How to hire a successful corporate recruiter About this guide The following is an interview guide for hiring a successful corporate recruiter. The key traits are listed in bold. A list of behavioral interview questions is provided to help screen for each trait. Take a few minutes and reflect on your conversation with the candidate and compare your observations against the high/low probabilities listed after the questions.
Unfortunately, too many companies make costly mistakes by not vetting their recruiters properly. This leads to inefficiency, wasted time, wasted resources, diminished status within the corporate hierarchy, etc. It's not surprising. There's still no professional degree or even professional certification for recruiters. And, over the years, recruiting has gotten more sophisticated. Once closed networks are wide open. Today, it's less about processing people and more about leveraging technology, relationship building and managing information. Now more than ever, it takes talented corporate recruiters to find talented employees.
About Newton Software At Newton Software, our number one goal is to design applicant tracking software that helps organizations improve their corporate hiring processes. We understand that recruiting is a linear business process defined by a series of YES and NO decisions and from day one Newton is configured to drive these critical decisions. Newton's entire feature set is thoughtfully architected to promote efficiency, transparency and collaboration. See for yourself, visit Newton YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/newtonsoftware
ŠNewton Software, Inc. 2012 Smart Applicant Tracking Software
FOCUS HIGH:
Task oriented Purposefulness Need to complete tasks Intense Serious Process Oriented Prepared Need for achievement
LOW:
Social orientation Flighty Need to relate Easily distracted Frivolous Impulsive Winging it Disorganized
What is your style of work - do you prefer a sustained pace or working in bursts while taking breaks? Where do you waste most of your time (when you do)? Do you get distracted easily?
How do you organize your typical day? Describe a typical day. What tools do you use to organize your time?
What is the most irritating part of your current / last job- the part you wished you could have delegated? Why? How did you end up handling these tasks? Give me a recent example of a situation you faced that needed your immediate attention. What happened? How did you handle it? How do you prioritize tasks? When do you find time to do those iterative tasks that we all do as recruiters like search for candidates and post jobs?
©Newton Software, Inc. 2012 Smart Applicant Tracking Software
NOTES
CONFIDENCE HIGH:
Emotionally secure Self-assured Even temper Believes in his / her abilities Self-accepting Weathers disappointment Optimistic / positive
LOW:
Insecure Needs praise Emotional Self-doubting Self-depreciative Pensive Negative / pessimistic
Please give me an example of a time when you've faced a contentious situation at work with a peer or hiring manager and describe how you solved it. How soon could you learn this job, our space, our company well enough to be productive? What kind of criticism have you been given by your managers and peers in previous positions? How appropriate is that feedback? We all have our ups and downs. What typically can pull you out of a "funk"? How to you manage your "attitude adjustments"? What is one of the biggest disappointments you have experienced professional or personally? How did you weather it? Tell me about the most challenging internal customer you've ever had and how you were successful in building a working relationship with that person. Rating yourself on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being low and 10 being high, how would the people you work with rate you as a recruiter”? How would you rate yourself? Why? How do you prefer to receive critical feedback? Tell me how you deal with a candidate when they reject a job offer? What do you do after a a candidate has rejected your offer?
©Newton Software, Inc. 2012 Smart Applicant Tracking Software
NOTES
RESOURCEFULNESS HIGH:
Adaptable Thinks well on the "fly" Need for autonomy Unconventional Entrepreneurial Tech Savvy Intellectually curious
LOW:
Staid Inflexible Formulaic Dependent Conforming Not tech savvy Uninspired
Provide an example of a time when management would not allow you to take necessary action, even though you felt it was necessary to do so. (For example, a chance in process.) Have you worked in an organization that did not provide all of the tools to do your job successfully? How did that impact yon and what did you do to overcome it? Give me an example of a time when you were given tasks to accomplish without advance warning or proper tools. What was your approach? Give me an example of a time when you had to learn a new system, process or tool on the "fly". What was your approach? How would you rate your ability to learn new technical / internet tools. Give me an example of a time you were asked to use a new tool. How fast were you able to come up to speed? What are your three favorite recruiting tools? Describe how you use these tools every day? What do you think are emerging recruiting technologies and why? How do you stay on top of trends and innovations in the recruiting industry? What recruiting centric news do you read? What are you favorite recruiting content websites?
©Newton Software, Inc. 2012 Smart Applicant Tracking Software
NOTES
SUMMARY OBSERVATIONS Take a few minutes and reflect on your conversation with the candidate. In particular, keep in mind the three key dimensions for success in a recruiting role. Use the space below to organize your impressions and write any key observations with regard to this candidate. Focus:
Confidence:
Resourcefulness:
Considering your notes above, would you recommend this candidate for the position?
(Circle one)
Yes
Why or why not? Be specific. What concerns do you have? Do these issues need to be checked out further?
ŠNewton Software, Inc. 2012 Smart Applicant Tracking Software
No