CV selection
A lot of our clients find it difficult to select the right cv. How do you select the right candidate for an interview out of all the received CV’s?
Plan at least half an hour to go through all of the CV’s. If you are working with specialised agencies, they may have already made the shortlist for you. Besides the CV you should also read the candidates motivations for the role.
When you work closely with an agency, you will notice that they not only select candidates based on the content of the role, but also on personality and ambition. If you are staffing a temporary position, the focus will be more on specific knowledge. For permanent roles, the personal characteristics and ambition of the candidate play a bigger part, so consider if you really need that specialist or if there is someone in the team available to help a new employee.
When selecting a candidate, ensure that you focus on candidate experience, motivation as well as education to ensure the best fit.
Make two piles for yourself ‘not selected’ and ‘potential candidates’. Take the pile with potential candidates and discuss them with others in the team, or review them at a later time. You will notice that you get other information from a CV when you read it again at another time.
Finally make a selection of 3 candidates to invite for an interview.
Interview tips
An interview is an exciting moment for the candidate. How can you, as a potential employer, make sure that you get the best impression of the personality and experience of the candidate during the interview?
Start with making a list of questions for the candidate based on the CV. In this way you will start the interview effectively and you avoid the risk of leaving some questions unanswered. This preparation does not have to take long, 5 minutes is enough. Candidates prepare their interviews too.
Frequently, they have already talked with others about the company and the content of the job or searched for information on the internet.
Some interview tips:
1. Make the candidate feel at ease
The most important thing is to make sure that candidates feel at ease. Not everybody is the same. Some people talk easily and end an interview with ease, but a lot of people are quite nervous in the beginning, which makes it hard for you to see what someone is really like.
2. Information about the company and the job
Begin the interview with a short description of the company and the department. Do not elaborate on the content of the role and the expectations yet, start about this later in the interview after you have talked in more detail about the candidate and his/her experience. In this way you will get a more objective view of the candidate.
3. CV
There is a reason this person has been selected for an interview. Shortly go through the CV and ask questions about previous employers. Also address the experience based on the job descriptions in the CV.
4. Personality
When selecting a new employee for a permanent or temporary job, not only knowledge counts, but also whether someone will fit in the team. Does he/she has the right work ethic and does the character fit with the team and the company culture? What is someone’s ambition and is this something we can offer in the upcoming years? Be clear about this, to prevent any disappointments for the candidate.
5. Job content
Wait until the second half of the interview to talk about the content of the job. If everything went well, you should have an answer to most of the questions you prepared beforehand as well as a good overall impression of the candidate. Any unanswered questions can be asked now.
6. Ending the interview
Check whether the candidate has any questions. Tell them what you think of the interview and whether you have a good idea of the person sitting opposite you. Take into account that the candidate has a choice too. For them it is nice to know when they can expect feedback and what the possible follow-up procedure will be.