METRO Career Day 2010, Part III

"HR Recruitment and Hiring"

The final panel of the day focused on what HR recruiters are looking for in today’s competitive job market. Robyn Barsky and Ira Ziff from Precision Research Group and Josh Endler from OnPoint HR Solutions offered advice and answered questions from job seekers. They highlighted several essential skills.

Know your value

Most people cannot properly answer the question “Why should I hire you?” During an interview, you need to be able to quickly and concisely tell a potential employer what they are getting when they invest in you. Don’t be “brag-o-phobic”. Figure out what makes you valuable, how it will help the company and tell them! Can you improve employee productivity, increase customer satisfaction ratings, or reduce costs for the organization? Try to have 2-3 examples of your successes at a previous jobs to use over and over again in interviews.  If you are a recent graduate, figure out how the skills you gained in school translate to a company’s bottom line. Ask yourself what is keeping this company’s executives awake at night and how you can help them sleep better. Your resume should also contain statements of actions you took and how those actions resulted in improvements for the company. Know your value and how to communicate it to employers.

Be honest about your weaknesses and how your are trying to improve

Employers often ask interviewees to name their weaknesses during an interview. Avoid the age old trick of masking a strength as a weakness. Instead, state a true weakness and then elaborate on how you are improving. For example, if you are not good at making presentations, admit it and then tell the interviewer how you are trying to improve (e.g. taking a class on public speaking).  You can also start a sentence with a weakness and end with a strength. For example, “I’m not good at public speaking but I was the top salesman at my company for 4 years in a row”.  However, be sure to stick to weaknesses that aren’t fatal to the job.

Network

Networking is always important, but in a tight job market make sure that all your contacts know you are job searching. Talk to people on a regular basis, whether it’s an informational interview with someone in the type of job you want or just dropping a note to ask how they are doing. This way, if people hear of a job opening, they have you on their mind. If you are unemployed or only working part-time, make networking a full time endeavor. Set up several meetings per week and attend as many professional events as you can. Even if you currently have a job, keep your network warm so that when you are looking to move on in the next few years, you already have the connections.

Ask questions

When an employer asks you if you have questions at the end of interview, have some! Try not to ask about things that could be found easily, like information on the company’s website. Instead, ask specific questions about the job such as what the typical growth pattern for the position looks like. Ask about what challenges the organization faces and then tell the interviewer how you can help solve those challenges. Ask the employer what his or her definition of success in that position looks like. By asking good questions, you express a genuine interest in the job and gain valuable information about the position.

Reported by: Laura Sywulak