Getting it right at the Interview

An insight into what recruiters look for in a candidate, why candidates fail to clear the interview, the importance of soft skills and more.

Part 2 of my interview published by Shine.com

What mistakes do candidates generally make during interviews?

One must try and put his/ her best foot forward for the interview. Very often, candidates fail to clear the interviews due to inaccurate or incorrect information given in their resumes. Interview panel focuses on key traits and behaviour, which a candidate must demonstrate to succeed in the position being interviewed for. Sometimes, candidates end up discussing about areas in which they have little knowledge and experience. Too much of self-talk can also be seen as a negative attribute if the role needs a good team player. This shows them in bad light.

It’s always better to start with areas of your strength, show a positive approach and accept wherever you are unsure of the right answer. Interviewers do not expect candidates to answer every question; they also assess the forthrightness, professional behaviour, team work and work ethics of the candidate. One should avoid bad mouthing previous employer or talk negative about previous work experiences.

Often candidates start discussing compensation and benefit related aspects even before the final offer has been made. These questions should be taken up only when asked about or when the final round of interview is conducted. One must keep his answers succinct, focused to the subject in discussion to avoid any long rambling conversations.

Do you expect the candidates to have a fair idea about the company and the position they are applying for?

It’s always better to know the background of the company where you have applied for and understand the job profile as well. This shows the seriousness of the candidate for the interview. It also demonstrates that it’s a planned career move to align long term career goals with the organisations future strategy.

How important are soft skills (team work, communication, leadership etc.) in selecting a candidate?

Soft skills are very critical for individual success in any role. Interviewers focus on assessing the team work, group behaviour and leadership ability of individual through various case studies, questions on past experiences and also seek examples where the candidate has displayed these key attributes to successfully accomplish the goals.

To perform a role successfully, one must display fair understanding of behavioural aspects and good communication skill. As one moves up in career ladder, soft skills become critical differentiator to perform senior manager and leadership roles.

How important are the background/reference checks? Do you hire people without these checks?

Background check and reference check is mandatory in most organisations today. This is a non-negotiation aspect of hiring today. NASSCOM, which is the trade association of all the IT / ITeS / BPO companies in India has taken up a significant initiative called “Trusted Sourcing”. This initiative aims to develop and project the industry as a safe and trusted destination for sourcing, development, outsourcing and process work so that overseas clients develop confidence with the safety of our industry and assign more work.

NASSCOM, has developed a robust information infrastructure about all present and prospective employees of the industry called “National Skills Registry (NSR)”. NSR facilitates development of fact sheet of credible, permanent and accessible information about each registered person. You can refer to the link  for more details on NSR. This clearly explains how important background check is in today's times.

Talent hiring and retention

Interesting thoughts by Sullivan in his recent article on employee retention.Folks who are focusing on the monetary aspect of the new job are more likely to quit in near future even if you have hired them at a higher than market levels salaries.

Incidentally, individuals hired from executive search firms can fall into this "money first" category. If they left the last job because an executive search professional presented a "better money" offer, don't be surprised when they leave again when the next executive search professional calls with slightly more money to offer.

This makes me wonder, what is the validity of employee current salary as an indicator of his actual competency level?

Sometimes recruiters and head hunters even create a “Talent vacuum” in the market for certain niche skills. This talent vacuum is especially seen in the Senior and middle managers levels as employees are not always on move and tend to be little reluctant to switch jobs easily. However thanks to the marketing skills of our head hunters and the growing talent crunch one always tends to get what he aspires for.

Growing salary levels for a role create a bigger pressure on current employers and most likely a less competent person (as per the role requirement) will fill the same role at a similar or even higher salary level. This creates a vicious circle in talent market and the salary levels head north due to this trend in war for talent. Talk to any seasoned recruiter today and he will tell you how they moan the fact that majority of decisions regarding change of job has to do with the high pay packages.The focus has sihifted from role and job content to the salary components and benefits,perks which the new job may offer.

As a HR professional you often wonder is this shift due to markert factors ,peer pressure,or just changing times.

How long this will trend will continue?

What about the “hiring philosophy’ ?

Offshoring in Reverse

There’s always this great debate on the outsourcing of jobs to India and other Asian countries from US and European countries, but the times are changing and we are seeing the reverse of brain drain as Indian IT companies are hiring more locals in US. The growth of IT industry has truly lead to flattening of global talent marker as well, we now see talents across different nations are being employed by Indian MNC’s. So with the likes of IBM’s and Accenture’s ramping up fast and increasing talent strength at an all time high pace the war for talent also getting interesting.

Business week reports on offshoring in reverse.

In the past, Indian companies almost always transferred Indians to work in the U.S. on temporary visas. But now Infosys and other Indian outfits are hiring aggressively in the U.S. The Indians are recruiting a combination of fresh college grads and experienced vets who have worked at American companies. They're especially active at campus job fairs, and unlike a few years ago students know who these companies are and respect them. In fact, the Indian connection has become an attraction. "I thought this would be a fantastic opportunity, especially because they send you abroad for training," says Brian Oswald, a 23-year-old Rutgers University graduate with a 2006 degree in industrial engineering who joined TCS in February.

The U.S. hiring by the Indians echoes the strategy Japan's auto industry devised after soaring levels of imports sparked political outcry in Washington in December, 2000. "The Indians are doing to the world's IT processes what the Japanese did to manufacturing," says analyst John McCarthy of Forrester Research Inc (FORR). And now, like Japan's carmakers before them, the Indians are becoming major employers in the U.S. as well.