Why do recruitment consultants ask the questions that they do?

Every now and then we take a lot of criticism as recruitment consultants – some of which is justified, a lot isn’t. So I’ve borrowed this and hope that it explains why we ask the questions that we do in interviews.

What salary are you expecting?
There’s nothing sinister behind this question. We want to understand what you are looking for so we can negotiate on your behalf.

Please don’t believe what you read and be tempted to talk up your salary hoping that you’ll score an extraordinary pay increase next role. We have a strong idea about the companies that pay well and the ones that don’t. Be warned some clients ask us to verify your salary claims with your pay-slip.

We know market rates. We know good candidates. We can tell you whether your expectations are realistic. We’ll also understand if you say you are underpaid in your current role and want more money.

Some clients have salary bands. This means they can only offer salaries within a particular range. When we ask what you’re after, we want to know whether your salary expectations match the range of roles we have on offer.

Why did you leave your last job?
Fundamentally our role is to determine whether you match the roles we have with our clients. You’d be surprised how many people forget this.

We ask three questions of any candidate when we are considering them against a role on offer:
- Can you do the job?
- Will you do the job?
- Will you fit the team?

We ask why you have left your roles for a few reasons.

We want to truly comprehend what you are looking for in your next role. If you left because you didn’t like the company, the work, the size of the team, the limited career opportunities and so on, then what we are about to say makes common sense.

We are not going to offer you an opportunity or a role with similar conditions.

We’ll also delve deep on this question to understand whether your stated reason for leaving “makes sense.” We ask ourselves if the reason you give is consistent with what we know of that company, that type of role and the market place.

You can expect more of a grilling if you have many short stints on your CV. Plus our antennas are alert if you leave a company in less than three months, and we know that industry or company is expanding.

We interview you for one role, but we ask if you are interested in another.
This happens quite often.

From our discussions in interview we may discover that you are a better fit for another company. If we do not think you are appropriate for one role, based on what you have told us what you want – and what our client needs then we will not put you forward to that client.

If we have other roles that will suit you, we may well talk to you about that role in interview, or call you and discuss it at a later date.

Why do you take so long to call?
This isn’t a question we ask, but a question we’ve heard asked of us.

Often the decision to appoint someone or even organise a second interview can take time. This is for a few reasons:
- someone internal appears out of nowhere
- someone internal makes a referral for another applicant
- the business restructures
- the employer likes you, but is not confident they have seen the best in the market
- the employer does not have their paperwork in order and forgot to get sign-off.
- the employer wants someone more senior to see you and that person is simply not available
- you are being hired for a newly created role.

If an employer is recruiting for an established role, then they have a more tangible sense of the opportunity cost or the cost of lost productivity. Often for newly established roles there is less urgency as an employer has less sense of what they are missing out on.

As ever we’re keen to hear from you, let us know your thoughts at blog@chestertongray.com or tweet us at @chestertongray

Should you wait for a second job offer?

The economic problems that have affected us over the last few years have had a massive impact upon the psyche of those candidates that are job hunting and especially those that have been out of work through no fault of their own. Redundancy can have a massive impact upon self-confidence and there is only so much ‘down time’ that you can have between jobs before you start to become stir crazy as well as getting under your partners feet having done all the decorating that any house could possibly need!

Interviews can be stressful and it’s a relief to get through the process and to be advised that the company will be making an offer. What happens though if you’re concluding one but still interviewing with another company?

Job offers can be like London buses, you wait ages for one and then fortuitously (or not) a couple arrive at once. Over the years we are consistently asked by candidates how they should address this issue and whilst there is no perfect catch all answer, there are a number of issues that you need to think about before making a decision.

The first thing you need to be clear about in your own mind is how the two companies stack up in relation to each other and how that affects whatever time constraints are being placed upon you. The company that has already offered you a role won’t be expecting an instant acceptance but neither will they be prepared to let you drag the process out longer than is reasonable. They have a business to run and need to make plans too. The fundamental questions about the offer that you should be asking yourself are (a) does the role offer me the challenges that I’m looking for? (b) can the company offer me the long term career opportunities that I’m after? (c) can I work with this person as my new boss? (d) does the salary match up to my expectations? If you answer ‘yes’ to all four, then you should seriously be considering accepting the offer!

If you want to pursue the second company then you need to talk (urgently) either with them or the recruitment firm about the time frames that the current and next interview steps will take. If they’re talking several weeks for second and/or third interviews, then it’s decision time for you. If you drag out the first company and don’t get the second offer there is a very high risk that the first offer will be withdrawn and you ‘ll be back to square one. If the second company expect it to be wrapped up within the next week, then you have the opportunity to run with it, but you need to make sure that the first company knows that you will make a decision by a fixed date.

Professionalism is the key to this. You need to manage this well because you never know when you might bump into either party again or whether quite by chance one of them might actually end up your boss one day in the future!

If fortune has smiled upon you, you might now have two offers sitting on your desk, in which case you go back to the four questions that you asked after the first offer. With those out of the way, you should have a much clearer idea of which offer you are going to accept.

If you are in gainful employment you now come to the day when you have to hand in your resignation. A word of warning; as for your current company giving you a counter offer? Forget it. Counteroffers generally end badly; you went out looking for a new job because of problems with your current one. A bigger salary doesn't solve any of those problems and from now on they’ll be keeping an eye on you as they know that you’ve tried to leave once. Say nice things about them in your exit interview and walk away with (hopefully) glowing references.

If you are currently in the job market, then good luck and I hope that everything slots into place for you.

As ever we’re keen to hear from you, let us know your thoughts at blog@chestertongray.com or tweet us at @chestertongray

10 things that you shouldn’t say in an office

Office jargon has been around since the first office was created and is frankly pretty annoying; it's an assault on the ears even to hear it. If you’re a cricket fan then the chances are you have played Boycott Bingo or if you too are one of those frustrated employees then the chances are that you’ve been to a meeting and played "Buzzword Bingo" using cards with expressions like "outside the box" or "on the same page."

Fortunately, such jargon goes out of style pretty quickly. I haven't heard "going forward" for a while but equally on the flip side, old expressions are almost immediately replaced by new, even more irritating ones.

Over a cup of coffee one morning we “brainstormed” the jargon we hear on a daily basis and here are a few of the results, with the odd example.

Leverage. Deployment of an insufficient amount of something to do that which was previously done with much more. Example: "After the layoffs, we can leverage our staff of three to cover the entire country".

Reach out. This one really is my pet hate for so many reasons. To deliver news. To talk or connect with someone. Example: "I wanted to reach out to you about my next job". No you don’t, you want to talk to me!!

It is what it is. Meaning: Get used to it.

Viral. So prevalent that it has almost became the word of 2013. Example: "Twitter has gone viral".

Game changer. A catalyst that will transform a frog into a prince or vice-versa. Example: "Getting indicted for fraud was a game changer for Joe Bloggs".

Disconnect. A situation in which you wanted jam, but someone gave you peanut butter. Example: "There is a disconnect between what the consumer wants and what we intend to provide".

Value-add. A gain, usually financial. Example:

Circle back. See you again and again and again whether or not you want to be seen. Example: "The stalker abided by the court's restraining order but then circled back to hang out by the house".

Socialise. Ram the idea down their throats. Example: "We need to socialise to our patients our practice of closing the doctor's office every day for two hours at lunch." In other words, “Call an ambulance”!

Cutting edge. Oh dear, my second pet hate. So modern, it's to die for. Example: "Their offering is so cutting edge that they will take the country by storm".

Now that these expressions have been officially identified as irritating jargon, you might want to give them up, or add to the list! Unless your boss is planning to circle back to reach out to interface and socialise to your value-add. What can I tell you? It is what it is.

As ever we’re keen to hear from you, let us know your thoughts at blog@chestertongray.com or tweet us at @chestertongray

Five personalities that might wreck your meeting!

When I secured my first “proper” job I don’t think that I was really aware of what the ‘management’ actually got up to or that they were never available for me to talk to because they were in meetings; in fact they always had a looming presence!

These days the world has moved on and it doesn’t really seem to matter who you work for, whether you’re a small family firm or whether you work in a large corporation, the chances are that you spend a lot of time in meetings.

And if you do spend a lot of time in meetings, you soon see human nature displayed in its full glory as your colleagues and customers jockey for attention, claim credit for anything they can and prey, Darwinian-style, on weaker members of the tribe.

So, next time that you are called to a meeting, here are five kinds of people that can make things go awry fast -- and a few thoughts on how to deal with them:

1. The bully. Speaks loudly and speaks for softer-spoken team members, apparently deciding that they are unable to make their points for themselves. Actually says things like "that's a stupid idea" to someone whose ideas aren't stupid. Feel free to treat this person like the primary schoolchild whose behaviour they’re channelling. If you let them get away with their infractions, they’re only going to get worse.

2. The non sequitur. This person needs to be heard and either doesn't understand or doesn't care that the ground rules of a discussion require at least some relation between discussion points. As a counterpoint you could interrupt swiftly with "That's an interesting point. Let's note that and move back to our current agenda." If you don't have a timed meeting agenda, then you're inviting this behaviour.

3. The would-be visionary. This person is a frustrated philosopher who has a nasty habit of sending the discussion down a rabbit hole by proposing ideas that sound important the first time you hear them, but rapidly leave you cringing by the time they’ve brought them up in a third or fourth meeting. Respond with humour if you can but it’s key to bring the discussion back to your line.

4. The constant questioner. This person assumes that asking questions about everything the speaker says makes them sound smart and attentive, not realising (or caring) how distracting it is for the others in the meeting. Unless the person is your boss, this person usually turns out not to have any real questions once he or she realises it won't be possible to turn the meeting into a Socratic dialogue.

5. The rambler. Now we all know of these! Occasionally makes good points, but buries each nugget in 10 minutes of fluff. Unless you want your 20-minute meeting to last an hour, get adept at asking a question that cuts to the chase.

Those are my thoughts, how do you keep bad meeting personalities in check?

As ever we’re keen to hear from you, let us know your thoughts at blog@chestertongray.com or tweet us at @chestertongray

‘Tis the season to be job hunting!

The first “proper” working Monday of the New Year is supposed to be the day when disgruntled employees finally decide after the Christmas and New Year break that enough is enough and that it’s time to look for a new job. And ideally a pay rise!!

The big job boards report increased activity, particularly at lunch time (odd that!) and at about 6pm when candidates get home and log on having said hello to the wife/husband/kids/dog/cats/hamster and start trawling for the net for their next career move.
The other incentive to move is that many companies are now in a new financial year and as a consequence have the budgets to hire the next round of talent that’s coming onto the market.

So, if that sounds like you today, then head over to www.chestertongray.com and talk to one of the Directors or consultants about the roles that we are recruiting or if you’re a company come and discuss how we work and can help you unearth your next superstar.

5 Questions great candidates ask at an interview

Whenever we pitch for a new assignment we always discuss the interview stages that the client will go through as part of the recruitment process. Normally they’re all pretty similar; very occasionally there is the odd assessment centre thrown in, but by and large little seems to have changed over the last twenty years or so. Which got us into thinking about the process from the candidate’s perspective.

Having discussed post interview feedback with a number of them, it appears interview techniques haven’t changed much either and the phase of the interview that still seems to stump far too many candidates is when the client turns the tables and asks: "Do you have any questions for me?"

Either candidates haven’t planned ahead or they have over planned. Most candidates don't actually care about the answers; they just hope to make themselves look good by asking "smart" questions. To them, what they ask is more important than the answer.

Great candidates ask questions they want answered because they're evaluating the interviewer, the company--and whether they really want to work for the management.

Here are five questions great candidates ask:

What do you expect me to accomplish in the first 60 to 90 days?
Great candidates want to hit the ground running. They don't want to spend weeks or months "getting to know the organisation." They want to make a difference--right away.

What are the common attributes of your top performers?
Great candidates also want to be great long-term employees. Every organisation is different, and so are the key qualities of top performers in those organisations. Maybe top performers work longer hours. Maybe creativity is more important than methodology. Maybe constantly landing new customers in new markets is more important than building long-term customer relationships. Maybe it's a willingness to spend the same amount of time educating an entry-level customer as helping an enthusiast who wants high-end equipment. Great candidates want to know, because 1) they want to know if they fit, and 2) if they do fit, they want to be a top performer.

What are a few things that really drive results for the company?
Employees are investments, and every employee should generate a positive return on his or her salary. (Otherwise why are they on the payroll?)

In every job some activities make a bigger difference than others. The HR team need to fill vacant positions... but what everyone really wants is for HR to find the right candidates because that results in higher retention rates, lower training costs, and better overall productivity.

Companies need its IT people to perform effective repairs... but what candidates really want is for the techies to identify ways to solve problems and provide other benefits--in short, to generate additional sales. Great candidates want to know what truly makes a difference.
They know helping the company succeed means they succeed as well.

What do employees do in their spare time?
Happy employees 1) like what they do and 2) like the people they work with.

Granted this is a tough question to answer. Unless the company is really small, all any interviewer can do is speak in generalities. What's important is that the candidate wants to make sure they have a reasonable chance of fitting in--because great job candidates usually have options.

How do you plan to deal with...?
Every business faces a major challenge: technological changes, competitors entering the market, shifting economic trends... there's rarely a Warren Buffett moat protecting a small business. So while a candidate may see the company as a stepping-stone, they still hope for growth and advancement... and if they do eventually leave, they want it to be on their terms and not because it was forced out of business. A great candidate doesn't just want to know what you think; they want to know what you plan to do--and how they will fit into those plans.

As ever we would like to hear your thoughts; from either side of the desk. Have interview techniques changed or stagnated? Do candidates ask mundane or killer questions? Do clients prepare themselves for the interview as well as candidates? What would you change about the whole process?

Please feel free to go to www.chestertongray.com and let us know your thoughts.

'Thugs and druggies'

Ok, so it’s a bit of a sensationalist headline to start a blog but according to a number of articles recently it’s what job interviewers think when they see a tattoo




What in many cases starts off as a youthful, spur-of-the moment decision to get a tattoo can in some cases damage people’s career prospects for life.



Research presented to the British Sociological Association found that no matter how intelligent and articulate a job applicant is, if they have a visible tattoo, most would-be employers will secretly rule them out as looking “dirty” and “unsavoury” or even “repugnant”.



Even amongst those employers who do not have a personal objection to body art, many would think twice about taking on someone with a tattoo because they fear it would damage their corporate image.



But the study adds that those stuck with a tattoo from youth could turn it to their advantage – as long as they want to become a prison officer. And it concludes that a small number of types of tattoo can be seen as conveying a positive image, such as regimental insignia for military veterans, which can be a “badge of honour”.



In a paper, being presented to the association’s annual conference on workplace issues, Dr Andrew Timming of St Andrew’s University School of Management, set out findings from a series of interviews with employers about perceptions of body art.



He spoke to a cross section of managers from organisations including a hotel, bank, city council, prison, university and bookseller.



Most said that tattoos carried a clear “stigma” for employers, with several expressing strong views on the subject. “Respondents expressed concern that visibly tattooed workers may be perceived by customers to be ‘abhorrent’, ‘repugnant’, ‘unsavoury’ and ‘untidy’,” said Dr Timming. “It was surmised that customers might project a negative service experience based on stereotypes that tattooed people are thugs and druggies.”



One manager interviewed told Dr Timming: “Tattoos are the first thing they [fellow recruiters] talk about when the person has gone out of the door.”



Dr Timming said bosses’ concerns were usually based on perceptions of what their organisation’s clients might think. “Hiring managers realise that, ultimately, it does not matter what they think of tattoos – what really matters, instead, is how customers might perceive employees with visible tattoos,” he said.



“The one qualification to this argument is there are certain industries in which tattoos may be a desirable characteristic in a job interview. “For example, an HR manager at a prison noted that tattoos on guards can be ‘something to talk about’ and ‘an in’ that you need to make a connection with the prisoners.”



But he added that some images were easier for employers to forgive than others.

While in many cases flowers or small animals might just be acceptable for some, those most likely to prove a definite turn-off included spider’s webs on people’s necks, tears tattooed on to their faces, guns and sexual imagery.



Have you ever discounted a candidate because they had tattoos or feel that as a candidate you’ve been overlooked because of one? Let us know your thoughts at www.chestertongray.com