Candidate AttractionCandidate ManagementArt of Interviewing

Manual for Best Practices and ProcessesTips and Tools for becoming a successful Recruiter

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Preface

This document is to lead in the creation and delivery of services that enable our clients to win in the changing world of work.

We aim and actively pursue the development and adoption of the best practices with the value of the People, the Knowledge and the Innovation. We will provide support to our people and help them achieve their aim, and never accept the status quo.

In order to successfully execute our strategies set out to achieve the vision and values, we need to build a ‘Best-in-Class’ organization. This requires a best-in-class way of doing business which will create respect and confidence among our client and candidate community. Unfortunately, Employment Services (Recruitment) is not yet a recognized industry in India and therefore there are no set standards of conducting the business. We looked around and found no comprehensive resource on conducting the business which led us to the path of creating it ourselves.

The purpose of the manual is to put together Standard Operating Procedures and Best Practices to execute the entire cycle of Recruitment business from acquiring clients to collection with high

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level of efficiency and effectiveness. This manual serves as the expert guide to best processes, systems and concepts, and provides tips and tools to overcome daily challenges.

Recruitment is considered to be an art by many but with evolution of processes at each stage with time; the science of recruitment has been evolving. While the science of recruitment which comprises of set steps and processes can be taught, the art need to be caught. However, the effort of the authors of this manual has been to capture the nuances of this industry at each stage in a simple manner to help improve the learning curve of consultants.

We are confident that you will find this manual an incredible resource to help you through all your challenges. As you begin your journey in adopting the processes and procedures laid out in this manual it will lead to the following benefits and desired state:

Create ‘Best-in-Class’ organization Maximize Gross Profit and improve the delivery system Improve operational efficiency (Activity and Ability) and, bring focus and consistency EstabliMeta Recruit META RECRUIT as trusted advisor to Client and Candidates Prepare targeted training and development programs Live and enhance the brand value and pride among the team Demonstrate all our brand attributes-Forward Looking; Expert; Inclusive; Engaging’

FreMeta Recruit Thinking and Trustworthy  

This is only the beginning. This document will be reviewed on regular basis and will be continuously updated based on new insights, learning and business/market needs.

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Candidate Attraction

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1 Candidate Attraction Strategy

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Following points are covered as part of candidate attraction strategy:

A. Marketplace Understanding

B. infrastructure & Operational Management

C. Candidate Sourcing

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2 Market Place Understanding

In any candidate attraction plan, the first factor to understand is the marketplace in which you are operating. Economic conditions provide the background to the everyday business of recruitment. What happens in the macro economy, or in individual product markets, ultimately determines how many staff organisations need to recruit, develop and retain in order to meet client demand.

You are required to understand:

Where is the candidate pool?

What are the sectors you would be aiming at or service?

What are the positions you would be looking at?

Has adequate mapping been done to know the existence of your candidate pool?

The experience / skill/ competence of your candidate pool?

Has the no poaching policy been considered while selecting candidate pool?

What is the service delivery model?

Who are the key competitors in your market segment? What are your key differentiators?

In order to find answers to above questions, you are expected to probe your client and research on your own. Please refer to Order Management module for more details.

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3 Infrastructure & Operational Management

This is extremely crucial part to gauge the acceptability factor of the workforce to be relocated in different geographical spread.

Need to asses the availability of the positions across regions / locations

Adequate availability of the pool for the required

Use of Meta Recruitared database – O drive

Any rules and regulations that apply in the operating environment

What are the benchmark pay rates and how quick is the percentage increase

What are the standard benefits provided

What are the benefits unique to a particular client or position additionally

Please note that the above requires a constant research and update on what is happening in the market. This is part of regular business / market intelligence to be gathered from all sources such as client, candidates and media.

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4 Candidate Sourcing

When META RECRUIT Professional recruits for clients, the candidates you work with will have specialized skills and experience. These peoples’ skills will be highly valued in their local (and potentially international) market place and you cannot rely on these candidates always proactively presenting themselves to you. You must therefore use various methods to increase your candidate database.

The following classification will help you to understand the types of candidates:

Although it is tempting to work solely on Active/Active candidates, you will need to develop a strategy to attract candidates from all sectors. This will increase your ability to sell to your clients as they will generally only be able to reach out to Active/Active candidates on their own since they are more visible in the market. However, you Meta Recruitould spend the majority of your time with Active/Active and Active/ Passive candidates since they have the greatest likelihood of completion of the sale. It Meta Recruitould be noted that when working with a candidate with “Passive” in their profile, they must be converted to “Active” before going for a client interview.

There are candidates out there in the market. Someone is getting them. Organize and optimize your candidate attraction plan for maximum effectiveness

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4.1 How to source all types of candidates?

Best Practices of Sourcing Candidates

Best Practices of Sourcing Candidates

Networking

Job Board Searching

AdvertisingProfessional Association Networking

Networking Sites

Mail Meta Recruitots

Events Public RelationsCompany

Closures & Lay-offs.

Candidates from Other Countries

Banner Advertising and Keyword SponsorMeta

Recruitip

Search Engine SponsorMeta

Recruitip

Collegial supporters

Industry, trade and alumni directories

Personal visibility

1. Networking:

Networking is the process of finding people using referrals. This is considered to be a difficult way to find people by many but when done properly; it turns out to be the easiest and most effective solution to sourcing candidates. The quality level of candidates through referrals is generally better. Please refer to Mapping of Candidates for more details.

2. Job Board Searching:

Internal and external Job boards such as META RECRUITprofessional.com, Naukri.com and Monster.com can be a huge and valuable source of leads as long as the resumes posted on them are of good quality and tend to reflect accurately the skills and experience of the candidates. Please refer to search guides of respective job boards for conducting an effective search. General search on net (www.google.com) also provides many names.

3. Advertising:

Advertising is an important way to reach out to large number of candidates who you may not know at all. It also helps create awareness of the META RECRUIT Professional brand. An ad campaign could be online or in print.

An online ad campaign for sourcing candidates for any position, need to be consistent or else the results may not be sufficient. Ads are a potentially important part of a candidate attraction strategy, may result in very few quality responses and may not be the most effective use of your time and money. Hence, in order to make your advertisement effective, remember the following:

When advertising, consider joint logo advertising with clients on a job specific basis and general advertising to increase candidate database (general roles in each vertical) and brand awareness.

Analyze and choose media which is targeted at your vertical – such as a magazine or website for financial executives and professionals. Advertising Meta Recruitould drive traffic to the META RECRUIT Professional website or any other Job Site being used by you.

Follow brand guidelines to achieve maximum effectiveness

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Use GEKO principle while preparing the content of the ad

4. Professional Association Networking:

You Meta Recruitould be members of professional associations related to your vertical specialization. You need to take a visible, active role to ensure credibility within the vertical community. Participation in an association allows you to view candidates in a situation that is similar to work. You will be able to build up a clear picture across industry sectors of the key personnel and their career plans and aspirations.

5. Networking Sites:

Networking Sites such as www.LinkedIn.com, www.Facebook.com , www.Orkut.com; www.zorpia.com and www.MySpace.com have become an increasingly popular platform through which to build relationMeta Recruitips and attract candidates. This is particularly the case for senior, highly skilled workers who may not wiMeta Recruit to use job boards.

6. MailMeta Recruitots:

Use the database (combination of data as resumes, mapping Meta Recruiteets, list of company employees, professional associations’ members database etc.) for mailMeta Recruitots, enabling you to target specific skills for specific roles.

7. Events:

Attend recruitment job fairs or PR events which are designed for your target market. Rather than simply attending, you may want to consider being a sponsor to raise META RECRUIT Professional’s visibility at the event and in the community such as events organized by NASSCOM.

8. Public Relations:

Cultivate a relationMeta Recruitip with local business publications to create an awareness of META RECRUIT Professional on career advice or trends related to the verticals. Use blogs to discuss career issues related to your vertical market or in general, as it will help you reach out to more candidates.

9. Company Closures & Lay-offs:

Qualified candidates may become available if companies have to let them go. You Meta Recruitould pro-actively offer support at these points and consider competitors of the closed business as the first opportunity for the candidates.

10. Candidates from Other Countries:

For skills in Meta Recruitortage, consider attracting candidates from other countries. Impress upon the client for need to do so. A BPO company called 247 Customer is hiring French speaking professionals from Mauritius.

11. Banner Advertising and Keyword SponsorMeta Recruitip:

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The use of banner ads and keyword sponsorMeta Recruitip on alternative online media is encouraged in order to advertise opportunities at META RECRUIT Professional and to direct internet traffic to the principal job site. The choice of sites will be dependent on the sector targeted.

12. Search Engine SponsorMeta Recruitip:

The use of search engine sponsorMeta Recruitip is on the increase and keyword sponsorMeta Recruitip is becoming heavily used to attract candidates at the search engine level, before they get as far as the job boards.

13. Collegial supporters:

By asking for help on a difficult search, you may find another recruiter who’ll save the day by supplying you with the perfect candidate.

14. Industry, Trade and Alumni directories:

Get hold of these directories to find more candidates

15. Personal visibility:

There is no replacement to this. More visibility and bigger the network of yours will stimulate more candidates towards you.

4.2 Mapping of Candidates

“Mapping” – one of the most commonly used terminologies in the Recruitment industry refers to the process of detail information gathering about people who form the target list for any search. During the process of mapping, the consultant / researcher is expected to capture basic information including but not limited to areas like name of the person, phone and e mail id, age, highest academic qualification, years of experience, designation and current organization working with, reporting manager, current compensation, openness to mobility etc.

Mapping helps improve efficiency in many ways such as:

Much quicker turn around time with client requirements

Better understanding of the candidate space

Information Meta Recruitaring among team members

Avoiding work duplication

In a dynamic environment, proactive mapping and constant information updating becomes even more crucial.

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Mapping Process

Step 1: Identify the specific position details

Step 2: Identify the list of target organizations / functions

Step 3: Create job parity (e.g.: an Assistant Manager in a company could be equivalent to a Team Leader in another company)

Step 4: Candidate Pool Size:

Candidate Pool Size:

Assess the overall market size (i.e., number of candidates in the target organizations who could be considered for that specific position)

Calculate the total pool size available between the set of target companies

If the pool size looks ok, then proceed with gathering candidate information details (Step 5)

If the pool size seems insufficient, re-look at the target list or specifications

Estimation of market size for a specific skill set:

Location

Source

Organizations

No. of Employees at

Level D Level E Total

Bangalore HP 60 175 235

  Siemens 0 15 15

  Tesco 0 12 12

  ACS 15 40 55

  Aegis 2 7 9

  Flextronics 2 8 10

  IBM 20 50 70

  iGate 4 10 14

  LogicaCMG 2 4 6

  Ocwen 3 5 8

  Oracle 10 30 40

  Progeon 10 25 35

  OPI 3 10 13

  Thomson 2 6 8

  Total 133 397 530

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Step 5: Map the candidates at the required level

Map the candidates at the required level:

Use Candidate Client Template to capture all the information.

Dos and Don’ts of Telecalling

Getting the first lead (from references/database/ job sites) is very crucial – use the first few leads to network within the organization / function. Do not be too aggressive / puMeta Recruity

Tap internal database, candidates you know, friends, job sites, network of other team members to generate leads

Through each lead generated, attempt to get at least 3 more new leads – this is especially critical for candidates who are not interested in the particular opening.

For every lead generated gently probe for names of peers / reporting manager and reportees

Network with people in other departments to seek information on the relevant department (for e.g.: talk to Marketing to get information on Sales etc)

In any organization, avoid calling the same department / function in a particular location time and again – this may lead to information leakage

Avoid seeking reference at the same level – this may create insecurity in mind of the prospective candidate for the said position

By above steps, build a network of your ‘ADVISORS’ – keep in touch with them. Build a relationMeta Recruitip of trust with your ADVISOR

Make sure you CALL BACK, if you have said so

If a referee gets an offer, make sure the person who referred him knows – ideally after the person has joined the new organization

Remember, “If you don’t ask, you won’t get”, hence ask and ask the right question, and SEEK HELP. Just saying, “I need your help…….” And “I will really appreciate if you can help me….” Will work wonders

People will be hesitant and will say, “I can’t give you the reference and I need to speak to the person first.” Say, “We are Times Group with Pan-India presence (our brand will strike any listener). It is our responsibility to keep any information you may Meta Recruitare with us confidential and you need not worry about. Trust me. Also, if I discuss the position with the person, I may be able to explain better. This way we can ensure that the person does not miss a good opportunity”

Always work with a timeline. Without a deadline, one will not maximize the efforts

In the process of mapping, efforts will be very high initially, but as the database grows stronger, the efforts required to do new mapping will reduce.

Don’t get diMeta Recruiteartened- its not necessary that you will manage to get the information the first time

Whenever you are mapping, do a thorough and exhaustive job – try to not leave out even a single candidate

If your mapping is well done – chances of closure on a mandate are very high. Update candidate information regularly (with or without mandate).

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Make sure whenever you interview a candidate, you collect information about the organization structure / division, no of reportees, name of reporting manager, names of high performers etc. Ensure this information is captured in the relevant excel Meta Recruiteets immediately

Do not leave information lying around in pieces of paper or notebooks to be entered later as that will never happen

Have a standard assessment rating across the practice. Ensure the right job competencies are being assessed and the candidate rated on those.

STEP 6: Review

Review the total number of candidates mapped vs. the target pool vs. the required numbers for the said position.

Source

Organizations

No. of Employees at

No. of Employees

mapped at Variance at

Level

D

Level

E

Tot

al

Level

D

Level

E

Tota

l

Level

D

Level

E

Tot

al

HP 60 175 235 25 83 108 -35 -92

-

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Seimens 0 15 15 1 13 14 1 -2 -1

Tesco 0 12 12 0 1 1 0 -11 -11

ACS 15 40 55 1 10 11 -14 -30 -44

Aegis 2 7 9 1 0 1 -1 -7 -8

Flextronics 2 8 10 0 2 2 -2 -6 -8

IBM 20 50 70 18 27 45 -2 -23 -25

iGate 4 10 14 1 1 2 -3 -9 -12

LogicaCMG 2 4 6 0 1 1 -2 -3 -5

Ocwen 3 5 8 1 1 2 -2 -4 -6

Oracle 10 30 40 1 19 20 -9 -11 -20

Progeon 10 25 35 2 26 28 -8 1 -7

OPI 3 10 13 4 4 8 1 -6 -5

Thomson 2 6 8 0 4 4 -2 -2 -4

Total 133 397 530 55 192 247 -78 -205

-

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STEP 7: Keep mapping till variance is minimal

Mapping Meta Recruiteet / follow the Candidate Client Template

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Mapping is the lifeline of recruitment operations and key differentiator in market place. All other methods including search on Job Boards can be the starting point but not the end point of your search for right candidates

4.3 WHEN IS MAPPING DONE

1. Training on how to do Mapping – Mapping Meta Recruitould be an integral part of the learning on the job process. Managers Meta Recruitould train new joiners on mapping techniques in the initial period – first 2 weeks. In the early days, Managers Meta Recruitould set targets for new comers to map functions / jobs even if there are no active mandates for the same.

2. Mapping for open / live positions – Once the new joiner is confident of the mapping techniques he / Meta Recruite Meta Recruitould be asked to do mapping for live / open mandates.

3. Mapping to Influence Clients – Mapping lists Meta Recruitould be Meta Recruitared with clients, to influence upon them our knowledge of the actual pool size available. Thus this will position us as ‘EXPERTS’ before the client.

4.4 Advertising a Job Opportunity

Job postings are getting better. There are now fewer classified ads and position descriptions repurposed online. More and more of employment ads provide all of the details necessary for a top prospect to make an informed choice between their current employer and a new one.

Job advertising has two steps involved:

Creative conceptualization of Job Advertising

Process of Job Advertising

The job advertisement is the first and in most cases the only point of contact that a company can have with the prospective talent, in spite of that, the most important and mostly neglected part is the creative process. It Meta Recruitould be ensured that the written words are impacting and picture / graphics, arresting.

The importance of emotional connects in ad strategy:

Attract or deter? The choice is yours!

Advertising is a powerful tool and using all the resources currently available at META RECRUIT, we can increase our competitiveness and achieving on the ‘pulling power’ of Web adverts.

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Smart Emotion seems to be the buzz word in recruitment industry today. Both left side of the brain, which is the seat of thought and logic, and the right side of the brain, which is the home to sensing and feeling. A good job posting, therefore, will include the following information.

Traditionally, recruiters have presented the tasks involved in performing a job by detailing its “responsibilities.” “In this position, you will be responsible for doing this and doing that.” It was the right information, but the information was conveyed in rather inappropriate way. Why? Because such statements articulate what the employer wants to get out of a position. It needs to know that, of course, because the position must make a meaningful contribution to the execution of its mission or it’s not worth doing (or paying for). But top performers (and that’s who we Meta Recruitould always be trying to recruit) don’t evaluate the attractiveness of an employment opportunity by looking at what it will do for the employer. What they want to know is what the position will do for them. Said another way, they will use the logical side of their brain to assess “What’s in it for them?”

How do we help them make that judgment? First, we must recognize that the value of a position to a top performer is based on their answers to five critical questions. And second, we must write job postings that provide the information necessary for a top performer to arrive at answers that will interest them, engage them and address their buying motives, thus inspiring them to apply. What are the most common questions?

“What will I get to do?”

“Whom will I get to work with?”

“What will I get to learn?”

“What will I get to accompliMeta Recruit”

“What will I get to earn?”

There are many more questions like this and it can all be achieved using the principle of GEKO

So what is GEKO and how can it help create an effective ad?

G = Greed

And most people are motivated by money in some way. Yet it may not be our only motivation to work. Greed includes salary and benefits-The whole package. Benefits are not simply private health care and pension. There are many other benefits that a company can offer. Ask your client when taking a job. They may not consider free parking and a canteen to be a benefit. Yet this could be a buying motive for your candidate. Some companies now offer a clothes allowance to attract candidates. Dig deeper! If your buying motive were ‘Greed’ what would you want to hear?

E = Ego

So what does this mean? People who are motivated by their ‘ego’ are often looking for power over people or decision making. They may want to be involved in making crucial decision and liaising with directors or at board level. They will be looking for a key role where their input will affect the running of the company. Everyone will have an ego! People like to be flattered, so butter them up.

K = Kudos

This is the part of the advert that the candidate will boast about to their friends. How prestigious is this position/location/company/quality of team and management? If your motive for work depends on the kudos of the company, what would you be looking for? Using words such as ‘market leader’,

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‘worlds largest’, ‘foreign travel’, or ‘located in the West End’ may just inspire the candidate to walk through the door.

O = Opportunities

This is the part of advert that will talk about opportunities in terms of development programs, relocation to a more attractive place in future, promotion/future role etc.

Job Posting ‘Musts’

It supports a prospect’s careful analysis of an organization’s value proposition. Any job posting must cover the following:

Job Title: This is a mandatory field; recruiter is required to enter designation or title of the job being posted. Avoid any usage of abbreviations in the job title or in any other field while entering an advertisement. This will affect the keyword or any search performed by the candidates. For e.g. “Senior Developer” Meta Recruitould not be written as “Sr. Developer” or “Executive” as “Exec.” It stimulates first stirrings of emotional contact between employer and prospect

Client Name: The client’s name Meta Recruitould be provided unless otherwise the client has asked not to disclose the name of the organization. Always seek permission prior to using client’s name. However, the disclosure of client’s name puts the candidates at ease since they know that they’re dealing with respectable brand names. Provide 2-3 line details on the client organization such as, “Our client is a Fortune 500 company…………”. Include the Most Important Things (MIT) of client.

Job Description: The Job description (JD) Meta Recruitould be crisp and to the point, roughly 4-5 bullet points to capture the essential information. Avoid very lengthy JD but at the same time do not Meta Recruitorten the JD by using unconventional abbreviations such as ‘Meta Recruitd, immd. fwd’. Please make sure the JD covers all the aspects of job responsibilities. The length of a JD Meta Recruitould not exceed 200 words. Include the Most Important Things (MIT) of the Job.

Candidate Profile: You are required to enter desired profile of a candidate in this field. Specify the number of years of experience and academic/professional qualification of a prospective candidate. The no. of words in this field Meta Recruitould not exceed 200.

Candidate Skills: Set of skills required for any given job Meta Recruitould be entered in this field. The length of this field Meta Recruitould not exceed 100 words.

Location: You are required to enter a single location or multiple locations depending upon the job opening. Do not enter location in the following format: Delhi/Noida/Gurgaon as this will affect the proximity search. Enter multiple locations separated by commas.

Contract Type: Mention temporary, permanent or contractual.

Industry Sector: Mention the industry category in which any given job falls.

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Pay Range: Specify the pay range for any given job in this field.

It is mandatory to use this principle while preparing any advertisement in any media

Required Work Hours: Specify required no. of working hours for any given job. It is recommended to mention no. of working hours in case it is less than or more than normal working hours.

Recruiter: provide your name and email id for potential applicant to respond back.

Be distinct in job postings: Follow the guidelines provided in GEKO principle above. The print ad Meta Recruitould preempt the following questions -

Pride in their work,

Pride in their colleagues, and

Pride in their employer.

Remember:

All advertising and candidate attraction materials must comply with corporate branding.

All advertising must be valid, factual and current.

Highlight SPEQ (Skills, Personality, Experience and Qualifications) required for the job

Window adverts must be regular and Meta Recruitould be updated on a weekly basis to keep interest going and you must not leave a filled job in the window. Friday evening is the best time to upload the ad again as it will remain on top few pages and will definitely get viewed by candidates over the weekend, hence the response rate will be much better.

4.5 Database Management

The effective management of candidate database is the Key to success as it helps capture all the information improving your efficiency to turnaround faster.

Following are the key requirements of managing the database:

Each Practice will have a pre-defined Candidate Database Structure (set of folders and sub folders primarily based on skill sets) nationally in O drive.

Every resume received must be saved immediately in appropriate folder with correct coding. The coding to be followed is

City Name_Company Name_Candidate Name_Current Designation

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Updation: As soon as you get any update on any candidate such as phone number and company, update the same in the profile of the candidate saved in the database

A well organized and updated database will help in

Easy Position Based Search Search to quickly locate relevant and key candidates

Help in Mass Email / Mail Meta Recruitots.

The database can be leveraged to design personalized, targeted email campaigns serving as notification of new job openings, company news, product announcements, etc. Mass emails provide a powerful way to zero in on and communicate with a specific subset of our contact network.

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Candidate Management

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1 Approaching the Candidate

The person you are calling most probably is not expecting a phone call from our organization. Therefore, it is important to explain who you are and why you are calling immediately, otherwise this person has no idea who you are and it does not leave a good first impression. If you leave a message, the message must be “catchy” or the chances of this person returning your call are slim

1.1 Learning ObjectiveApproaching the Candidate is the most critical step in the recruitment process intended to achieve following objective:

Positioning META RECRUIT as a strong brand

Starting point of candidate experience

Selling the client and the role.

Building relationMeta Recruitip for future revenue.

Types of Call made to Candidates

There are different situations in which you can approach a candidate. Few of the situations are:

Cold Calling: You just know the number and call to find out the person and his/her details

Mapping Call: You know the number and at least the name of the person, and you call to find more details

Reference Call: Someone has referred the person and you are likely to have some detail on this person

Follow Up Call: You have spoken to the person before and are making a follow up call

Meetings (preset or walk in candidates): You are meeting for the first time

Approaching a Candidate on Phone

Remember, in a first-call situation, you have very little time to “connect” with another person, so your recruiting script has to be repeatable and Meta Recruitould be able to quickly stimulate interest

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Introduce

Understand Candidate’s status and Capture the information

Selling the Position and the Client

in order for a dialogue to develop. Remember, you are the META RECRUIT to the person on the other side.

Make your telephone your friend and not enemy. Approach your candidate professionally.

The incoming telephone must be answered before the third ring – after the first ring whenever possible.

The process of approaching a candidate on phone can be summarized as below:

During each phase, candidate is forming certain perspective and is constantly making decisions, and therefore the recruiter’s action need to address each thought of the candidate during the call. Please find below the flow of thought process and how to address the same…

CANDIDATE PERSPECTIVE / DECISION CONSULTANT / RECRUITER ACTION

↔

↔

Close

“Do I even want to listen to this Consultant / Recruiter?”

1. Establish Rapport Naturally

“Is this Consultant / Recruiter different from other Consultant / Recruiter?”

“Is he/ she sincere?..... competent?”

“Am I ready to share critical Information with this Consultant / Recruiter?

“Please get off my back”

2. Introduce

Greet Seek permission to speak State Objectives of the call Share Positioning Statement Provide Company / personal

Introduction Share Relevant Job Opening Seek permission to proceed

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↔

↔

↔

↔

↔

↔

Transition to understand Candidate’s status – Active / Passive Job Seeker

“I have given you quite a bit of information on myself and my company. Can I understand a little bit about you & you career aspirations”

Use Steering Questions such as

What is your motivation to change your job?

Why do you want to change your current company?

May I know your wiMeta Recruit list of companies you would like to work for?

What would you prefer more Employer Brand Name / Role or package / money while choosing your future employer?

Capturing the Information

This is a critical phase in the process as the information gathered here will aid us in correct selection of a candidate and identifying gaps if any. Please refer to Assessing a candidate and Assessment Meta Recruiteet as in Art of Interviewing program.

Selling the Position & Client

“Is this Consultant / Recruiter different from other Consultant / Recruiter?”

“Is he/ she sincere?..... competent?”

“Am I ready to share critical Information with this Consultant / Recruiter?

“Please get off my back”

2. Introduce

Greet Seek permission to speak State Objectives of the call Share Positioning Statement Provide Company / personal

Introduction Share Relevant Job Opening Seek permission to proceed

“This is another recruiter who does not want to understand what I need?”

“What information should I give”

“He is trying to sell the job to me instead of listening to me.”

“I know it all….and am qualified for the job”

“This does not sound exciting.”

“I will think about it”

“You should know my compensation. Can they afford me?”

“I still have many queries and doubts”

“Let me tell you what I think”

“My friend told me about this place”

3. Close

Understand current compensation and expectations

Answer queries Seek interest and talk about

next steps and further details

2. Sell the Position and Client

Understand candidate’s current status

Use GEKO Fix up Meeting Talk about next steps and further

details

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Meta Recruitare brief background about the client and Job-Understand both the job and client USPs to ensure that these match your candidates’ needs and suit their “Appeal” factors. Build them using GEKO principle.

Give a positive and confident opening statement e.g. ‘I am sure you will be interested in this job because its offers many of the things you are looking for.’ Sell the four main points to the candidate and gain their agreement in how well the vacancy meets their requirements.

Involve the candidate by asking assumptive questions to get their agreement that we have matched correctly e.g. “You said that you wanted a position that offers good training didn’t you?”

Reconfirm their motivational need to leave current role. Enable the candidate to make an informed choice by talking through all the details including location, cost to company, expectations and responsibilities and start date.

Reconfirm that the Candidate is positively interested in the role. Once this has been agreed, inform the Candidate you will arrange an immediate interview and confirm their availability.

Close

Towards the end of the conversation, it is important to discuss the compensation followed

Compensation: Candidate’s compensation Meta Recruitould be discussed and captured even if the candidate is not interested in the opportunity. Following are some of the key details that we need to capture on compensation:

Current Fixed compensation.

Variable / Bonus component (probe further on the bonus structure and the last bonus received).

Retention Bonus.

Loan component if any (industry specific) confirm if the candidate has availed of any loan and if yes then what type of loan, amount, and interest rate.

ESOPs (ask specific questions like what is the vesting period, payment mode of ESOPs).

In few cases candidates get company provided accommodation and the details of the same Meta Recruitould be captured by us.

We Meta Recruitould also understand what is the notice period required to be served by the candidate.

Please refer to Compensation Meta Recruiteet. (Refer Annexure 2)

Only understanding the current compensation of the candidate is not sufficient enough, we also need to understand the candidates expected compensation and the rationale behind it. Please refer to Compensation format to capture details and later on compare with new offer, whenever required.

Please ensure re-confirmation of candidate’s annual compensation break up once the candidate has cleared the first round of interview. Please seek authenticated document of the annual CTC or last two months salary slip.

After understanding the compensation, ask the candidate if there are any more queries. Once the candidate’s queries are answered, the candidate may be ok or not ok or in thinking mode. If the candidate says

Yes for the position

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Meta Recruitare the next steps and send an email (Refer Email Sample # CM1 )to the candidate with the relevant information (Refer annexure I-email format) asking him to immediately send an updated copy of his resume.

Let me think about it. Understand what the areas of concern are and decision making points. Accordingly, send an email immediately addressing the same and seeking another time to speak and/ or meet. (Refer Email Sample # CM2)

Update Candidate and Client Tracker immediately (Refer Annexure 1)

No for the position

Send an email (Refer Email Sample # CM3) to the candidate thanking him and further requesting to Meta Recruitare references along with a copy of updated resume

Last but not the least, end the conversation on positive note thanking the candidate for time spent and Meta Recruitaring personal information. Assure the candidate of confidentiality and professional conduct always.

GEKO Principle

As during advertising a Job, the principle is to be used while selling the job to the candidate on phone/during the in person meeting. It is important to revisit this during the Pre Interview Advice/Scheduling stage as well.

It is important to understand that every human being (candidate in this case) has 4 inherent needs and this principle captures the need (points of appeal) for any candidate whether active or passive. It appeals to the buying motives and inspires the candidate to take the next step. The four points of appeal are once again given below for further understanding and usage:

G=GREED

Salary and benefits

Joining bonus

Work life balance

Dig deeper – you need to ask all this when taking the job

Identify what is different and big plus on current state which will excite the candidate.

E=EGO

Does the job offer-

Power people or decision making

Involvement in making crucial decisions

Liaising with and reporting to top management

Crucial/key role and responsibilities; chance to make an impact

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Everyone will have an ego. Identify what will flatter the candidate.

K=KUDOS

How prestigious is the location/position/company. Quality of team and management/culture

Market leader/Worlds largest/Company strategy and processes

Foreign travel

Located in the hub of the city

Identify what is different and big plus on current state which will excite the candidate. They will like to boast about this the most to their friends.

O=OPPORTUNITIES

Development programs

Promotion-future role

Relocation to a better city/country

Everyone is ambitious and wants to learn and move forward. Identify the key selling points and if done properly you will be able to position your offer as best amongst the rest.

Following script can be used as Point of Appeal to the Candidate –

A good place to work.

The people are down to earth.

The company is growing.

Top of the line benefits.

They are a very people-oriented company.

A management position or it leads to a management position.

No one gets pigeonholed.

They go out of their way to Meta Recruitow recognition.

They pay more then their competition.

The firm has a great reputation.

The company makes a fine product.

The firm is aggressive.

The firm is dynamic.

Their benefit package is comprehensive.

They are research-oriented and technically competent.

They have a genuine need for a....

They are anxious to find the right person.

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The company is stable.

Email Sample # CM1: After interest checking the candidate

From: Consultant

To: Candidate

Subject: Job Description

Attachment: Please attach the JD

Dear........

It was a pleasure talking to you today. I thank you for the time you spent with me discussing your background and your experience. I am writing to confirm META RECRUIT’s’ interest in taking your candidature forward. As discussed, enclosed is a brief profile of the position and the organization.

In the meanwhile, please do not hesitate to call me, Meta Recruitould you need any clarification or further information.

I look forward to your updated resume.

Best Regards

Email Sample # CM2: Let me think about it

From: Consultant

To: Candidate

Subject: Job Description

Attachment: Please attach the JD

Dear........

It was a pleasure talking to you today. I thank you for the time you spent with me discussing your background and your experience. I am writing to Meta Recruitare with you the further details of the position and the organization. I understand the time required by you to make a decision to go ahead.

In the meanwhile, please do not hesitate to call me, Meta Recruitould you need any clarification or further information as I look forward to answering any questions that you may have which will help you make a more educated decision.

I look forward to your updated resume.

Best Regards

Email Sample # CM3: No for the Position-Thanking for spending time and seeking references and updated resume

From: Consultant

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To: Candidate

Subject: Our Telecon

Dear.........

It was a pleasure talking to you today. I thank you for the time you spent with me discussing your background and experience. I found you to be quite fit for the position and I believe that the prospective role and organization will add value to your career. However, I respect your decision to let this opportunity pass by. As discussed, let us stay in touch for any other suitable opportunity.

I would be thankful to you if you can Meta Recruitare details of your friends and acquaintances who you think could fit this role and I will speak to them directly without taking your reference, if you so desire. In case you have any more queries on the role and company, please feel free to ask.

I request you to send me your updated profile for our records and ready reference in future.

Best Regards

Introduce-Opening the Conversation

Here is an example of a dialogue between a Candidate and Consultant:

Consultant: Hello, Good Morning. Am I speaking with ______ (Candidate Name)

Candidate: Yes

Consultant: This is Rita here calling from META RECRUIT which is India’s largest media conglomerate, and second largest recruitment firm, is this a good / right time to speak to you?

Either the candidate will say Yes or No

Candidate: Yes, what is this about?

Consultant: EstabliMeta Recruit rapport and state call objectives and seek permission to proceed further

Sample script:

Thank you so much for allowing me time to speak to you. I remember speaking to you two years back when you were a manager at JP Morgan. You are an AVP now and you seem to have done very well for yourself. Congratulations! I want discuss an interesting (emphasize!!!) opportunity with you over next 8-10 minutes. Do I have your permission?

Candidate: No

Consultant: I understand and I am sorry to disturb you. Can I know a more appropriate time to speak to you?

Candidate: How did you Get my name?

Consultant: Name of the candidate, that’s a very valid question. We have a research team which is constantly working on identifying key professionals in area of ………. I hope that answers your question. Would you be ok if I proceed? EstabliMeta Recruit rapport and state call objectives and seek permission to proceed further

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Note the corresponding action for each perspective/decision of your candidate. Follow the META RECRUIT standard of dialogue with the candidate.

The incoming telephone must be answered before the third ring – after the first ring whenever possible.

META RECRUIT standard for incoming calls

The incoming telephone must be answered before the third ring – after the first ring whenever possible. Say, “Good morning. This is Rahul from META RECRUIT speaking. May I help you?”

Please find below guidelines on Introducing the Call:

EstabliMeta Recruiting Rapport Naturally

Let the Candidate set the tone of the call

“I really appreciate the opportunity to talk to you for 10 minutes Would that be ok with you?”

Introducing the Call

State Call Objectives

What I’d like to do during the next 10 minutes is to:

Introduce you to META RECRUIT and how we are helping Candidate make right career choices

I would then like to learn (more) about you & your career aspirations

Meta Recruitare details of the opportunity

…..at that point, the two of us will be able to make a mutual decision as to whether or not we Meta Recruitould proceed any further. Is that a good way to proceed?

Meta Recruitaring Positioning Statement (Use “we help” theme)

META RECRUIT is in the business of helping candidate make right career decision at right time by providing suitable job opportunities with our clients.

Providing Company / Personal Introduction

META RECRUIT is a division of Times Group, a largest conglomerate in India and one of the respected companies in Asia.

Our clients are leading players across various Industries

I’m part of the …….Team based in …… (Location – Bangalore ……) and handle senior level positions

Meta Recruitaring relevant opportunity

“We are currently working on opportunities like …………(Head HR……name position) with leading Automobile Company (avoid stating the name of client upfront)”

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Come across professionally. Remember, You are representing a largest brand in India. META RECRUIT. However, be judicious in terms of the amount of information as too much info on META RECRUIT could tantamount to bragging and may put off the candidate.

1.2 Candidate Objections & Counter Strategies

While approaching a candidate, you may come across few common objections. Here are few common objections and way to deal with them:

While we may call all the candidates that we find relevant and gather/source by different methods not all would be interested or agree readily, therefore let’s prepare ourselves to understand the various objections we might face and learn how we can handle those objections and build our pool of candidates for a particular position or job profile.

Learning Objective: This learning component covers the following learning objectives:

To understand the some common objections faced by consultants while initiating calls to a candidate

The strategies to overcome those objections and get information from prospective candidates

Objections from candidates:

Objections Strategy

Objection 1:

‘I don’t deal with/ like headhunters’

The grand strategy is to keep the conversation going and get information.  Some good opening questions: ‘Did you have a bad experience with one?’ (Don’t speak until you get a reply).  ‘Maybe I’m in the wrong business, could you tell me why?’  ‘It would be helpful if I knew why, so I don’t make the same mistake.’  ‘Vijay, suppose you were the owner of this recruiting firm, and you knew that recruiters had an image problem.  What would you do?’  (don’t speak until you get a reply).  Then say to him/her that you are doing exactly that, embelliMeta Recruiting of course on your response depending on what they describe.  After this initial statement and some words of wisdom from them, you can go back to your selling sequence.  ‘I think you can agree that there have to be some very good headhunters.  It’s just finding them that’s the problem, isn’t it?  I have found good jobs for people who otherwise might have taken something less rewarding.  Don’t you agree then, that I could be a good guy and that I might be helpful to you?’  Another good technique; infer that only experienced professionals use executive recruiters.  Entry level people have no choice but to answer ads in the paper and subject their resume to an endless stream of bureaucratic red tape.  If their resume happens to capture the attention of a personnel agent, it may be forwarded to the hiring authority.  In almost all cases,

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professionals are represented to other professionals by executive recruiters.

Objection 2:

‘I am happy with my job’

This Meta Recruitould be a two-phase approach.  First phase, get them to talk: ‘What about your job do you like?’  When they reply, ask another question to get more specific information.  ‘Yes, I can understand that. The best performers are usually happy with their jobs.  I think good people and job satisfaction go hand and hand, don’t you?  How long have you been with the company?’ Second phase:  ‘Yes, it sure sounds like your company is taking care of you; but what if you had an opportunity to enjoy all these advantages plus ....’  Mention whatever has not been brought out as a plus or negative.  ‘Don’t you agree that if you had the same advantages (describe them) at another firm, plus (describe other advantages) , it might make sense to look into the opportunity?’  Other approaches:  ‘Great, my client is only interested in the most qualified applicant, and since you are satisfied with your current position you wouldn’t qualify.  Do you know of anyone who would qualify because he/Meta Recruite may not be as satisfied as you?’  ‘That’s great.  I’m sure you agree that you are in the minority.’  Wait for the yes, then pounce, ‘who do you know that’s not as fortunate as yourself?’  ‘If I do run across an excellent opportunity in your area, would you want me to pass it by you?’

Objection 3:

‘I just started here’

‘When did you start?’  ‘What attracted you to the position?’  ‘How did you find out about the position?’  ‘Did you interview a lot before you decided?’  ‘Where did you interview?’  ‘What type of work are you doing now?’  ‘Where was your last job?’  ‘Who did you work for there?’  ‘Why did you leave?’  ‘What was your position?’  It is pretty obvious here that you are looking for information that you can work with, for example, potential job orders from their prior employer or companies where they interviewed.  Some probing questions to find out if they are completely satisfied:  ‘What originally interested you in the position?’  ‘Now that you have been there for a while, are your original reasons for accepting valid?’  ‘What were they?’

Objection 4:

‘I can’t talk’ and won’t provide phone number

Not much you can do here, but this is a good area to emphasize the point that subtle changes in how the question is asked can bring totally different results.  A lot of average or poor recruiters have a vague idea of the move to make here but it comes off something like this: ‘When will be a good time to call back?’  This is a poorly stated question that puts the applicant in charge.  He/Meta Recruite can reply in many ways;  ‘Not this year, I’m on a hot project.’  Or, he/Meta Recruite may just say ‘next week’ and continue to waste your time.  ‘What time do you get to work?’ or ‘Could I call you tomorrow, first thing or would tomorrow afternoon be more convenient?’  These are much-better questions because they assume a time and only give the opportunity to respond positively.

Objection 5:

‘I’m not interested’ and doesn’t state a reason

Try to provide something of possible value (GEKO) and in the exchange get email id information. ‘We do send out some very interesting information on the job market, salaries, interviewing techniques, career suggestions based on first hand experience,’ etc. ‘So let me have your email id and I’ll let you get back to work.’  After they give this, go for the mobile number, then go for the birthday.  Try to nibble at them and see if you can get them talking.  If you can’t, you will at least come away with an email address.  Also, always look for an opportunity to find the reason for their lack of interest.

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Objection 6:

‘I’m not interested’ because of salary, location, company or type of work

‘Tell me your ideal job.’  ‘We cover every firm hiring people in your profession and the chances are very good that we will have that opportunity for you when you’re ready.’  When they respond, fall back into selling a position or at least try to get a resume or referrals.

1.3 Submitting and Scheduling a Candidate

Now we have a candidate who is ready to be placed and we need to sell his skills to the client. Let’s in this topic learn to submit and schedule a candidate with a client.

Learning Objective:

Submitting and Scheduling the candidate is one of the most critical steps in the permanent recruitment process. This is the stage of using one’s selling skills with a client and one can not expect to be successful at it without proactively working on influencing the client. By following a process of selling the candidate instead of simply forwarding the resume, one can secure more client interviews thereby increasing the success rate. Please remember that a candidate’s resume can be submitted only after the approval from the candidate.

1 2 3

Format and Content of the Referral Meta Recruiteet (Resume)

Candidate Assessment Meta Recruiteet

Directly speak to the Client

Look and feel of the Referral Meta Recruiteet

Content at the top

Comments at the end

Resume Validation

Quality of assessment

Quality of details in the assessment Meta Recruiteet

Most Important Thing (MIT): Most important features of candidate’s resume and reasons for fitment must be identified and discussed with client. Eg. Education, relevant experience, competency, key skills etc.

Remember: Use linking phrases such as ‘he can do’, ‘he enjoys doing’, ‘he is used to doing’ etc. with clients. Create a

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sense of urgency in client’s mind.

Update Candidate and Client Tracker (Annexure 1). Save the Candidate Referral Meta Recruiteet (Annexure 4) in appropriate folder in Meta Recruitared database.

Format and Content of Resume

Clients are flooded with Resumes from different sources, hence it is very important to ensure that your resume which happens to be your product is packaged in an attractive and professional way.

Client Meta Recruitould be able to differentiate META RECRUIT resume vis a vis others from a distance and it must have information that will make client go through it thus leading to higher chances of early schedule.

Some of important features and details of Resume are given below:

Look and feel of the Referral Meta Recruiteet: Please refer to the Sample Candidate Referral Meta Recruiteet.

Content at the top: Please refer to Content at the top (Annexure 3)

Resume Validation: Apart from normal resume content such as professional summary, education and personal details, it is important to note the following which are overlooked many times:

o The period spent in every organization has to be mentioned in Month/Year format.

o Take details on Reporting structure-Who does he report to? Direct and Indirect reportees

o What level did he join at in each organization and designation while leaving the organization Meta Recruitould be clearly mentioned?

o KRAs and Achievements in his current and past roles

o If there are any gaps between completion of studies and the jobs done by him or if there are gaps between two jobs, then the reasons for same have to be questioned and mentioned in the resume. Years of education must be mentioned.

Comments at the end of Resume: Recruiter’s Comments on candidate can make or break your case in front of your client. This also means that you have done your homework well. Important thing to note here is that our comments Meta Recruitould not be “Copy Paste of Resume”. A below check list Meta Recruitould be used to write your comments about the candidate –

o Total no. of years of experience and Years of experience in the relevant area

o Years of experience at a Managerial Role, if need be

o Where does the candidate stand in the hierarchy of the organization? Mention briefly about the Organization structure.

o If the candidate is currently unemployed, he has to be probed for the reason and same needs to be mentioned.

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o If currently employed, then the reasons for looking out for a change and why is he specific about joining the client organization?

o About his family background: details about parents, wife, and kids, specially important for relocation case.

o Any other relevant information which Client Meta Recruitould be aware about and How the candidate is suitable for the role?

Resume must be sent out in the format recommended. Remember, a well packaged resume is your marketing tool. Update eWAR and Candidate Client Tracker. (Annexure 1)

Sample Comments in the Referral Meta Recruiteet (email / profile):

Enclosed kindly find the profile of Mr. X for position: VP_OFTG. (CLIENT Name)

Mr.X has total 17 years of experience in IT, out of which 5+ years in delivery, program management and people management. Currently he works as VP with Polaris Software Labs since 2+ years, where heads entire Delivery, RelationMeta Recruitip and P&L function for large programs for Treasury, financial and Risk business. He has rich experience in managing both SDLC based large projects (application development / maintenance) & product development/roll out in BFS domain.

He acts a key point of contact for global relationMeta Recruitip with all his clients’ along with single handedly managing the parternerMeta Recruitip with Algorithmics. Few of his recent key clients are Citibank, Lloyds TSB, Westpac Bank, Australia and Common Wealth Bank. In addition he has significant bearing on principal for value-exposition for large banks in key strategy meeting/ summits. He reports in to Sr VP and has 8 direct and 100 indirect reportees.

He is found to be thorough with Quality and process matrix and has sound orientation towards technology. He comes across as a matured professional coupled with strong business acumen, client engagement, business development and people management skills which are required for the role applied for. He is interested in the opportunity given the wider role on offer and the location. He is currently based at Pune and would like to relocate to Mumbai because his family is based at Mumbai. He is married, has a 10 years old son and parents all of whom live in Mumbai.

Mr.X has done Master of Science (Operational Research) from University of Delhi, 1988 and a Certificate Course in Software Technology from NCST.

His current CTC is 21 Lacs + 2 Lacs bonus + stocks (10,000).

We recommend him strongly for XXX said role.

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In constructing your script, you Meta Recruitould be aware of certain positive phrases and words that work better than others.

... is extremely AGGRESSIVE

... possesses a great deal of ENERGY towards work

... has a DYNAMIC personality

... is very RESOURCEFUL

... past employer was very impressed with his/her HONESTY and INTEGRITY

... work is SCRUPULOUS

... describes past experience in very FRANK and SINCERE terms

... is very ABOVE BOARD when speaking

... answers questions in a very STRAIGHT FORWARD manner

... is very CONSCIENTIOUS about  work

... answers questions CANDIDLY and DIRECTLY

...  has a very COMPREHENSIVE understanding of (specific skill)

... is very RATIONAL and ARTICULATE

... is very PERCEPTIVE

... has a very STABLE career history

... is a very DEPENDABLE, DOWN-TO-EARTH person

Email Sample # CM4: Interview Schedule confirmation letter

From: Consultant

To: Candidate

Subject: Interview Schedule

Dear..........

As discussed, kindly find below the interview schedule with…………..(name of the company) for ……………….position.

Date:

Time:

Place:

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Contact Person:

Interview Panelists: <Name>, <designation>, <Name>, <designation>,<Name>, <designation>.

Dress Code:

As discussed, please once again find attached the details of the position for your ready reference. Please acknowledge the receipt of this email and revert in case you need any further clarification.

WiMeta Recruiting you good luck!

Best Regards,

Name

Email Sample # CM6: Interview Confirmation with client

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Email Sample # CM5: Regret Mail- If not Meta Recruitort listed by client

From: Consultant

TO: Candidate

Subject: Regret Mail

Dear ........,

We thank you for your interest and appreciate you for spending precious time and effort in meeting (client name) for (name of the positions). It has been a pleasure interacting with you.

Our client found your credentials and achievements impressive but has decided not to pursue your candidature further for the specific requirement.

We have retained your profile in our active database and will contact you for future openings. We wiMeta Recruit you best for your future endeavors.

Do stay in touch!

Best Regards

From: Consultant

To: Client

Subject: Confirmation of Interview

Dear.........

Please find below the interview schedule for the following candidates:

<name>  <date>         <time>          <venue>

Please do let me know if you need any other clarification.

Best Regards,

Name

Note: Please attach specific candidate detail Meta Recruiteets and resume, if required

Please refer to Words as Tools for Recruiter (Annexure 6) for constructing high impact script

1.4 Pre-Interview Advice

After we have scheduled and convinced a client about a profile it is important to give a brief to the candidate not only to help the candidate during the interview but also to confirm our credibility with the client on the profile.

Learning Objective:

The positive impression created by effective resume would ultimately result in a much-awaited call for an interview. This is now an opportunity for candidate to sell him/herself. Remember, that on the other side of the table, the interviewer is the buyer of those benefits that you can bring to the organization. Therefore, it becomes imperative for candidate to be aware of interviewer’s requirements and accordingly prepare for what he/Meta Recruite can offer and why and how he/Meta Recruite is the best choice among all the applicants. This means that candidate needs to know enough and prepare enough for the interview.

Pre-interview advice

For a consultant, this stage is called Pre interview advice stage and is aimed at preparing the candidate for the interview. This is to ensure that the candidate enters the interview with confidence and performs well at the interview, thus increasing the chance of closure.

MeetCandidates Meta Recruitould be advised to come to the branch before going to an interview for pre-interview advice. If this is not physically possible, pre-interview advice must be given over the telephone.

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Point of Appeal

Go through the job with them selling it in terms of their points of appeal i.e. the job content, responsibilities, reason for the vacancy, the client’s most important thing, the department, manager and environment. The candidate must be very clear about the Job and Client details to avoid any embarrassment later. Use GEKO Principle. (Page no. 11)

Interview Process

Inform them about the interview procedure and time required. Let them know about the competition as well.

Preparation

Go through the details of the resume

Dress codes / interview techniques/ how to conduct etc.

Possible Questions and Situations: Advise them on possible questions and situations (KRAs, achievements, challenges faced, competencies, interest in the job, reasons for change, salary expectations etc.), and questions the candidate Meta Recruitould ask. A well prepared Candidate is going to be more confident therefore more successful. Please refer to the Pre-Interview Advice Question Bank and Tips. (Annexure 5)

Be clear about the location of interview and be in time. If it’s Telephonic then ensure the call is taken from an appropriate and comfortable place.

A Pre-interview advice Meta Recruitould take 10-20 minutes depending upon the details and Meta Recruitould be done while scheduling or before the client interview with sufficient time for preparation for the candidate.

A well prepared candidate will improve your CI: Placement ratio. Please refer to Pre Interview Advice Question Bank (Annexure 5)

Pre-Interview Advice – Tips & Question Bank

As a consultant, it is your responsibility to make the candidate feel –

Confident

Relaxed

Prepared

Here are few tips that can be given to a candidate before the interview:

Obtain as much information as possible in advance about client, job etc.

Remember to empty your pockets of any awkward or bulky things – car papers, car keys with large key-chains, bulging wallet, loose coins.

Take care of possible body odour but not necessarily with a strong-smelling deodorant.

Make sure you have directions to the venue where the interview is to be held clearly. Being late for any reason gives a bad impression.

Carry a copy of your resume, certificates if you think they will be required, some stationery if you need to make notes, all in a smart looking folder.

Answer questions concisely and to the point, do not volunteer irrelevant information.

Always be positive about yourself and your abilities – concentrate on things you have done, can do and enjoy doing

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Negative responses are not received well, either about yourself or previous employers.

Do not talk about salary or benefits etc. unless you are asked.

Remember it is a two way communication – you are both interviewing each other

Ask the interviewer questions throughout the interview so that you can gain a greater understanding of the company, role, team, prospects and what they are looking for. Remember – Client wants to know if candidate really wants the job

Dressing up & how to conduct

Always wear a smart suit to the interview, look as business like as possible. Remember to Meta Recruitine your Meta Recruitoes!

Always Meta Recruitake hands firmly, establiMeta Recruit eye contact and smile on introduction with the interviewer; this will make you appear confident eager and friendly.

Before entering the interview room, give yourself a pep talk. Tell yourself a few times: “I am a positive person. I have the skills and the experience to completely fulfill the requirements of the position. I can contribute to the growth of the company. God and the wiMeta Recruites of my family are with me. So, I have already qualified for the position.” It helps.

Please refer to Pre Interview Advice Question Bank (Annexure )

Document: Update the Candidate and Client Tracker(Annexure 1)

Reference: Client Detail Meta Recruiteet

1.5 Scheduling

We have learnt how to debrief the candidate on the client and the job profile to help him in the interview however it is also important that the candidate must attend the interview. Therefore this module is going to help us understand the points we need to keep in mind while scheduling a candidate.

Learning ObjectiveIt is an important part of the entire process and starting point of the client interview, hence it is critical to ensure that is done in an effective manner ensuring 100% turn out at client’s end.

Generate

excitement

Ensure that you generate enough excitement when you first speak to the candidate. Speak energetically and congratulate the candidate for profile selection.

Use GEKORe deploy GEKO Principle

CheckEnsure that he is clear about the position in the offering and all his queries & issues have been resolved and above all would be comfortable with the process

Pre-Interview

Advice

Provide the same on same call and depending on the situation fix up another call for same. Do not forget to ask the candidate to meet or call for debrief.

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Appointment

Setting

Use appointment setting technique as discussed in Meeting a Candidate

Follow

Up

Remind and follow up by phone and email. Send a confirmation email using the Email sample email # CM4

1.6 Post- client interview debrief with the Candidate

We have learnt how to debrief the candidate on the client and the job profile to help him in the interview however it is also important that the candidate must attend the interview. Therefore this module is going to help us understand the points we need to keep in mind while scheduling a candidate.

Learning Objective:

It is important for us to know how the candidate felt about the interview and also give us an understanding of the kind of questions asked. This will also help us during negotiations.

When the applicant calls after the interview as per the instructions provided during pre-interview advice, he or Meta Recruite Meta Recruitould be asked-

1. ‘Describe the interview in detail.’

2. ‘What questions were asked?’

3. ‘What were your answers to the questions?’

4. ‘How do you feel about the job?’

5. ‘Do you want the job?’

6. ‘What are the names, with correct spelling, of everyone you talked with?’

7. ‘What is the starting offer, the start date, title and position?’  Do you have authority to accept on their behalf?

8. ‘What do you have the authority to turn down?’

9. ‘What was your impression of the client’s interest?’

10. ‘What might the client see as drawbacks?’

11. ‘What can you bring to this job?’

12. ‘How did the client leave it?’

13. ‘Did you fill out an application?’

14. ‘Did you provide references?’

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15. ‘What references did you provide?’

16. ‘Was salary discussed; if so, what did you say about salary?’

1.6 Debriefing with the Client

It is important for us to know from the client about how was his view/feedback on the interview and also get an understanding of the candidate capability. Therefore we need to speak with the client post the client interview.

Learning Objective:

This is a critical step to understand the result of all the hard work so far and as a professional organization there is an immediate need to revert to candidates with the feedback.

Call the client immediately after debriefing the applicant and say how much the applicant liked the job and how eager he/Meta Recruite is to work for them!  Never give the client a chance to talk first or ask how it went without already knowing from the applicant.

Here are examples of some positive opening lines:

‘Amit really was impressed with your organization and felt he could make a positive contribution with his skills.’

‘RiteMeta Recruit really wants to work for you; he feels it is a chance of a lifetime, would even be flexible on ....’  ‘And, given a chance, would work on his own time to overcome....(weakness).’

‘Prachi was exited about the position; Meta Recruite feels Meta Recruite could really learn from you.  Your straightforward approach was refreMeta Recruiting and Meta Recruite is anxious to contribute.’

Best practices to be followed during this phase are:

DebriefDebrief with the candidate on attendance, interview process, positive or negative impressions and areas of concerns

SummarizeSummarize the highlights of debriefing done with all candidates scheduled for the position

AppreciateAppreciate and thank the client for all the good work done such as starting on time and candidates’ experience. Use positive opening lines

FeedbackSeek detailed client’s feedback on candidates and overall assessment on the work done by META RECRUIT. Ask steering questions that are given below

Meta Recruitare

Meta Recruitare the summary of your debriefing with candidates at appropriate time

Closure Thank client for Meta Recruitaring the details and time spent

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1. If the decision is pending, establiMeta Recruit any areas of doubt, create a sense of urgency. Stress candidate’s suitability (SPEQ) and puMeta Recruit for a decision as soon as possible. Uncover the reasons and deal with them. Meta Recruitare the ref check you would have done and send it over email

2. If client is not satisfied with the candidate, find out the reason, calibrate yourself on job requirement and offer additional candidates, if required. Meta Recruitare the Reference Check (Annexure 7) you would have done and send it over email in case it may help.

3. If the job is filled from another source, make a record of the expected start date, and call on that date to see if META RECRUIT can fill any no Meta Recruitows from the Competitor.

4. If the candidate is liked then take details if there is another round of interview and co ordinate the same. Re-confirm the salary details from the candidate as soon as the candidate is through the first round. This will give a head start on understanding his/her compensation in depth and Meta Recruitaring it with client.

5. If the client wants to offer then understand and discuss Job Offer, timelines etc.

Steering Questions for Client control

1. Did ………….. (Candidate Name) arrive in time for the interview?

2. What was your first impression of ……………… (Candidate Name)?

3. How long did the interview last?

4. How relevant do you feel that ……………….skills is to the job?

5. How will do you think ………………..(Candidate Name) personality would fit in your company’s culture?

6. What concerns do you have?

7. How confident are you that ………….(Candidate Name) could do the role?

8. How does…………………(Candidate Name) compare with other applicant’s that you have interviewed?

9. How many more applicants do you still have to interview?

10. When will you be making a decision about an offer/next round?

11. Hypothetically speaking, if you had to make a decision now, who would you offer the job to ………… (Candidate Name)?

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Email Sample # CM7: Interview Status feedback

From: Consultant

To: Client

Subject: Interview status feedback

Attachment: Please attach the Status feedback (tracker)

Dear........

Please find attached a list of candidates that were scheduled for interview on (date) for (name of the position) position.

I request you to let us know the feedback which will help us understand the next steps and communicate the status to candidates.

Best Regards

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Email Sample # CM8: Delivery Status feedback

From: Consultant

To: Client

Subject: Delivery status feedback

Attachment: Please attach the Status feedback (tracker)

Dear ..........

Please find attached a candidate wise update on the status of work done for (name of the position).

A summary of the status is as follows:

Resume feedback awaited : 3

First round of interview feedback awaited : 3

Final round awaited : 1

Not found suitable : 2

I think the pipeline is sufficient to close both positions. Please confirm the same and let us know if you have any clarification or need any further information.

Best Regards

1.7 Post Interview to Joining

Now that we have received the feedback from the client, this and the client has informed us about his interest in a particular candidate, this is a very crucial time for us to keep the candidate engaged.

The major reasons for the break up before the joining are:

CTC offered: It may be lower than the candidate’s quoted expectations or what the client mentioned earlier.

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Designation and Job profile: It may be different from what you mentioned to candidate or there may be change in candidate’s expectation.

Family (Wife, Children, and Parents): There may be family pressure on not relocating etc. due to wife’s job, children’s education, parents’ health etc.

Location (climate, lifestyle etc.): Client may offer another location which is not preferred by the candidate or the candidate may change his/her mind

Taking counter offer from current company: This is a difficult one. Please refer to Top Tips to deal with Counter Offers.

Using the offer to negotiate with another company: You will always find greedy candidates which is why it is important to understand the major reason for change and keep reminding the candidate of what has been discussed in past. These reasons of change can be called Hot Button which you need to keeping pressing as and when required.

Other Reasons: There may be other reasons such as attitude of the candidate while negotiation, relocation expenses, benefits etc.

Top Tips to deal with Counter Offers

To protect against a counteroffer that may be bubbling beneath the surface, it is recommended

Delays or interruptions

If the candidate breaks the interview cycle mid way (as evidenced by persistent rescheduling or unavailability); it could indicate a renewed affection for the current employer. Also, delay in Meta Recruitaring the resignation letter with consultant or client also indicates the chance of counter offer in making.

Prolonged indecisionA passive-aggressive candidate, who takes forever to make up his mind and / or constantly needs more information, never wanted the job in the first place.

Inappropriate consultationsWhen a candidate discusses your client’s job with a workplace peer (or worse, a supervisor), it’s a sure sign he’s angling for a counteroffer.

Surprise reviewsIts funny how quickly a candidate’s boss will fork over a raise, especially when the news spreads that the candidate is looking around.

Delay in sending written resignation letter

Candidate may have communicated the decision to resign only verbally but not in writing

Delay in acceptance by bossThis means the company is trying to retain and making it difficult for the candidate to move on

that you look for these common warning signs:

Following are the tips to deal with counter offer:

Explain at the beginning or job offer stage that counter offers are not uncommon, so expect it and prepare how you will handle it! (Remove the flattery)

Ask the candidate if they have been offered a pay rise before? What is different now? They Meta Recruitould have offered it to you before it they wanted to keep you and your skills in the company. (Meta Recruitouldn’t you have been receiving that money/benefit for some time now?)

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If you have to threaten to leave in order to get what you feel you deserve – more responsibility/more money etc) then the chances are the employer will not perceive in you in the same light if you stay…. (will they ever fully trust you again?)

Do you colleagues know that you have handed in your notice? Will they see you differently?

Will this obstacle your future promotion opportunities? If you do stay your boss is more likely to keep their eyes open for a replacement.

Highlight the reasons why it’s easier for an employer to keep them rather than lose them. More money doesn’t guarantee long-term job satisfaction.

Remind the candidate why they want to leave this position (Hot Button) / what they are not getting in their current role. People that have stayed because of a counter offer look for work again after 6 months.

Do not forget that to win the war against counter offers, vigilance and preparation are the most powerful allies. If a deal begins to smell funny, it is recommended that you take hard stand, inform the candidate about back ups and close the candidate once and for all. Otherwise, you could be in for a rough ride, with little control over the outcome of your search.

Negotiation during Offer stage

Negotiation is an art of interaction leading to resolution of disputes, agreement upon courses of action and outcomes to satisfy various interests. A successful negotiation requires exploration of yours and other person’s position to find mutually acceptable compromise helping both partieachieve as much as possible of what is wanted. In the end, one party may win and other may lose, both may lose or both may win. One needs to strive for most effective negotiation which will lead to win-win situation for both parties; however, it may always not be possible.

Negotiation Process

Keys to Effective Negotiation

Speaking

I statements

No blaming

Focus on shared concerns rather

Active Listening

P, Q, R, S

Understanding

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Preparing for a successful negotiation:

Depending on the level of the disagreement, you need to be appropriately prepared for conducting a successful negotiation. Few important pointers are given below:

Goal: What is wanted out of the negotiation?

Knowledge: Prepare yourself for required information such as CTC details and comparison of existing and offered CTC. Who has the power to decide at client’s end?

Plan: What is the trade offs? Know what you will accept? Is there any alternative?

Examine: Understand the true interests of the candidate or client. Is the candidate really interested? Does he really want to leave his present company? Is the position critical for the company? What are the consequences for all parties involved?

Solution: Consider possible solutions and work on mutual win approach. A win-lose approach is to be used only if you are certain that you do not need an ongoing relationMeta Recruitip and are unlikely to work again.

Communicate: As a consultant, this is the most important role between client and candidate.

Different negotiation situations during offer closure stage require different actions. Few tips are provided below:

Situation

Action

Salary

Use the compensation template for comparison to understand the current vs. offer and evaluate the real issue. Understand the % increase or decrease of fixed, variable and retrials. Meta Recruitare and discuss with candidate or client accordingly. Refer to compensation details module to understand salary structures, if need be.

RoleUnderstand what has changed – the specs, the offered role or candidate’s expectation. Meta Recruitare and discuss with candidate or client accordingly

LocationUnderstand what has changed – the location or candidate’s expectation or was the location not communicated. Refer to earlier discussions and prepare to sell the location. Offer to help on relocation such as finding school, accommodation etc.

Thinking about it

Examine the reasons and keep pressing the hot button

Another offer

Understand details of both offers; examine and recommend. If the other offer is clearly more lucrative then ask the person to take up the other offer. It will help in long term. Create a sense of urgency at client’s end.

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Please note that the key to successful negotiation are:

1. Candidate and client’s experience with you

2. Your relationMeta Recruitip with candidate and client

3. How closely you follow the candidate and client engagement process

4. Your preparation for the negotiation

5. Active listening and effective communication

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Preventive Steps while screening the candidate

As already stated, you need to take preventive steps right from the beginning and follow the guidelines laid out in each of the previous steps. Some of the major preventive steps are:

Understanding the compelling reason(s) for the move? (Company/Boss/City/ spouse getting transferred/Job profile/location). FIND THE HOT BUTTON.

Understand the compensation in complete detail

Understand the expectations, and set them right in the beginning itself as per the brief provided by the client. In case the expectations are different, client Meta Recruitould be informed about it right from the beginning

Know the details of the family-Check and cross check on wife’s job, her earnings, how will Meta Recruite take transfer, how will the children education be managed etc.

History of the candidate in acceptance of other offers and job changes

Understand legal bond issues, notice period, notice period payout etc.

Meeting the candidate-This is the best thing that one can do.

Keep a record of all details and document them over email for both client and candidate

Steps during and after the process of making/acceptance of Offer till joining

Once the preventive steps have been taken and the guidelines for each of the previous steps are followed, please follow the following steps during and after the offer is made till the joining happens:

CommunicationMake sure that there is no communication gap and the placement is clean. Keep tying up the lose

Get the offer acceptance over email and print

Proofread the company’s offer letter to prevent errors that may ruffle the candidate’s feathers

Advice on resignation strategy

Prepare the candidate by telling him how the current company will react and how to deal with a counter offer attempt. Cross-check on the resignation done. Please refer to Top Tips to deal with Counter Offers.

Speak to wife/friends/colleagues and befriend them as much as possible

This will help cross check the information and build relationMeta Recruitip further

Check on the Relocation plan and other relocation arrangements made

Candidate not planning for it is alarming. Offer to help relocate. Please refer to Relocation for further information.

Meet the candidate and if possible his family

Depending upon how good a relationMeta Recruitip you will be able to build, the candidate will confide other options etc.

Be in regular touch and LISTEN

Call every week and he Meta Recruitould take your call or else it’s a bad omen.

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AdviseDuring your regular discussions carefully advise on the advantages of new industry/company etc. Remember, not to oversell the job and company.

EngageGet new co managers to call him / meet him again if possible, to “engage” him and possibly even Meta Recruitare a project so that the candidate can hit the ground running.

Back UpsKeep your back up candidate ready and client advised on same. You will then be in a better position to deal with a candidate during this stage.

Reference checking

Reference check is required to be done as soon as the client confirms the interest in the candidate. Sometimes, client may have sought the ref check earlier only or you may already be ready with it. Here are few tips for ref check:

Ask client on parameters of reference check, as client may be looking for some particular information. Meta Recruitare your ref check Meta Recruiteet and seek ok.

Take permission from candidate to check and seek details of referees

Check with one or two supervisors / one or two subordinates / peers

Check with people who have not been recommended by the candidate

Introduce yourself, company and tell the reason of your call to the referee and seek permission to proceed/ fix up a convenient time

Send thank you notes to referees – this is good PR & source of business

Please find attached the Reference Check Format (Annexure 7)

A recruiter is naturally inclined to look ahead to next placement -and next.

Please remember that recruiting is like politics, in that you always need to keep your eye on the ball. If you begin to think too far beyond the next election, there may not be a next election.

Please refer to Post Offer Engagement (Annexure 8) process for further understanding.

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Annexure

52

Art of Interviewing

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1.1 Assessing a Candidate

There are various steps related to a candidate contact beginning with Approaching the candidate to Joining.

One of the most important part of this process is candidate assessment.

The questions are the central point of the whole interview procedure and Meta Recruitould be planned in advance. Knowing you have a structured interview to progress through will make you less likely to fall into the trap of making an intuitive decision at the opening stages of the interview.

First and foremost - - You will not be able to find out all that you need to know from the interviewee if you do not have a clear idea of

What the job is…

What would be the ideal candidate profile…?

What questions will enable you to discover whether the interviewee has all the necessary qualifications, abilities and qualities to match your mental picture of the ideal candidate?

If you are a recruitment consultant and you are not interviewing for any specific position, instead building up a database for future probable requirements then you would have to formulate your views about the candidate in the first half of your interview and put him in a slotted job mentally and probe accordingly. It may so turn out that your first judgment of the candidate was not right and in the process of further probe, you seem to formulate another opinion about the candidate – then you Meta Recruitould also probe in the other direction. Remember all the judgments you are making are affecting the life of an individual. Please be very careful and thorough in your analysis and study of an individual. One mistake of yours might change someone’s career altogether. It is recommended that you do not use the word ‘Reject’ for any candidate. A better word or expression is ‘Not suitable’.

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Learning Objective:

To understand the various parts of a scheduled meeting (interview)

During the interview, one needs to be wise and therefore use the WISEMAN technique given below for maximum impact…

DURING THE INTERVIEW – ‘W I S E M A N’

W Welcome and greet the candidate in a friendly and professional manner

I Introduce yourself and META RECRUIT

S Give a Summary of the profile and client

E Put the candidate at Ease with a cheerful expression & appropriate

body language

M Mention that you would be Making notes. Your notes Meta Recruitould

capture the candidate’s actual responses. Fill the gaps in the resume

A Ask the candidate if they have anything further to add / clarify. Meta

Recruitare necessary information on the client & position

N Inform them of the Next stage of the process and when they can hope

to hear from you. Close the discussion

REMEMBER :

THANK THE CANDIDATE FOR ATTENDING THE INTERVIEW

Please refer to Approaching the Candidate module for further information and understanding

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1.2 The Selection Framework

Even before we meet the candidate and conduct the interview we do something very important. This important aspect helps us Meta Recruitortlist the candidate and also understand his capabilities well from his resume.

Learning Objective: To understand the meaning of the terms Competency, Skill and Experience Understand the difference in the meaning of the above mentioned terms

Duration: 15 minutes.

Examples for checking understanding:

Example 1:

I read about how to drive a car ___________________________I join a driving school to learn driving _________________________I drive the car on a very busy road ____________________________

Example 2:

I have read a book on Leading a Team ______________________________I attend a workMeta Recruitop on Team building _______________________________I have team spread out across 3 locations and I look after their performance _______________________________

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During assessment and selection process, you Meta Recruitould remember the selection framework in which you are constantly required to assess the competencies, skills and experience together to make a sound decision.

1.3 Structuring the Interview

Competencies

Competencies are personal characteristics

(attitudes, values, traits, motives) that shape /

contribute towards HOW a job is undertaken.

Skills

Skills are the knowledge and expertise required to do the job – transferable abilities. In the selection process one would need to assess capabilities of the candidate against the required level of skills for the job.

Experience

Experience is about the type of work that a person has performed, the kinds of organizations the person has worked in, the work environment and challenges that the person has dealt with.

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After assessing the resume and understanding the skills and competencies, it is important to meet the candidate face to face or conduct a detailed interview on the phone before submitting his resume to the client.

Learning Objective:

To understand how to structure an interview Understand various assessment methods Understand the probing and questioning techniques especially STAR and FUNNEL

Duration: 240 minutes.

Introduction: Please introduce yourself and META RECRUIT (use WISEMAN) in a friendly and professional manner. For details, please refer to Approaching the Candidate.

(20-25 min)

Introduction

Ice breaking

Functional Skills andKnowledge Assessment

Competency Assessment

Examine issues in the application form

Candidate Q & A

Closure

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Ice Breaking: It is very important to break the ice with the consultant by building rapport and putting the candidate at ease. Here are few recommendations:

Appreciate the candidate for being on time

Enquire about if he/Meta Recruite had any trouble finding the place

Highlight something common between you and the candidate such as hobbies, school, city etc.

Discuss about the market, latest happenings etc. in the industry

Assure confidentiality and walk them through the process

The idea is to discuss things that will put the candidate at ease and build rapport

Assessment: There are various methods of assessment such as

Resume based interview: The interview is based around cross checking information provided in Resume. If the details of Resume match the requirement, the candidate is Okayed for next step. The focus is not on understanding and assessing competencies. This will last for 15-20 minutes and the chance of correct assessment is very low.

Structured Interview: A definite structure around the interview is followed which aims at finding the facts and assessing functional skills and competencies in a structured manner using techniques such as STAR and FUNNEL. These techniques are effective in gathering details in a structured manner. This will last for 35-45 minutes and the chance of correct assessment is high.

Competency based interviewing: It’s a style of interviewing used so that a candidate can best Meta Recruitow how they would demonstrate certain behaviors /skills in the work place; by answering questions about how you have reacted to and dealt with previous work place situations. This style requires one to identify competencies required for the said job and preparing a set of in depth probing questions around each competency and assessing the same. This will last for 60-90 minutes and the chance of correct assessment is very high. Please see Interview question bank for competency based interviewing questions and model.

Please Use Branch Interview Meta Recruiteet. Filling up of assessment Meta Recruiteet for every Branch Interview is mandatory.

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Validating the resume

While reviewing the resume, please check for facts such as –

Apart from normal resume content such as professional summary, education and personal details, it is important to note the following which are overlooked many times:

o The period spent in every organization has to be mentioned in Month/Year format.

o Take details on Reporting structure-Who does he report to? Direct and Indirect reportees

o What level did he join at in each organization and designation while leaving the organization Meta Recruitould be clearly mentioned?

o KRAs and Achievements in his current and past roles

o If there are any gaps between completion of studies and the jobs done by him or if there are gaps between two jobs, then the reasons for same have to be questioned and mentioned in the resume. Years of education must be mentioned.

Quantify and expand facts (for e.g. managed xx Crores of sales, was handling x% of turnover, grew the business by x% over last year, launched xx new products, managed xx key clients, raised xx Crores etc.)

Compensation

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Let us now see how to conduct a Structured Interview using interview styles such as STAR and FUNNEL –

STAR

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ActionWhat did the candidate do and what behaviors were demonstrated in carrying out the task?

What did it involve and how did you face the task?

ResultWhat was the outcome of the behaviors demonstrated in the situation?

What was the outcome/result?

Situation / TaskWhat was the context in which the individual had to perform and what were the tasks performed?Tell me about a time where you had to lead a group of people through a difficult situation?

FUNNEL

Using a logical sequence of questioning, the interview probes the extent to which an individual has demonstrated a skill/competency.

What kind of work have you done in the area of X?

Can you tell us about some of the areas

that you gained most experience in?

Pick one of the areas that you have just mentioned.

Walk us through your work in this area in detail,

specifically explaining your contribution.

What was your learning

from that project?

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1.4 Useful tips for effective interviewing

1. Go through the application / resume of the applicant. It will be easier to comprehend the answers and also the candidate will be reassured if they find that the interviewer has taken the trouble to become familiar with the details on the form. This will make them readier to respond to supplementary questions. Please remember that winning the confidence of the candidate is very important to elicit the right data and thereafter make a judgment based on that data

2. When the more straightforward side of the questioning has been dealt with it is usual for the interviewer to move on to more difficult areas of assessment – motivation, enthusiasm, ability to fit in with the culture, flexibility etc.

3. EstabliMeta Recruit the candidate’s M.I.T. (most important thing) i.e. more money, better prospects. Attain at least 6 POA’s (points of appeal) that will appeal to the candidate in their next job. I.e. car parking, pension, private health care, location, larger company, bonus, training etc.

4. In your approach – do not stop a candidate from following up an interesting and potentially revealing answer simply because it is not coming at the designated point in your interview schedule. A smart interviewer will also have the tact to get back to course again and follow up with the point at the relevant moment.

5. A useful way of keeping the candidates to the order, which suits you, is to form an artificial bridge between questions. For example, “Thank you, I think that tells me all I need to know about your previous jobs. I Meta Recruitould now like to take a look at your suitability for this particular job” or “if we could move on from your qualifications I’d like you to tell me a little more

What kind of work have you done in the area of X?

Can you tell us about some of the areas

that you gained most experience in?

Pick one of the areas that you have just mentioned.

Walk us through your work in this area in detail,

specifically explaining your contribution.

What was your learning

from that project?

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about your personal interests and hobbies These artificial bridges from one group of questions to another are useful for keeping the candidate’s mind focused on the right area of response and for helping the interviewer see his / her way through the prearranged structure of the interview.

6. Some Dos and Don’ts

INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES

DO…

Keep to a logical sequence.

Link each new question to the interviewee’s last answer.

Give him / her time to think of his / her answer.

Look at the interviewee.

Meta Recruitow interest in his / her answer.

Listen with an open mind.

DON’T…

Jump from one subject to another.

Ask multiple questions.

Ask trick questions.

Criticize any answer.

Interrupt while interviewee is answering.

7. If in any case the candidate’s responses do not tell you what you need to know then follow up your initial questions with a more specific one. Do not allow yourself to be fobbed off without getting the information you need. Not all candidates are Meta Recruitrinking violets. Some may be strong characters or smart Alex’s.

8. In the end… When you have reached the end of your questions, you must take the initiative to wind up the interview. There is no need to linger over this stage. Just use a simple phrase like, “Well, I think you’ve told me all I need to know, thank you very much for coming to see us”. Tell the candidates as to what are the procedures that you follow and what Meta Recruitould he expect in the next stage. Etc.

9. Have good listening habits.

a. Follow PQRS of Active Listening

b. Keep an open mind.

c. Summarize what has been said.

d. Listen “between the lines”

10. There are various types of questions in an interview and can be summarized as –

Open ended

Question does not invite any particular answer but opens up the discussion

Eg What kind of responsibilities are you handling in your current role?

Closed ended

Question is specific and must be answered with a yes or a no, or with details as appropriate Eg. Do you like your current job?

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PSEUDO QUESTIONS

HypotheticalAre about issues that didn’t happen or which might never happen

Eg. If you were in a team where there was X problem, what would you do in such a situation

Leading The questioner is trying to elicit a response that he/Meta Recruite wants, by building restrictions into the question

Eg. Don’t you think that by doing ………you could have done better?

Do you regret leaving your first job?

Open ended questions provide maximum information to help make a decision while Hypothetical questions are useful while checking competencies such as Creativity. The closed ended and leading questions are less useful questions.

Please refer to Interview Question Bank for more questions to assess for different criteria

Annexure

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Branch Interview Meta Recruiteet

Candidate Name Designation:

Current CTC Current Organisation

Education No. of years of Experience

Reporting to Team size reporting in

Open to Relocation Expected CTC

S.No Key Competencies/skillsRating( 1- 5) Comments (Why this rating)

1 Communication Skills & Personality

Interviewed By:

Interviewed date:

Client:

Position and Job Code:

Best time to call:

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2 Motivation / Energy/ Drive

3 Team Working / People Management

4 Domain Knowledge

5 Decision Making / Problem Solving

6 Result Orientation

Overall Rating

Positives SPEQ (Skills/ Personality/Exp/Qualification)

Negatives SPEQ (Skills/ Personality/Exp/Qualification)

1

2

3

4

Assessment Rating: 5-Outstanding, 4-Excellent, 3-Very Good, 2-Good, 1-Average

Open to travel: Yes/ No

Valid Passport: Yes/ No

Do you have a valid Visa: Yes/ No Country: ____________

Personal Details

Spouse Details: Working / Home makerChildren: Studying / Infant / Settled House: Own / RentedDomicle:

Reason / Motivation for leaving current job:

Other Comments:

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Reference of candidate (Professional)

1)

2)

Branch Interview Question Bank

LIST OF PROBABLE QUESTIONS FOR A STRUCTURED INTERVIEW

PROBABLE QUESTIONS BEHAVIOURAL INTERPRETATIONS

EDUCATION / QUALIFICATIONS

What did you enjoy most about school / college / any

training?

Thinking Question - allows the candidate to exercise

his mind and come out with an answer. The answer

will open up possibilities of several other questions.

What did you dislike most about school / college /

any training?

Thinking Question - allows the candidate to exercise

his mind and come out with an answer. The answer

will open up possibilities of several other questions.

Why did you choose that particular course? Thinking Question - allows the candidate to exercise

his mind and come out with an answer. The answer

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will open up possibilities of several other questions.

Do you think your training is useful for the kind of job

/ career you want to pursue. How is it useful?

Thinking Question - allows the candidate to exercise

his mind and come out with an answer. The answer

will open up possibilities of several other questions.

What was your favorite subject at school / college.

Why?

This will give an idea of the strengths of the

candidate and further probes can be done

accordingly.

What was your least favorite subject at school /

college? Why?

This will give an idea of the weakness of the

candidate and further probes can be done

accordingly.

How would you describe your results? The candidates' ability to justify situations will come

out in this question.

Do you study for enjoyment or to advance your

career?

Pressure Question. Interesting areas open up with

this question.

PERSONALITY

Tell me something about yourself? This is an open-ended question, which will open up

many avenues on a person's personal attributes. A

minefield for the interviewer.

How do you think your family background has

influenced your working life?

This is a culture question. This can judge one's

family ethics and values. This plays an important role

in the work atmosphere.

What interests do you have outside work? Other abilities and interest will throw light on the

candidates' nature depending on the particular

interest.

Have you ever been in a position of authority at

school / college in your social life?

This will allow the interviewer to judge the

leaderMeta Recruitip characteristic of the candidate,

which forms an important part of corporate life.

Have you been involved in organizing any activity in

your school or social life?

Taking on responsibility and organizing Meta

Recruitills can be probed with this question.

What do you regard as your strengths? Strengths as highlighted can be probed.

What do you regard as your weaknesses? Weaknesses as highlighted can be probed. Smart

candidates will portray strength in the guise of a

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weakness. BEWARE!

How would you describe yourself to others? This is a "mirror" question. It gives an indication of

self-worth and value.

Which newspapers do you read? What do you like

particularly about this newspaper, which other

newspapers do not provide?

Eye for details is the main intention here, apart from

general knowledge.

How would you like to see yourself ten years from

now?

Imagination, Vision and the modes of achieving them

comes out in this question. Long term thinking ability

id highlighted.

Have you discussed the line you are choosing with

people at your home?

This throws light on how much family influence is

playing upon the candidate. 

CAREER

What made you decide on X as a career? Definite reasons Meta Recruitould emerge to qualify

intentions.

Is anyone from your family involved in a similar job? Background helps in informal grooming towards a

particular area of interest from a very early age.

Why have you changed so many / few jobs in the

last few years?

Definite reasons will give an indication of liking and

dislikes.

Where have you most enjoyed working? The liking of a particular set of corporate set-up will

emerge.

Why did you leave / want to leave your job? Definite reasons Meta Recruitould emerge.

What has been your most valuable contribution in

your past job(s)?

Ability to think through achievements and not

working, as "another cog in the wheel" will emerge.

What additional training did you receive in your

career?

Information can be used at the time of selection or

Meta Recruitort listing.

Have you ever taken holiday due to health reasons? This will indicate ability to take on pressures of work

environment - long hour's etc.

Questions related to technical expertise. Depends on the particular job.

THE JOB ITSELF

Why are you looking for another job? Clarity of thought.

70

What sort of jobs are you looking for? Clarity of thought.

Why do you think you would be better than the other

candidates?

"Unique Selling Proposition" will come out.

How do you think you will cope with the lack of

---------- area of experience?(Optional)

Pressure Question - to make the candidate think.

How do you think your career to date has fitted you

for this particular job?

Pressure Question - to make the candidate think.

How will you cope with the ------- drawbacks of this

kind of job? (Long Hours, Frequent journey, Meta

Recruitift work, Work on holiday's etc.)

Pressure Question - to make the candidate think.

How soon can you join? What is your notice period? If selected the decision of joining can be planned

properly.

SWEEP-UP QUESTIONS

What has been our most proud moment in life? Ability to think through achievements.

Which do you consider as the worst moment of your

life?

Ability to analyze and find alternatives in one's

actions.

Whom do you admire the most / least in life? A mentor always helps in driving a person towards a

particular goal and helps him maintain focus in life.

Is there anything you would like to add here? Courtesy Question. There might be genuine things,

which you might have missed and would be

important for selection.

More Questions…

General questions

1. If you could have your choice of any job, what would it be and why?

2. Why do you want to go into this field?

3. What are your Meta Recruitort- and long-range goals and how do you expect to achieve

them?

4. What does success mean to you? How do you measure it?

5. What motivates you?

6. Do you plan to further your education? If so, to what extent?

71

7. What have you done to improve yourself during the past year?

8. If you could relive the last 15 years, what changes would you make?

9. Tell me about your greatest achievement and greatest disappointment?

10. What are some of your weaknesses?

11. Tell me about the best and worst bosses you've ever had.

12. What constructive criticism have you received from employers?

13. Everybody has pet peeves. What are yours?

14. What else do you think I Meta Recruitould know about you?

15. Tell me about an error or mistake you made and what did you learn from it?

Experience & Reasons for Change:

1. When did you leave your last job and why?

2. How long have you been out of work?

3. What have you been doing since you left your last job?

4. What did you like most and least about your last job?

5. At your last job, how much of the work did you perform independently?

6. At your last job, how much was performed by a team?

7. Do you prefer working independently or as part of a team?

8. What are some of the problems you have encountered in your past jobs?

9. How did you solve the problems?

10. Have you ever offered suggestions to management? How did management respond?

11. What prevented you from advancing in your former positions?

Plans & Motivations:

To learn about your plans for the future and your motivation for applying for the job, the interviewer

may ask the following questions:

1. Why do you want to work here?

2. What could you contribute to our facility?

3. If you feel you have any weaknesses with regard to this job, what would they be?

4. What do you expect to experience in this job that you did not experience in your past jobs?

5. Assuming we make you an offer, what do you see as your future here?

6. Why Meta Recruitould we hire you?

7. How do you feel about evening work? Weekend work?

8. Are you considering other positions at this time?

9. How does this job compare with them?

10. What is your leaderMeta Recruitip style?

72

11. How do you feel about relocating?

12. What DOESN'T motivate or excite you?

13. What career expectations do you have in your next position?'

14. What if the current organization offers you a better position and salary- would you still join the

offer made by my client?

15. What would it take for you to walk into your boss’s office right now and resign?

Uncomfortable Ones:

Sometimes the interviewer will ask vague questions that, if unexpected, may be difficult to answer.

Be prepared to answer the following questions:

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. Are you switching careers?

3. You don't have a college degree. Why Meta Recruitould we hire you?

4. You don't have the necessary experience or background for this position.

5. Why do you believe that you could handle this position?

6. Since you are overqualified for this position, what do you hope to gain from it?

7. What would you change in your past career?

Money:

Eventually, money will become an issue. Among the questions that may arise pertaining to

compensation are the following:

1. What are your financial needs?

2. What is the minimum salary you will accept?

3. What is your salary history?

COMPETENCY MODEL, BEHAVIOURAL INDICATORS & INVENTORY OF QUESTIONS

A. Emotional Intelligence (maturity/effectiveness/impact)

1. RelationMeta Recruitip management

Is able to establiMeta Recruit and maintain relationMeta Recruitips with people at all levels. Puts others at ease. Promotes harmony and consensus through diplomatic handling of disagreements and potential conflict.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

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No convincing examples

Does not get involved in

conflict situation

Worsens conflict –

insensitive response

No evidence of learning

from conflict situation

Meta Recruitows zero

insight into others’ perspectives

Evidence of effective

relationMeta Recruitips only at

own level

Some relevant examples of

developing business from

contacts

Finds temporary solution to

conflict situation

Maintains harmony

Meta Recruitows basic

insight into others’ perspectives

Evidence of maintaining

effective relationMeta Recruitips

at several levels beyond own

Consistently converts most

contacts into significant

business

Finds a long-term,

comprehensive, win-win

solution

Proactively builds

consensus

Meta Recruitows

considerable insight into others’

perspectives

Evidence of building

effective relationMeta Recruitips

at all levels

Q1. Tell me about a case where you have managed to use contacts or networks to convert a client

from another vendor to your organization.

How effective has this been?

How have you maintained this relationMeta Recruitip?

What resistance did you face?

How did you overcome this resistance?

How did you persuade your organisation to follow through on this business?

Q2. Tell me about a conflict/difficult interpersonal situation you have faced within your organisation.

What part do you think you played in creating this situation?

To what extent has it been resolved?

What part did you play in resolving it?

What have you learned and applied from this situation?

Q3. Give me an example of a time when you have converted a random meeting into a useful

business contact.

2. Team-working

74

Co-operates and works well with others in the pursuit of team goals. Meta Recruitares information.

Supports others.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Withholds/delays

information

Contributes to team

ineffectiveness

Makes no effort to increase

effectiveness of team

Blames others for poor

team performance

Evidence of avoidance

Prefers to work

independently

Provides information on a

need basis

Limited evidence of being

part of successful teams

Accepts partial

responsibility for team

performance

Acts reactively to resolve

team problems

Allows some team issues to

go unresolved

Proactively Meta

Recruitares information in a

timely manner

Initiates team building and

conflict resolution

Takes responsibility for

team performance

Sees team members as

assets and constantly seeks to

develop them

Persistently works to solve

team issues

Evidence of being part of

multiple successful teams

Q1. Tell me about the least effective team you have ever been a part of

Why was it so ineffective?

What was your role?

What did you do to try and make it more effective?

How successful were you?

In retrospect, could you have done more?

Q2. Tell me about the most effective team you have ever been a part of

Why was it so effective?

What was your role?

To what extent have you been able to reproduce this success?

Q3. Give me an example of where you have been a part of a team with very diverse points of view

How clearly were you able to get your point of view across?

To what extent did you manage to influence the team? (why do you say this)?

Did the team achieve its goal?

In retrospect how would you have approached the situation differently?

75

Q4. Give me an example of where your Meta Recruitaring of information or support made a

significant contribution to a team

Have there ever been occasions when you have found it necessary to withhold information?

(Why?)

3. Personal motivation and energy

Commits self to work hard towards goals. Meta Recruitows enthusiasm and career commitment.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Not internally motivated

needs significant external

motivators

Evidence of easily

abandoning objectives because

of difficulties

No clarity of objectives

Sets easily obtainable

targets

Easily discouraged

Sets unrealistic targets

Zero evidence of

enthusiasm - cynical

Follows the pace

Reasonable persistence

towards goals

Sees self as primarily in

control but still subject to

environmental factors

Sets attainable targets

Only gives up after a

reasonable attempt

Some evidence of

enthusiasm and energy

Evidence of being able to

drive change

Sees himself/herself as

being in complete control of

environment – self starter

Clear persistence towards

goals

Sets high, stretching targets

Refuses to consider giving

up

High level of energy and

enthusiasm

Sets the pace

Q1. Tell me about an occasion when you have managed to achieve your objective in spite of an

adverse environment

How did you maintain this level of enthusiasm?

What did you have to sacrifice to achieve this?

Q2. When was the last time you felt like giving up?

What did you do?

How did the situation change? (what part did you play in changing it?)

What did you learn?

Q3. Tell me about a time when you have set extremely stretching targets for yourself

76

Why did you feel this was necessary?

What specific issues did you face? Did you achieve it?

4. Self Confidence

Is independent and self-reliant. Conveys a realistic confidence in his/her ability to select appropriate

courses of action and in the likely success of his/her initiatives. Is able to stand ground in face of

opposition.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Defers, delays,

unnecessarily refers decisions

to others

Evidence of low self-

esteem, apologetic, lack of

conviction

Backs down, reverses

position

Needs a lot of reassurance

Unwilling to take on more

authority

Unrealistic perception of

own abilities (under or over-

confident)

Accepts authority without

proactively seeking it

Makes limited defense of

own position

Takes decision, but needs

some validation and

reassurance

Stays within comfort zone

Reasonable perception of

own abilities

Proactively looks for more

authority and responsibility

Multiple examples of having

taken and driven correct

decisions

Defends position with

conviction

Willing to act independently

Highly realistic perception of

own abilities

Takes self out of comfort-

zone

Q1. How did you react the last time you had to make a decision beyond your normal scope of

authority?

Did you make the right response? (why do you say that?)

Why did you take that course of action?

What other options were open to you?

How much were you influenced by others’ opinions?

Q2.Tell me about a situation where you have faced a lot of opposition or resistance

How did you deal with this?

To what extent where you able to overcome the resistance?

5. Impact (Influence and Persuasiveness)

77

Influences, convinces or impresses others in a way that results in acceptance, agreement or

behavior change. Makes an immediate positive impression on others. Comes across with force and

credibility.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Unable to get ideas or

views accepted

No evidence of having

secured change in

others/organisation

No evidence of having

effectively led others

Inability to maintain working

relationMeta Recruitips

Creates a positive impact

over longer period

Limited success in changing

behaviour within the

organisation

Partial attempts to drive

acceptance of ideas

Effective maintenance of

working relationMeta Recruitips

Clear evidence of getting

acceptance and gaining

credibility

Evidence of high persuasive

ability

Evidence of originating

major change within

organisation

Multiple examples of

establiMeta Recruiting good

working relationMeta Recruitips

Q1. Give me an example of a time when you originated an idea which has had a significant impact

How did you sell this idea?

Why do you think you were successful in selling it?

Q2. Tell me about a time when you have had to quickly establiMeta Recruit a working relationMeta

Recruitip

How did you go about this?

Did you achieve the level of rapport that you were aiming for? (how do you know?)

Q3. Tell me about a time when you failed to sell something that you thought was a good idea

Why do you think it was not adopted?

Could someone else have sold this idea better? (why?)

What could you have done differently?

B. LeaderMeta Recruitip

6. Motivating, empowering and effective delegation

Provides team with a clear sense of direction. takes charge, organises resources and steers

others’ towards successful task accompliMeta Recruitment. Motivates and empowers others

78

in order to reach. Organisational goals. Delegates responsibilities to appropriate

subordinates. Gives others latitude to exercise their own initiative and invests them with the

power and authority to accompliMeta Recruit tasks effectively

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Unable to delegate

effectively (under or over-

delegates)

Delegates task without

authority

Unreasonable expectations

Autocratic style

Doesn’t develop second line

Give up on difficult

subordinates – allows problem

to continue

Evidence of being

unapproachable

Counsels team members on

a need basis (reactive)

Able to steer team towards

goals

Some examples of handling

difficult subordinates

(maintenance rather than

resolution)

Democratic leaderMeta

Recruitip processes

Looked up to for motivation

and direction

Leads from front at time of

crisis

Develops a team which can

function independently

Gives effective feedback

Turns difficult subordinates

around

History of building effective

teams

Q1. Give me an example of how you have gone about building a team and allocating tasks

What specific inputs did you provide? (how effective were these?)

How did you ensure the commitment and motivation of the team?

Q2. Tell me about the most difficult subordinate you have had to handle

What approach did you take?

Were you able to gain his/her buy-in and commitment?

How has the situation been resolved?

Q3. Give me an example of a time when you have delegated a task, but the subordinate was

unable to complete it successfully

What factors did you consider when you delegated this task?

How did you respond to the failure?

How was the situation ultimately resolved?

What impact did this have on the subordinate’s ongoing development?

Have you had an opportunity to delegate a task to this individual subsequently? (was this a

successful outcome?)

79

7. Planning, co-ordinating and objective setting

Organises and schedules events, activities and resources. Sets up and monitors time scales and

plans. Produces detailed project plans in which objectives are clearly defined and action steps for

achieving them are clearly specified.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Acts on an ad-hoc basis

Does not use resources

effectively

Fails to create processes

No understanding of

strengths and limitations of

team

Repeatedly sets unrealistic

time scales

Leaves others unclear

about roles

No reviews of progress

Effective use of available

resources

Has clear plans in place

Sets team goals in line with

organizational goals

Some understanding of

strengths and limitations of

team

Generally sets realistic time

scales

Occasional reviews

Clear understanding of

strengths and limitations of

team

Constantly optimizes

available resources

Plans in details – clear

definition and communication of

roles and responsibilities

Sets realistic time scales

and always achieves these

Systematically reviews

progress

Q1. Tell me about the first project you ever led

How did you go about planning the project?

What could you have done differently?

What factors did you overlook?

Q2. Tell me about the most successful project you ever led

How did your approach here differ from the earlier example you described? (to what extent

were you able to implement the lessons you learned?)

What was your contribution as a leader?

What factors do you think contributed to the success of the project?

What could you have done additionally to make it a greater success?

8. Training and developing others

Actively seeks to improve others’ skills and talents by providing constructive feedback, coaching,

training opportunities and assignments, which challenge their abilities and encourage development.

80

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Does not prioritize training

and development

Gives subjective, emotive

feedback

Gives no feedback

Avoids difficult feedback

Misses opportunities to

develop team

No real impact on others’

development

Sees training as important

but lacks structured process

Looks only at Meta

Recruitort term training needs

Exploits development

opportunities as they arise

Gives regular feedback

One or two examples of

effecting other’s development

Sees implementation of

training as a key part of role

Identifies training needs

proactively and effectively

Looks at both long term and

Meta Recruitort term

development issues

Continuously looks for and

creates development

opportunities for team

Gives continuous, balanced

feedback

Multiple examples of having

impacted others’ development

Q1. Give me an example of how you have identified training needs for your subordinates

How effective has this process been? (how do you gauge the effectiveness of this process?)

How do you tell when someone is ready for an increased role or responsibility?

Q2. What is the most difficult negative feedback you have given in an appraisal?

Why was this necessary?

What impact did this have on the individual? (why do you say this?)

How did you subsequently contribute to this individual’s development?

Q3. What do you believe to be the most important factors in ensuring long term development?

How have you ensured that these factors get taken into account?

C. Values

9. Integrity

Maintains high ethical standards both personally and professionally. Meta Recruitows fairness in

dealings with others. Is reliable and trustworthy.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Succumbs to opportunities Usually maintains basic Maintains high ethical

81

for personal or professional or

gains

Treats others unfairly –

Meta Recruitows favoritism etc.

Evidence of betraying

confidences etc.

ethical standards

Generally reliable

standards despite opportunities

for personal or professional or

gains

Fair and transparent in

dealing with others

Always reliable

Q1. Have you ever experienced a conflict of interest between what would benefit the organisation

and what was ethically correct?

What did you do?

How did you choose that course of action?

Q2. How do you feel that your ethical standards compare with those of your colleagues?

Why do you say this?

Tell me about a situation where this was highlighted?

What values or ethical standards do you look up to in your colleagues? (to what extent have

you been able to assimilate these?)

10. Concern for Quality

Meta Recruitows awareness of goals and standards. Follows through to ensure that quality and

productivity standards are met.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Evidence of compromising

quality to complete a task (‘ends

justify the means’)

Makes the same mistake

repeatedly – no evidence of

learning

Cynical about quality

standards

Unaware of quality

standards within organisation

Adheres to quality

standards

Occasionally converts

errors into learning

opportunities

Aware of but neutral

towards quality standards

Sets quality standards and

benchmarks

Seeks to consistently

improve quality

Champions quality

standards

Systematically converts

errors into learning

opportunities

Q1. How is quality defined in your organisation?

To what extent do you subscribe to this definition?

82

To what lengths have you gone to ensure it? (probe for examples)

To what extent have you been able to raise quality standards in your organisation?

Q2. Have you ever found it necessary to compromise on quality in order to meet a deadline?

Could you have done things differently to avoid this?

What feedback resulted form this incident?

How have you used this feedback?

11. Customer focus

Concerned to provide a prompt, efficient and personalized service to clients. goes out of the way to

ensure that individual customer needs are met.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Ignores feedback from

customers

Internally focused

No consideration of

customer service benchmark

Fails to secure repeat

business

Negative attitude about

many customers

Frequently fails to meet

customer expectations

Meets the needs of

customer (reactive)

Some evidence of repeat

business

Some customer feedback

mechanisms demonstrated

Reacts positively to

customer issues

Goes out of the way to

delight the customer

Proactive in handling

customer related issues

(anticipates)

Seeks constant feedback

High proportion of repeat

business

Personally takes

responsibility for customer

satisfaction

Q1. What do you think are the key factors required for effective customer service?

Tell me about a time when you have gone out of your way to meet a customer’s needs

Tell me about a time when you have failed to meet the customer’s requirements

Tell me about a time when you as a customer have been delighted

Q2. Is there someone whom you consider as an internal benchmark for customer service?

What qualities do they exhibit?

To what extent have you been able to assimilate this approach?

Q3. How much of your business is repeat business?

83

What do you attribute this to?

Tell me about a key customer relationMeta Recruitip that you have developed

Q4. Tell me about the most difficult customer you have had to deal with

What did you do?

How was it resolved? (is the customer still doing business with you?)

To what extent were you required to modify your behaviour?

What have you learned from this?

D. Information Processing

12. Judgement

Makes rational, realistic and sound decisions based on consideration of all the facts and

alternatives available.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

History of sub-optimal

decision making

Consistently blames

external factors for mistakes

Unrealistic expectations

Not able to justify judgment

calls

Delays or avoids taking a

judgment call

Over-reliance on intuition

Lacks credibility among

colleagues

Fails to consider sufficient

alternatives

Evidence of some good

judgment calls (and some follow

through)

Takes most (but not all)

factors into account

Partial analysis of issues

Evidence of taking many

correct decisions

Considers all alternatives

and evidence

History of his/her decisions

being implemented (had

significant impact on

organisation)

Learns from own and

others’ mistakes

Makes informed

assumptions (rather than

reliance on intuition)

Q1. Tell me about a time when your judgment has had a major impact on a decision or situation

What information or analysis did you contribute?

What made you choose that approach?

What was the outcome?

Q2. Give me an example of where you have entirely followed your intuition in making a decision

84

Why did you do this?

What was the result?

How typical is this of your decision-making style?

Q3. Give me an example of where you have ignored your intuition and looked only at the facts

Why did you do this?

What was the result?

Q4. Give me an example of when your judgment has proven to be wrong

Could you have avoided this? (How?)

13. Problem analysis/Clarity of thought

Breaks problems into constituent parts and differentiates key elements from the irrelevant or trivial.

Makes accurate use of logic, and draws sound inferences from information available.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Can’t see the wood for the

trees

Doesn’t break problems

down, doesn’t make logical

connections

Doesn’t ask sufficient

questions

Unable to handle

complexity

Has difficulty converting raw

data into increased

understanding

Some evidence of handling

complex issues in a structured

manner

Follows through ideas with

some guidance

Usually able to take most

factors into account

Evidence of logical thought

processes

Evidence of being able to

break problems down

Uses structured models and

tools

Tries different approaches

Differentiates between big

picture and micro-level issues

Demonstrated ability to

handle complexity

Can illuminate issues for

others

Q1. What is the most complex problem you have recently had to address?

How did you go about it?

How did you organize and prioritize the information at hand?

85

Q2. Tell me about a problem that you have been unable to solve

What approaches did you try?

What do you now feel that you Meta Recruitould have done?

Q3. To what extent is attention to detail a key element of your working style?

Have you ever made a mistake of paying too much attention to detail?

Have you ever made a mistake of paying too little attention to detail?

14. Strategic perspective

Demonstrates a broad-based view of issues, events and activities and a perception of their long-

term impact or wide implications.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Low ability and desire to

think beyond the task at hand

No general knowledge of

strategic issues and trends

Analysis limited to

immediate and obvious

Thinks logically (but does

not stretch beyond)

Provides inputs rather than

initiates strategic thinking

Able to think through to

medium term

Adequate knowledge about

future strategy of firm

Some evidence of strategic

inputs

Ability to see the big picture

Able to assess long term

implications of an idea

Organisation believes in

him/her

Asks fundamental questions

Very well informed about

trends and events

Takes on role proactively

Q1. Describe how one of your decisions has had an immediate impact on your company’s business

How did/will it effect the company in the long term?

Q2. What is your opinion on your current/past organization’s strategy?

What is the mission or vision driving this strategy?

If you were in charge what would you do differently?

What is your opinion on your competitors’ strategies?

Q3. What do you think are the current trends which are likely to have the greatest future impact on

your industry?

How could you capitalize on this?

86

E. Goal Orientation

15. Decisiveness

Willing to make firm and speedy decisions and commit to definite courses of action on the basis of

limited information if necessary.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Procrastinates or avoids

decision-making

Does not course-correct in

the event of a wrong decision

Evidence of abdicating

important decisions

Consults others on

important decisions

Doesn’t take decisions until

necessary

Resists making decisions in

the absence of all available

information

Makes important decisions

quickly

Makes accurate decisions

on the basis of limited

information

Able to justify decision

taken

Performs course corrections

if incorrect decision taken

Evidence to commitment to

course of action taken

Q1. Tell me about a time when you have managed to reach a decision on the basis of limited

information?

What led you to this decision?

To what extent did the decision prove to be correct?

What was the contribution of others?

Would the decision have changed if you had access to all of the information?

Q2. What feedback have you received on your decision-making abilities?

How did you react to that?

Do you agree with the feedback? (why?)

Q3. Tell me about a time when you made an incorrect decision?

At what point did you realize that it was incorrect?

How did you react? (what corrective action did you take?)

How easy was it for you to change your approach?

16. Results/Action focus/Persistence

87

Demonstrates a readiness to make decisions, take initiative and originate action.

Continues to strive for a goal (as long as it is realistically attainable) even in the face of adversity.

Seeks closure.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Doesn’t initiate or seek to

get involved in new projects

Evidence of giving up in

adverse situations

Complete assigned projects

Attempts closure in adverse

situations

Initiates and actions new

projects

Evidence of persistence in

adverse situations

Pursues long term projects

actively

Q1. Give me an example of a time when you have managed to achieve a successful result in an

inherently difficult situation

What led to your success?

Q2. Tell me about a time when you took the initiative and originated a project

Why was your input necessary?

How did you ensure that your ideas were followed through?

What was the outcome?

Q3. How does your ability to persist towards closure of issues compare with that of your

colleagues?

How effective have you been? (why do you say that?)

Q4. Give me an example of a very prolonged project that you have been involved in.

How did you maintain your momentum and focus?

What is the current status of that project?

F. Flexibility

17. Resilience/stress tolerance

Maintains effective work behaviour in the face of setbacks or pressure. Remains calm, objective

and in control in stressful situations. Maintains a stable performance under pressure. Accepts

criticism without becoming over defensive.

88

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Unable to cope in a

dilemma or crisis

Unable to accept criticism

Believes that others are

unduly critical of him/her

Evidence of inability to

recover from setbacks

Open to feedback

Stays reasonably calm in

most situations

Always stays cool in

stressful situations

Able to retain clarity in

difficult situations

Evidence of consistent

performance

Welcomes change

Proactively seeks feedback

Q1. Describe the most stressful situation you have had to work under

What made it so stressful?

How did you deal with this?

How did this stress effect your behaviour?

Q2. When did you last receive a piece of negative criticism?

What was it? (who gave it to you?)

How did you react?

Did you feel that it was valid?

Have you acted on it? (how successful has this action been?)

Q3. Give me an example of a major setback that you have experienced

How did you respond?

What was the most negative aspect of your response to this situation?

How did you overcome the setback?

18. Creativity & Innovation

Creates new and imaginative approaches to work-related issues. Identifies freMeta Recruit

approaches and Meta Recruitows a willingness to question traditional assumptions.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Meta Recruitows no

willingness to initiate new

methods

No inclination to think out of

Occasional evidence of

initiating new methods

Explores new ideas under

compulsion

Demonstrates ability to spot

Invariably initiate new

methods and approaches

Constantly explores new

ideas and perspectives

Highly developed

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the box

Unable to spot opportunities

No track record of creativity

and innovation

opportunities

Some track record of

creativity and innovation

capabilities in exploiting

opportunities

Consistent track record of

creativity and innovation

Q1. Tell me about a situation where you spotted an opportunity that others had missed

How significant an opportunity did this turn out to be?

Why do you think that you were the first to spot it?

Q2. Give me an example of where you have looked at an establiMeta Recruited process or system

from a fundamentally different point of view

What made you realize that the current system could be improved upon?

How did you sell this to your colleagues?

What has been the result?

Q3. What is the best work related idea you have had to date?

How did you arrive at this idea?

Has this been accepted/implemented?

19. Working in a matrix environment

Is adaptable and willing and able to adjust to changing demands and circumstances. Moves from

one team to another with ease. Contributes to team performance efficiently and effectively. Quickly

establiMeta Recruites credibility with team members.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Rigid and inflexible in

adapting to changes in

demands/circumstances/ teams

Not comfortable with

multiple reporting lines

Does not build credibility

with team members

Adapts with some

reservations to changes in

demands/circumstances/ teams

Accepts multiple reporting

lines

builds credibility with team

members

Open to working in new

teams

Readily adapts to changes

in demands/circumstances/

teams

Welcomes multiple

reporting lines

Proactively builds credibility

with team members

Enjoys working with multiple

teams

Q1. Tell me about a time when you have worked in a cross-functional team

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What issues did you face?

How effective was your contribution to this team?

How effective was the team?

What have you learned from this?

Q2. How have you handled the difficulties involved in multiple reporting lines?

What has been the most difficult situation resulting from this?

How did you resolve this?

What was the outcome?

Q3. How many different roles have you played within your organisation?

How do you handle the transition from one role/team to another?

How have you handled the competing demands on your time?

How have you ensured that all roles receive an appropriate level of attention?

G. Knowledge

20. Commercial Awareness

Understands and applies commercial and financial principles. Views issues in terms of costs,

profits, markets and added value.

Limitation Satisfactory Outstanding

Has no exposure to

commercial aspects of job

Does not look at impact of

actions on costs etc.

Insensitive to commercial

issues

No knowledge of budgeting

principles

No examples of cost

management and value added

Exposure to commercial

aspects

evaluates impact of actions

on costs etc

Limited knowledge of

accurate budgeting principles

Limited examples of cost

management and value added

High degree of exposure to

commercial aspects of job

Constantly evaluates impact

of actions on costs etc

Current knowledge of

accurate budgeting principles

Multiple examples of cost

management and value added

Q1. What was the last major commercial decision you had to make?

How did it impact the bottom line?

To what extent could you have made a better decision?

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Q2. Tell me about an opportunity you have had to reduce costs in your functional area?

What was the impact on Quality?

How does this compare with the cost reductions achieved by your colleagues?

Q3. Tell me about the last time you were involved in a budgeting exercise

What was your role?

What factors did you take into account?

Q4. Tell me about a time when you have added value to an existing product or service

What was your input?

How has this been received?

Did this translate into commercial advantage?

Q5. When was the last time you were challenged on your organization’s pricing policy?

How did you go about justifying it?

21. Technical knowledge/specialist skill

Understands technical or professional aspects of work and continually maintains technical

knowledge. Has a high level of domain understanding. Remains updated on relevant areas

H. Communication

22. Oral Communication

Speaks clearly, fluently and in a compelling manner to individuals and to groups. Communicates in

a structured, balanced and effective manner.

23. Written Communication

Writes in a clear, concise and logical manner, using appropriate grammar, style and language for

the reader.

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