Tag: HR

Be Prepared For A TRICKY Interview

When you attend the interview, the situation is quite tricky. Undoubtedly, you are at the receiving end because you are looking for a job. However, the employer is also not in a very good condition. He is also looking for a good resource that the company can rely upon.

Once the interviewer finds you amongst the top talents suitable for the post, he or she doesn’t want to lose the opportunity of hiring. If the attempt goes unsuccessful, then the company will have to undergo the whole process once more.

With the surge in hiring becomes a challenge, on boarding process becomes difficult day by day. Business owners and HR managers are forced to offer more than monetary compensation when they want to acquire top talent.

Here is the point when HR experts are sitting in the panel come into action. They use their expertise and put so many compelling reasons on the table that you get impressed with it.

Why do HR managers try to impress you when they find you suitable?

There are two things. First is, they find you the most suitable person for the vacancy. Hence, they want to take you onboard anyhow. Secondly, they know that for the top-talent like you, they are supposed to ‘sell’ the vacancy.  When you want to sell something, obviously you should underline the product qualities.

Since here the product is the company itself, HR manager and others try to convince you about why you should consider the job offer and organization.

Moreover, top talents are already well-paid in their current job. Hence, remuneration is not the most attracting factor for them. Hence, HR managers need to use their selling skills in convincing that the new company has several superior aspects.

Here are some compelling reasons that HR managers give

  • Our company has revolutionized the market by offering XYZ service or product. Not only it is unique, but it is far more superior to others as well.
  • Our company exists for XYZ years. It is valued by customers and employees a lot. In fact, it is the best employer in the niche.
  • Our culture is the best in the class. We are flexible and give utmost preference to work-life balance. We believe in environmental and social accountability. We have educational reimbursement program. We spend heftily on training and development of our team.
  • Additional facilities are the best in our company. We provide gymnasium, entertainment, sports facilities, club membership, subsidized (or free) lunch, etc.
  • We offer onsite daycare (it is a quite attractive reason for women).
  • When you join our company, we offer fixed and variable income. Sometimes, the variable income goes higher than the fixed salary.
  • Our company has won a new contract (or acquired another company), or it has been recognized as ‘the most promising company’.
  • We offer a lucrative career path. Our succession planning is incomparable.
  • We value your opinion or voice. We encourage openness. We have 360 Degrees valuation process and continuous appraisals.
  • We have matrix organization where the reporting structure is flexible.

Reputation of the company becomes an issue sometimes

When you are a top talent, you don’t accept the interview call if the company doesn’t withstand your expectations. You heard about the organization culture a lot and you know how badly they treated their employees during the last recession.

However, you decide to go for the interview because there is a massive follow-up by the recruitment agency. Do you think the HR manager is not aware of all these aspects?  Of course, he knows everything. It is the reason he tries to draw a rosy picture during the interview.

Information travels faster than the speed of light in the modern world of social media. Smart people read reviews and opinions about the company before going for the interview. Hence, it becomes inevitable for the HR managers to defend the same.

What should you do?

Gentle prodding is the normal thing that HR manager should do while pursuing you to join the organization. However, it should not get converted into pressurizing you. Remember, there is a delicate line between the two.

If you feel that they are pointing out the good things about the company and highlighting the benefits of accepting the opportunity, then you should listen to your inner conscious about joining or not joining.

When you feel that you are being pushed hard and you are still on the fence, do not get pressurized. If you need some more time to think about it, then tell it explicitly.

Of course, you have come for the interview because you are interested in the job profile. However, let you decide about it and not the HR manager who is sitting on the other side of the table!

Should Startups Hire Recruitment Firm?

People often have strange ideas about startups. They feel that it is something out-of-the-world where there is no room for the conventional thinking process. Yes, the startups are certainly different than others, but they are also required to follow some of the conventional concepts while defining the operational framework.

Imagine a situation where you are the entrepreneur. You want to launch a startup venture which is based on some offbeat concept.  In spite of it, you must follow some of the conventional concepts such as keeping the HR function in the organization.  Team HR in your company will manage everything about the human resources. Apart from it, the team will ensure process and compliance.

What if you don’t have HR in the organization?

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When people tend to avoid HR just to do something different without any rationale, the result is not pleasing either.  Apart from the challenges of managing the workforce, there will be a plethora of problems.

  • The rapid growth of workforce becomes a challenge since there are no processes and procedures. Since the HR function is non-existent, you don’t have anybody to take ownership of it.
  • Studies say that companies that ignore the HR function (or fail to take it seriously) are very likely to falter within five years of their life. If you look at the reasons behind their failure, then ignoring HR is amongst the top three.

However, you may take the decision of not having an in-house HR function initially. It may be a stop gap arrangement till you establish in the market.  In such a situation, you should seek help from a recruitment firm.

How does a recruitment firm add value?

You are relieved from the hassles of recruitment process

If you decide to keep the HR function lean and thin, then it is a big challenge to manage the recruitment process effectively. You need to read hundreds of the application forms and arrange them in the order of experience. Whether you follow the conventional method of paper-based scrutiny or read the soft version on the computer screen, the task is equally cumbersome.

When the recruitment firm does it for you, the task becomes manageable and simple.  Since you get only selected profiles matching to the requirement specifications given by you, the time and efforts put by the HR team are saved.

The benefit of connections

Whether you are a startup company or an established business house, you need to hire people for top levels. It is impossible to hire them without a strong network of connections because profiles of senior people do not get float openly. You need to approach them through some link.

When you hire a recruitment firm, you can connect to the people who are looking for better career prospects. Because of the intricate networking, recruitment firms are in a better position than the in-house HR team to find out profiles of senior people.

Interview process becomes handy

In spite of so many advancements in the recruitment process, the importance of personal interaction is unbeaten. The success rate of the interview process is measured by the quality of candidates hired. Remember, professional recruitment firms know the tricks of identifying superior candidates.

However, it is very much important to brief the recruitment agency about the organizational fit and the organizational culture. Even a good agency delivers a mediocre job if the requirement is not explained well. You should search people who gel with the vision, mission, and ethos of your company.

You are a startup company and not a brand that will attract great talent

Every big organization has a brand value that attracts the best people in the market. When you are a startup company, you don’t have a brand identity. Imagine yourself in the shoes of the candidate, and you will realize it. When a recruitment firm talks to people on your behalf, it places the job profile in a systematic and impressive manner. Thus, you have brighter chances of hiring good quality talent.

Nowadays, everyone explores the online world for assessing the quality and reliability of the employer. When candidates approach the recruitment firm through social media or read about the company profile and job details; they get better convinced. It is impossible when you do it in-house.

Experts say that the benefits achieved by hiring expert recruitment company compensate the expenses incurred in hiring them. Hence, it is a profitable business proposition.

Tap the prospective talents only

When the top and bottom lines are stretched because of cost pressures, you should spend every penny wisely. Studies say that in the conventional method of recruitment, a large percentage of resources gets wasted in tapping the applicants (who may not be interested in joining or not suitable to your needs) and not the prospective talents.  Thus, you spend a sizeable time in scrutinizing, matching and assessing the candidates. The efforts go waste.

When you assign the task to a recruitment agency, it uses a profound process that filters out unwanted or unmatched candidates. You talk to a prospective employee who is looking for a change.  A pre-selection criterion saves great efforts.

Last, but not the least; you save cost as well!

Undoubtedly, hiring a recruitment firm is cost-effective than managing the task of recruitment in-house. Having said it, you need a profound team of HR officials to monitor it.  Also, you are supposed to allocate considerable budget initially, it pays off in the long run, though.

Since all of the tasks related to recruitment are managed by an expert, your in-house team gets a lot of productive time for other important stuff. The mundane task of hiring people can be managed by the recruitment firm effectively. It possesses a team of HR experts who can scrutinize and shortlist candidates effectively.

Conclusion

You have a plethora of critical things to do when you launch a startup organization. Don’t waste your valuable time and energy in the recruitment process. Hire a service provider who takes care of everything well.