interview, and placement.
Sourcing is many times used to refer to highly specialized talent searches. For example, a company might be looking for an individual with a background in mechanical engineering who understands object oriented programming. Recruiting and sourcing professionals understand how to source this specialized talent through a variety of means. Sourcing professionals will often have a comprehensive understanding of Internet sourcing tactics. They will mine candidate lists from the Internet and also source talent from competing companies. To ascertain the best keywords and background to look for, a solid understanding of the job requirements are necessary. Effective sourcing, therefore, requires a much deeper understanding of the industry and job order that they are working on than simply looking at clusters of resume keywords. To source candidates productively, an experienced sourcing professional knows the best places to look for great talent and the kind of experience to look for in individual resumes.
However, sourcing is also more than specialized resume search and candidate name generation. Sourcing is also an integral part of any company’s overall hiring and talent acquisition strategy. Sourcing also refers to the strategy surrounding large portions of hiring effort. For example, it might be necessary to source the next generation of management talent through a comprehensive college recruiting program. A company might need to formulate a sourcing strategy for skilled machine operators in a certain city where they open a plant. Sourcing is therefore not relegated to unique searches, but the term can encompass deep organizational talent strategy issues and in general, the practice and need to acquire human talent for any source of business need.
With the trend of globalization, sourcing strategy is at the forefront of recruiting issues. Recruiting talent in different countries and in different languages presents a very difficult challenge for any talent acquisition team. You can imagine that recruiting professionals would not know where to begin to find talent overseas in a market that they do not understand. In many cases, the sourcing team might be local to the actual hiring effort, and then send qualified candidates to a centralized corporate recruiting team. Modern sourcing efforts are an incredibly complex aspect of the global talent supply chain. Effective sourcing strategies not only leverage effective employment brands and marketing efforts, but take into consideration hyperlocal factors of economy, education, and specialization of labor markets.
In the recruiting industry, therefore, sourcing when referred to as a tactic, often means the practice of finding specialized candidates on the Internet or through phone work. When referred to as a strategy, sourcing can mean a number of different broad hiring initiatives or approaches to particular labor markets. Because of factors contributing to increased complexity in sourcing, the trend of specialization within the recruiting function continues unabated. Sourcing as a separate function will most likely continue, and the sourcing role will continue to develop as a challenging and unique profession.
Calculate the number of placements you have completed by quarter or month, or whatever period for which your current or previous employer tracked your metrics. Practice describing your technique for sourcing both active job seekers and passive candidates, interviewing applicants, assessing their qualifications and communicating with hiring managers. Assemble evidence of your placements, especially if you're interviewing for an executive-level recruiter position.
Tips
- Recruiters use a two-pronged approach to assist you in finding the right job. They ask questions about your expertise and questions about your preferred work environment so they can present your qualifications with in-depth knowledge of your capabilities to the clients they believe will be most satisfied with your skill-set and interests.
- Don't expect the recruiter to do all the work for you. Recruiters often have contracts with employers -- not with the job seeker. Therefore, their allegiance is to the company that pays their salaries. Make a favorable impression with the recruiter so she will feel comfortable in presenting your qualifications to her clients.
Warning
- If you are dealing with more than one recruitment agency to find a job, refrain from sharing anything other than the names of companies other recruiters sent you to interview with. Avoid being critical of other recruitment firms, even if you sense the agency you're meeting with is a strong competitor. Provide only the information necessary to prevent conflicts of interest in your conversation with recruiters you want to place you in a job.
About the Author
Ruth Mayhew began writing in 1985. Her work appears in "The Multi-Generational Workforce in the Health Care Industry" and "Human Resources Managers Appraisal Schemes." Mayhew earned senior professional human resources certification from the Human Resources Certification Institute and holds a Master of Arts in sociology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Talent Acquisition via https://www.recruiter.com/i/talent-acquisition/
Talent acquisition is the process of finding and acquiring skilled human labor for organizational needs and to meet any labor requirement. When used in the context of the recruiting and HR profession, talent acquisition usually refers to the talent acquisition department or team within the Human Resources department. The talent acquisition team within a company is responsible for finding, acquiring, assessing, and hiring candidates to fill roles that are required to meet company goals and fill project requirements.
Talent acquisition as a unique function and department is a relatively new development. In many companies, recruiting itself is still an indistinct function of an HR generalist. Within many corporations, however, recruiting as a designation did not encompass enough of the duties that fell to the corporate recruiter. A separate designation of talent acquisition was required to meet the advanced and unique functions. Modern talent acquisition is a strategic function of an organization, encompassing talent procurement, but also workforce planning functions such as organizational talent forecasting, talent pipelining, and strategic talent assessment and development.
Talent acquisition is quickly becoming a unique profession, perhaps even distinct from the practice of general recruitment. Talent acquisition professionals are usually skilled not only in sourcing tactics, candidate assessment, and compliance and hiring standards, but also in employment branding practices and corporate hiring initiatives. Talent acquisition as a function has become closely aligned with marketing and PR as well as Human Resources. As global organizations need to recruit globally with disparate needs and requirements, effective recruiting requires a well thought out corporate messaging around hiring and talent development. Talent acquisition professionals often craft the unique company message around the approach the company takes to hiring and the ongoing development of employees. The employment brand therefore encompasses not only the procurement of human capital, but the approach to corporate employee development. The unique needs of large companies especially to recruit and hire as well as attract top talent led to the development of a unique talent acquisition practice and career.
Recruiting professionals often move between agency recruiting and corporate recruitment positions. In most organizations, the recruitment roles are not dissimilar: the recruitment role is responsible for sourcing talent and bringing qualified candidates to the company. However, modern talent acquisition is becoming a unique skill-set. Because talent acquisition professionals many times also handle post-hire talent issues, such as employee retention and career progression, the talent acquisition role is quickly becoming a distinct craft. Some recruitment industry advisors even advocate for a talent department unique from the HR department, because talent acquisition and development is so intertwined with a company’s ultimate success and effectiveness.
As a craft, talent acquisition is of course not new; it is the simple process of recruiting good talent to meet company needs. As a profession, however, talent acquisition is quickly evolving into a unique and important job function.
Sourcing viahttps://www.recruiter.com/i/sourcing/
Sourcing is the process of finding resumes within the recruitment process. Recruiters, both third party and corporate, need to find qualified candidates for their open job orders, oftentimes with very unique or niche work experience. Sourcing refers to the initial part of recruiting (actually finding the candidates through a variety of methods.) Some recruiters perform the sourcing function through to placement; other recruiting professionals specialize in only one aspect of the recruitment cycle. Professional recruiters who specialize only in the initial procurement of names and candidates are called sourcers. Many larger companies and specialist staffing firms employ teams of sourcing professionals that concentrate only on the initial procurement of candidates. The sourcers then “hand off” the candidates to a different department of team of recruiters which handle qualification, interview, and placement.
Sourcing is many times used to refer to highly specialized talent searches. For example, a company might be looking for an individual with a background in mechanical engineering who understands object oriented programming. Recruiting and sourcing professionals understand how to source this specialized talent through a variety of means. Sourcing professionals will often have a comprehensive understanding of Internet sourcing tactics. They will mine candidate lists from the Internet and also source talent from competing companies. To ascertain the best keywords and background to look for, a solid understanding of the job requirements are necessary. Effective sourcing, therefore, requires a much deeper understanding of the industry and job order that they are working on than simply looking at clusters of resume keywords. To source candidates productively, an experienced sourcing professional knows the best places to look for great talent and the kind of experience to look for in individual resumes.
However, sourcing is also more than specialized resume search and candidate name generation. Sourcing is also an integral part of any company’s overall hiring and talent acquisition strategy. Sourcing also refers to the strategy surrounding large portions of hiring effort. For example, it might be necessary to source the next generation of management talent through a comprehensive college recruiting program. A company might need to formulate a sourcing strategy for skilled machine operators in a certain city where they open a plant. Sourcing is therefore not relegated to unique searches, but the term can encompass deep organizational talent strategy issues and in general, the practice and need to acquire human talent for any source of business need.
With the trend of globalization, sourcing strategy is at the forefront of recruiting issues. Recruiting talent in different countries and in different languages presents a very difficult challenge for any talent acquisition team. You can imagine that recruiting professionals would not know where to begin to find talent overseas in a market that they do not understand. In many cases, the sourcing team might be local to the actual hiring effort, and then send qualified candidates to a centralized corporate recruiting team. Modern sourcing efforts are an incredibly complex aspect of the global talent supply chain. Effective sourcing strategies not only leverage effective employment brands and marketing efforts, but take into consideration hyperlocal factors of economy, education, and specialization of labor markets.
In the recruiting industry, therefore, sourcing when referred to as a tactic, often means the practice of finding specialized candidates on the Internet or through phone work. When referred to as a strategy, sourcing can mean a number of different broad hiring initiatives or approaches to particular labor markets. Because of factors contributing to increased complexity in sourcing, the trend of specialization within the recruiting function continues unabated. Sourcing as a separate function will most likely continue, and the sourcing role will continue to develop as a challenging and unique profession.
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