Ask the Expert - Interviews, Ads and Agencies

 

Over the last couple of months, we’ve been asked a lot of questions from job seekers and hiring managers alike, as part of our Ask the Expert series. In my final blog for the series, I’ve compiled some of our most commonly asked questions.

 

I recently interviewed two candidates, one has less experience but would be a great cultural fit, and the other has more experience but isn't as sociable. How do I choose?

Personally, I would go with the candidate you would enjoy working with the most. You can teach someone new skills but you can’t change their personality. How someone fits in with the rest of the team and works with stakeholders is key to a role, and the success of a business. It’s essential that the people who work for you fit with the company culture.
 

Why aren't salaries included in job ads?

There are three reasons why a company, or recruitment agency, would not specify a salary. 
 
The first reason is to attract a wider range of suitable candidates. Oftentimes, by adding a salary, we are limiting the number of applications we could potentially receive. From a recruitment company perspective, by leaving the salary off, we are able to find great people who may not fit the client brief, but may be perfect for another role we’re hiring for.
 
Sometimes, a company may not be able to pay the industry standard, but they can offer great work/life balance and other non-financial benefits that candidates would not necessarily take notice of at first glance. It’s a great way of finding great people returning to work after time off, people who need more flexibility in their day who would consider a lower salary to gain this. 
 
For senior leadership or director roles, companies may not specify a salary purely because of the seniority. These salaries are often negotiated because this type of role tends to be integral to shaping the future of the business and they want to find the right person rather than someone who fits a salary bracket.

 

Why are interview processes so long?

There are many reasons interview processes vary. One reason is because most hiring managers only think about recruiting once they realise they have too much work on, which means they have to do interviews very quickly. 
 
On the other end of the scale, I have a client who always conducts a five stage interview process, no matter the role. This is to ensure that the candidate really ‘buys’ into the company and has a solid understanding of who they are, what they do and how that person would fit into it. This gives the candidate the opportunity to meet their own team and those that they will be working with, all of which helps to create a positive and productive working environment as well as longevity in the company.
 

I’ve had an interview via a recruitment agency but I haven’t heard back from them, should I chase my consultant?

You should always chase the recruiter. If the recruiter doesn’t give you feedback fairly soon after the interview, they are either not doing their job well, have an un-ending number of emails in their inbox or the client is being slow with their feedback. Looking at this from a recruiters point of view, I speak to a lot of people on a daily basis and recruit five to six roles at one time. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to give the candidate feedback straight away. By chasing the recruiter, they now know that you are being proactive in your search and the recruiter is more likely to keep you in front of mind when new positions come through.

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