Tag: job interview

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Outlining Successful Step-By-Step Interview Tips For New Hiring Managers

Interview tips for new hiring managers.

How First-Time Hiring Managers Can Prepare To Maximize Results

As a first-time hiring manager, the interview process can be daunting. Although it may get easier over time, you need a blueprint to be certain you’re diligently accomplishing your goals. Whether you need to improve existing methods or it’s your first time hiring, there are key components that will help eliminate bumps in the road. It begins by identifying what success looks like to your team and aligning your goals with your recruiting team and department manager. You must know the duties as well as the hard and soft skills necessary to fulfill the expectations of the role. Also, establishing a targeted deadline for filling the position will provide you with necessary benchmarks to meet along the way.   

First-time hiring managers can begin by reviewing resumes. This allows hiring managers to study the applicant before the interview even begins. Here are three specific things to watch out for:

  • Is the resume accurate and up to date? Look for formatting and any inconsistencies with grammar, spacing, font and color. 
  • Does the resume contain any red flags? Inconsistencies with gaps in employment or discrepancies with social media profiles will provide more insight. 

Step-By-Step Blueprint For First-Time Hiring Managers 

First-time hiring managers need to be aware of questions that are off limits. Avoid topics that involve race, religion, age, family and in many states, salary history. Of course, having structured questions and a scoring method is foundational to the process, but it’s also vital that hiring managers actively listen and go beyond the standard format. It’s okay for hiring managers to be improvisational, as this can often be a defining moment in the interview process. If you have a general gut feeling, it’s best to dig deeper and prepare to ask more clarifying questions. Even if a candidate may say something that seems odd, don’t write them off entirely; ask a follow-up question and give them a chance to explain further. 

First time and seasoned hiring managers need to lay the groundwork for success. Here are a few simple steps to keep you on track. 

  1. For virtual interviews, as a first-time hiring manager you should test your technology to assure that you don’t experience any glitches. Confirm that your audio is functioning properly, lighting is optimal and background scenery is appropriate. 
  1. As the hiring manager, you should give your candidate a warm welcome and be sure they feel comfortable. If the interview is in person, you can offer them water.
  1. Seasoned hiring managers avoid ineffective or open-ended questions like, “So, tell me a little about yourself.” Remember you want to ask questions that yield answers of relevance and real substance, cutting through any extraneous information. 
  1. Both first time and experienced hiring managers need to be prepared to answer questions about the company: mission statement, company culture, perks for the job and any options to grow within the organization. 
  1. Now, the first-time hiring manager will have a much clearer picture of the candidates: their personality, motivations, long- and short-term goals and specialized skills. Ideally, hiring managers can now envision the candidates you potentially see thriving within your company. 
  1. The first-time hiring manager’s next step is to schedule a time to discuss candidates and examine interview notes with the direct supervisor for the open position and your hiring team. 

First-Time Hiring Managers Can Achieve Successful Outcomes

Laying the groundwork with these effective steps can allow first-time hiring managers to embark on this process with confidence. It’s not always about finding someone with perfect credentials and work experience, it’s also being an organization they can see themselves working for and want to invest in. Ultimately, you’re building a team that adds value and represents your organization in the best way possible. Hopefully these tips eliminate a few of the challenges of being a first-time hiring manager. 

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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.

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How To Use Social Media For Recruiting Top Talent In 2022

Recruit employees using social media

Social media is everywhere. In this peak time of technological revolution, your business should prioritize the best practices to ensure your relevance. In 2022, recruiting through social media remains one of the most effective ways to reach high-quality candidates. Explore this article to learn how to use social media for recruiting employees.

Why You Should Use Social Media To Recruit High-Level Employees

What are the benefits of using social media platforms to reach potential candidates? As 79% of job seekers use social media for their job search, utilizing social media for recruiting is one of the most efficient means to reach serious job applicants. Here are some more benefits of recruiting through social media.

Social Media Recruiting Reduces Hiring Costs

Recruiting employees through social media platforms saves both time and money. Social media posts are consistently visible to potential applicants at any time, allowing potential candidates to find your company at any hour of the day. Furthermore, recruiting through social media often requires far fewer resources than through other platforms. Setting up and maintaining a social media presence doesn’t have to be an expensive endeavor!

Social Media Recruiting Reaches Passive Applicants

Passive job seekers aren’t actively looking for another opportunity, but they’d happily accept a better offer. Eighty percent of employers find more passive candidates from recruiting on social media. There are often many more passive job seekers than active candidates, so social media is a powerful way to reach more of your target audience.

Use Social Media To Recruit Top Talent By Building Your Brand

Building your brand on social media doesn’t just help find customers: it can help potential job applicants learn more about your company. Use your social media to highlight your company culture. Show off your work values, celebrate your employees’ victories and showcase any charitable activities.

Engage Your Candidates For Successful Social Media Recruitment

To effectively recruit on social media platforms, make sure to engage job seekers. Engaging your online audience is important for any business. By interacting with potential applicants, the company builds trust, comfort and a positive reputation. Engaging with your potential employees can be particularly effective for targeting passive job seekers.

Recruit More Employees On Social Platforms With Appealing Images

Visuals are powerful: content with relevant images receives up to 94% higher views. Apply attractive images to improve your reach on social media platforms and reach more potential applicants. Creating strong imagery can be a simple way to optimize your social media recruitment strategy.

Which Social Media Platforms Should My Business Use To Recruit Employees?

Social media sites differ from each other. When choosing which social media platforms to recruit with, consider your brand and your target audience. Here are some more things to consider about recruiting on each major social media platform.

Social Media Recruiting On LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the most popular platform for social media recruiting. More than 90% of recruiters search for potential applicants on this platform, cementing LinkedIn as one of the most prominent means of reaching possible employees. Develop a company profile on LinkedIn to start looking for candidates, join relevant industry or skill set groups to showcase your company’s worth and appeal to interested individuals in your field or utilize LinkedIn ads to target a specific audience and find applicants quickly.

Social Media Recruiting On Facebook

Facebook holds a high user retention rate that spans a vast audience. This means Facebook is a great platform to build a brand and engage passive job seekers! By interacting consistently with your audience and winning their trust, you will improve the application rate of passive applicants. Encourage your employees to interact with your Facebook presence to further improve engagement. Facebook ads are another effective practice for recruiting on this social media platform.

Social Media Recruiting On Twitter

With a limited character count, building your brand on Twitter can be deceptively challenging! To engage potential employees, employ a captivating, relevant image with your tweets. Also, make sure to use the hashtag system to target relevant keywords for your industry.

Social Media Recruiting On Instagram

Instagram is among the most engaging social media platforms. Recruit employees through Instagram by utilizing appealing imagery combined with Instagram’s effective hashtag system to catch the attention of potential job applicants. Posting on Instagram is an effective way to build your company brand and attract the attention of more potential employees at the same time!

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3 Valuable Questions to Ask in a Job Interview

You’ve met with the hiring manager, nailed the job interview and wowed them with your experience. At the end of the meeting, the HR rep will ask if you have any questions for them, and it will benefit you to be prepared. Here are three questions to ask in a job interview.

1. What are the current and ongoing major initiatives this department is working on?

By asking this question you can gauge your potential contribution to the company should you be hired. If the department has few current projects, it may signify a lack of growth or upward mobility at the company, so it can be beneficial to you to determine how useful you’ll be at the business. 

2. How would you describe the work environment and company culture?

Filling a job opening requires finding a candidate who will be not only a good fit for the company, but thinks the company is a good fit for them. Employment is a two-way street so be sure to know as much as you can about the company’s culture, values, day-to-day activities and work environment. 

3. Can you tell me a little bit about the history of this position?

Knowing the history of the job you’re applying for can help you glean out important details that may give away clues to why the position is vacant. If the previous employee left because the work had become too stressful, this may help you make an educated decision about taking the job. If there are no potential red flags, this question can help you learn valuable history that will help you perform well in your new position.

Gauging the level of anticipated activity at the company, learning about the work culture and finding out about the history of the position will help you make an educated decision about each position you interview for. It will also demonstrate your interest in the position and can influence a hiring manager to choose you over your competition. For additional tips to help you in your job search, check out our blog today.

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Do You Have A Business Interview Coming Up?

The economy is beginning to turn around and companies are looking to hire additional staff. If you are currently seeking the perfect employee for your business, here are some tips to help you master the essentials of an interview. 

Know what questions you can and cannot ask. We all know there are certain questions you can’t ask while interviewing a potential hire, but did you know that these questions extend to more than just asking about things like age and race? Some questions, like inquiring if the interviewee has a reliable form of transportation or the ability to get a babysitter on short notice, may not be illegal but can be considered offensive or come off a little too friendly. HR World has put together a great list of the questions you should not be asking and provides great alternatives in the event the answers pertain to the job. 

Record your impression of the interviewee. Depending on how many interviews you are conducting, it can be difficult to keep all the information straight. A helpful method to remember each candidate and your impressions of their interview is to take down any notes you feel are relevant to the position they are applying for. 

Follow through with references. Calling references on a resume can be time consuming and mentally exhausting if you try to do it with every resume. The trick is to call after you have met with the individual and you’ve decided they are a contender. If you are wondering what the best questions to ask the reference are, here are some ideas to guide you. 


Knowing the essentials of interviewing is the foundation of hiring a good employee and creating an exceptional team. If you need help staffing your business, let us handle the interviewing process for you.

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How to Craft an Effective Cover Letter

Girl working on a laptop.

A cover letter is just as important as a resume for a job application; it gives job seekers a format to showcase to potential employers the reasons they are the best candidate for the job.

Writing a cover letter is challenging, and before you begin you’ll want to understand the dynamics of the company, the challenges and trends they might be facing, and how your knowledge and skills as an employee will bring value and enthusiasm to the position.

To get you started, let’s go through the entire document and review the beginning, middle and end of an effective cover letter.

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The Benefit of Non-Traditional Interview Questions

nontraditional interview questions

If you’re someone who is regularly put in charge of interviewing potential candidates for a position – no matter the industry – the applicants can start to blend together after a while. And if you’re an individual who has been through the interview process frequently, chances are you’re honing in on the key words and phrases that will get you through the first round.

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