Getting an interview with a recruitment consultant is easy
but sometimes the process stalls there
If you’re frustrated because you’re not getting interviews or job offers then this article is for you. The funny thing is that recruitment consultants constantly complain about a lack of good quality candidates. To be the candidate that the recruitment agent wants to send to their clients requires that you improve your interview skills. This is how:
PS: Are you looking for a great new job?
Use an interview
coach to get you the job you want.
What do recruitment consultants say?
Candidates get frustrated with recruitment consultants when they feel they
aren’t put forward for jobs. So I interviewed recruitment consultants to find out why this happens. I also wanted
to find out what role recruitment
consultants play in finding candidates jobs.
What orange you talking about?
Darren Saul Principal at Saul Recruitment came up with a
great analogy: The job market is
just like other markets. Darren compared candidates to oranges. Clients want
high quality oranges and they hire recruitment
consultants to find them. It’s not the recruitment
consultant’s job to make high quality oranges. It’s not the recruitment consultant’s job to plant,
water, nurture and grow good quality job
candidates. The recruitment consultant’s job is to find quality job candidates who interview so well
that they will easily get a job offer.
Why recruitment consultants can’t help you
It’s simple maths, as much as they’d like
to help, recruiters get a multitude
of applications for every job they list. Recruitment
Consultants don’t get paid to fix your CV or train you how to interview. They just don’t have the time to help. Recruitment consultants have a
sensitive relationship with their clients. And they have to be careful with
what they share with candidates to remain impartial.
Where do interviewers fail?
It’s seldom a case of a lack of technical skills. Think about it: It’s
rare that a candidate doesn’t have a technical qualification for the role they
are looking for. Per Darren people don’t interview well when:
·
They fail to convey their story
well,
·
They don’t sell themselves and
·
They don’t display enthusiasm
for the job
It’s more about presenting and personal skills. Having technical skills won’t get you a job; you also need to learn how to interview well.
What do recruitment consultants recommend?
It’s simple – to get a job offer, you need
to interview well. It’s frustrating
but years of university and job experience doesn’t mean that you will interview well. Interviewing is complex. Job
candidates suck at interviews because they don’t get much practice or
training. Darren says that a little personal development goes a long way. You
will get more job offers with a little interview preparation. Or you can take your interviewing to the
next level by using an interview coach. It’s a small
investment compared to what it will do for your career.
Is
it my CV / Resume / Cover letter / Phone manner?
You got your interview with a recruitment consultant by calling them,
emailing them or sending in your resume. So whatever you did to get to this
stage of the process is at least passably ok. But bear in mind that recruitment consultants have a lower
standard to first meet with someone. So it’s no guarantee that your CV is good enough to get a job
interview with a firm. How you would work this out is ask the recruiter
directly: “With specific reference to my CV,
does it need significant rework and what feedback are you able to provide?”
Remember that recruitment consultants
have years of experience but they don’t have the time to fix your CV. For proper help get a trusted
friend to review your CV or better
use a professional resume
review service.
Is it my background or experience?
This can be a stumbling block. But it comes
back to the way you present your skills and abilities. Per Darren: It’s about
how you “articulate what you do to create confidence in the other person”. The
reason why interviewers ask for
background or experience is because they want to know that you are capable of
doing the job. Background and experience is only one way of proving that. Being
prepared for difficult interview questions is
another way.
Conclusion:
Recruitment
consultants are always looking for high quality job candidates for their clients. Qualifications
and experience are important but the real skill that will get you a job offer
is the ability to interview well. Interviewing is one of those important
life skills that “school doesn’t teach you”. We invest a lot of time and money
in University and developing our job
skills. But the best career investment to improve our employability is a
little interview
skills coaching.
