Tag: hiring process

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6 Effective Tips For Making Your Resume Stand Out During The Screening Process

resume hiring process

Crafting your resume for specific jobs and companies can be a daunting task. Businesses receive hundreds of resumes at a time, so job seeker’s need to develop extraordinary resumes to be noticed during the resume screening process.

Step 1. Use Keywords From The Job Posting

The resumes that get the most attention are from job seekers who use keywords from the job posting. Some companies actually conduct keyword searches when sifting through resumes. If you want to secure an interview it’s best to err on the side of caution and include keywords from the posting, even if it may seem tedious to take on this additional task. Additionally, make sure you have a solid understanding of what the hiring manager is looking for. 

Step 2. Include A Captivating Resume Objective  

Objectives can be used anytime but are especially important when changing careers or applying for work in a different industry. Objectives provide the hiring manager with some context behind your decision for change. A resume objective is usually no more than two sentences and can be extremely useful for hiring managers to learn about you quickly. Including a resume objective is also an opportunity to express your motivation for applying and can also fill in any gaps that may be in your resume.

Step 3. Leverage LinkedIn 

It is common practice for hiring managers to perform a search on Google and social media as part of the resume screening process. LinkedIn has the potential to be a powerful tool when optimized for recruiters. Begin by choosing a professional photo for your profile, preferably a headshot with a simple background. Be sure your work history is up to date and that your profile headline and summary reflect the type of work you’re searching for. Doing these simple tasks makes it possible to create opportunities for jobs you haven’t even applied for yet. 

Step 4. Impress Hiring Managers With Your Skills 

When it comes to listing skills on your resume, it’s essential to convey moments from past experiences that prepared you for this role. As a job seeker, contemplate why you think you’re a good fit and include skills that are appropriate for that position. It’s likely you have more tangible skills than you realize. 

Remember to make adjustments to ensure that your most marketable skills are front and center. It’s wise to avoid listing subjective skills that don’t relate to the job. A good resume will include specific accomplishments throughout your career.

Step 5. Make A Splash In The Resume Screening Process Using Visual Appeal

Avoid redundancy and try to keep your resume to one page if possible. A concise resume gives the job seeker an edge over other candidates. 

Getting creative with your resume will certainly make an impression but remember to keep it aesthetically pleasing. Although visual elements can get the hiring manager’s attention, they shouldn’t distract from the overall content. Use appropriately sized fonts and color choices; most templates have built in color themes. Hyperlinking to your portfolio or LinkedIn profile is also an easy way to preserve space.

Step 6. Research Company Culture 

Take your efforts the extra mile and do some research on the hiring company. Traci Schweikert from POLITICO suggests looking on a firm’s website to start. The careers page and mission statement can tell you a lot about a company. Once you have a sense of the culture, consider including information about yourself if there’s a common thread. 

For example, if you see that the company is involved in charitable events and you’ve done a fair amount of volunteering, then you would want to include that. In fact, as a job seeker, you want to include this type of information anyway. There is a consensus among hiring influencers (employees who have the ability to influence the hiring process), that there is a correlation between volunteer experience and leadership ability. By creating an exceptional resume and following these six steps, you can greatly improve your chances of being seen during the resume screening process.

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Get Introduced To Game-Changing Methods To Improve The Hiring Process

New ways to improve the hiring process
Taking the right steps to ensure your hiring process is thorough and transparent will maximize your hiring goals and improve the recruitment process overall.

Reasons to Reevaluate Your Hiring Process

The hiring process can be long and arduous, and often doesn’t produce the results employers desire. In fact, most traditional interview processes are flawed at best. A company’s ultimate goal is to reduce turnover and increase retention. New hires cost money, so most organizations are looking for ways to ensure a successful and transparent interview process. The objectives should be simple: your hiring process should help you find talented people that bring value to the culture, produce good quality work and stay long term. In this blog post we discuss encouraging the job seeker to provide authentic responses, using video conferencing to conduct interviews and best practices for post-interview discussions. 

Improve The Hiring Process By Encouraging The Job Seeker To Provide Authentic Reponses

There are several categories of inquiry to find qualified employees who will eventually move on to the next stage of the hiring process. The first is to ask the candidate what they can share with you about your company. Their response can easily set the tone for the rest of the interview process. 

Another way to improve recruitment is by testing critical thinking skills. This can be done by asking how the job seeker would perform a certain skill or function or how they might improve upon an existing function within the company. This provides the employer a revealing glimpse into a job seeker’s thought process and could determine if they move on to the next stage. 

It’s also vital that a potential candidate has excellent listening and communication skills. You could ask them to speak on an unrelated subject, one they consider themselves to have a great deal of experience with, and have them teach it as if the hiring team knows nothing about it. 

The latter two categories permit the job seeker to choose the topic of discussion, hopefully making way for a stimulating conversation. It’s good to note that these questions can also be sent to the candidate ahead of time, giving them ample opportunity to prepare.

This format for conducting job interviews has been successful because the job seeker has a chance to do their own research and draw on personal knowledge. This sets the stage for more transparency, as the candidate is not merely coming up with things they think the employer wants to hear; it encourages them to dig a little deeper. Of course, your process can vary depending on the skills you’re seeking from each candidate. Be sure to give them an opportunity to demonstrate those skills.

Conduct Job Interviews Over Video Conferencing

Conducting interviews via video conferencing has become a very common practice. There are certain advantages to conducting job interviews this way. One is that it allows the interviewer to determine a candidate’s technical proficiency with platforms like Zoom or Google Meet. It also gives the interviewer a chance to see how the job seeker presents themselves over video. Presentation etiquette may include sufficient lighting, a nice background, neat appearance, no technical glitches and good audio. Because so much business is conducted online, this provides employers with an idea of how the candidate will interact with clients and other colleagues and improve the recruitment process. 

Best Practices To Handling Post-Interview Processes

When it comes time for the post-interview evaluations, they are best held off until the interview process has gone through all stages. This removes any temptation to discuss the job seeker prematurely, thereby avoiding bias or other conflicts that could potentially arise. When the interview process draws to a close, an open discussion can be scheduled once all employees have had a chance to complete the survey or feedback form.

Improve Recruitment By Getting Rid Of Outdated Methods

Although it can be tempting to accept that hiring is not a perfect science, that’s no excuse to rely on older, possibly outdated methods. Unfortunately, companies that don’t address outdated interview processes continue to experience high turnover rates. Most businesses can’t afford to take a chance on bad hires. It is highly possible, however, to develop an interview process that outlines a concise assessment of a job seeker’s aptitude, technical skills and the potential to fit within the company culture.