How To Interview A Recruiter

What Is The History Of This Position

This is an important question to ask during the interview process because if you are offered the job, you will have to work in the environment affected and shaped by your predecessor.

Perhaps this opening was recently created to support company growth. If that is the case, ask a follow-up question about who owned the responsibilities up to this point, and how the duties will be transitioned.

If you are interviewing for a position left vacant by someone’s departure, get a sense for what happened. Why did the predecessor leave the job? Was he or she promoted or internally transferred? If the predecessor left the company, ask about the circumstances.

On the same note, it is usually fair game to clarify whether the company is considering internal candidates for the position.

Ace Your Interview: Bringing The Correct Stats To An Interview

We live in a time of big data. It seems like every aspect of life now has a number attached. You need to learn to bring this data mindset into your next job interview, landing your dream positions by presenting the correct stats about you.

The key is knowing the right information to provide. You want your numbers to tell a story about you. They should spotlight your best qualities and show how youll make the perfect addition to your perspective employers team.

Here are a few types of stats to keep in mind to ace your next interview:

Meet With The Hiring Manager

Intake meetings with hiring managers kick off a smooth hiring process. For an effective recruiter-hiring manager collaboration, make sure you:

• Agree on qualification criteria. Separate must-haves from nice-to-haves and decide on deal-breakers early on, so that youre both on the same page.
• Communicate regularly. Whether in-person or via email, communicate during all hiring stages. Keep hiring managers updated on how many candidates you interviewed, how many youve qualified and when candidates complete assessments.
• Be consultative, especially to less experienced hiring managers. Offer advice on how to evaluate candidates and make sure they steer clear of illegal interview questions.

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The Ultimate Job Interview Guide From Recruiters

If theres one thing jobseekers tell us again and again, its how good our interview guide was at helping them land their dream job. So, we thought we would publish it for everyone to access and to hopefully benefit from. The thing is, you can have all the experience in the world, but if you cant explain it in a clear and structured way, youre going to lack confidence and potentially undersell yourself. Take a good look at the description of the STAR technique and use this list of questions to cover all angles, so you know youre ready for anything.

Additional Recruiter Interview Questions

• What industries have you recruited for? Which was the easiest? Which was the most difficult?

• Was there ever a time you werent able to fill a job vacancy? What did you do?

• Describe the recruitment process. What strategies would you implement to ensure the process goes smoothly?

• During the recruitment process, how do you stay organized? How do you keep track of your candidates?

• What type of recruitment software are you familiar with?

• How do you use data to analyze your recruiting process?

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Learn What The Best Staffing And Recruiting Lms Is For Your Organization

Youre more than a corporate matchmaker. Your staffing and recruiting company must find the best fit for the job and maintain an active client base. As such, you will need a versatile staffing and recruiting LMS to vet candidates and train your internal team. They must know how to identify clients requirements, how to interview worthy contenders, and follow company policy in order to keep your reputation intact. Here are 6 tips to select the ideal staffing and recruiting LMS for your organization without having to endure countless free demos.

Make Everything About Them

Heres a little secret: The interview isnt really about you.

If you want to start getting a TON of job offers from your interviews, you need to start thinking about what the company wants. Make yourself seem like a solution to their problems.

How can you help them make money, save money, save time, etc.?

How will you make the hiring managers life easier if he or she hires you?

Figure out how to show this, start thinking about their needs and answering their questions with this mindset and you will be in the top 10% of job seekers.

Same goes for writing your resume. If you want to stand out, start thinking of your resume as being about THEM. Its a document that should be tailored to the employers needs, showing them how your qualifications and past work will help you step into *their* job and be successful in their organization.

Thats the general idea, and its true for resumes, cover letters, and interviews.

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To Call Or Not To Call That Is The Question

Ask them who DO you want to work for and who DONT you want to work for. This not only gives you a potential target list to speak to but also provides you with proof of their commerciality and competitor knowledge.

Finally, get commitment off them- ask them to call you the next day after they have researched the company/ies you have fully briefed them on. Its a key indicator of whether someone follows up when they say they will.

Is There Anything I Have Said That Makes You Doubt I Would Be A Great Fit For This Position

Asking this question at the end of an interview can feel terrifying. After all, you are asking whether there is any reason why the hiring manager wouldn’t want to extend you an offer. However, if you have the courage to ask this, you stand to gain a better sense of the next steps in the hiring process and an opportunity to address any reservations that the hiring manager might have about your candidacy while you still have his or her attention.

Having considered some of the questions that can put you in the best light and close the interview on a high note, here is a short list of questions that you should never ask in an interview.

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Research Before The Interview:

When preparing for an interview with a recruiter you have to sit down and do a little preliminary research, according to Heather Huhman a contributor for GlassDoor.com. The efforts you put into this step will easily propel you well beyond others seeking employment that simply show up to the interview.

When conducting your research, where should you focus your efforts?

Where do you start?

The answer is simple, start at the beginning. Start with the Job or Position Description you applied for. From there you can expand outward via the company and then the industry.

Job/Position Description

• What are the responsibilities listed?
• Who are you accountable to?
• What seems to be the priorities of the position?
• What are the daily activities?

After reviewing this, you should have a solid idea of where you stand with the position. This is fundamental to preparing for an interview with a recruiter.

Maintain notes detailing all of these activities and think back to how you have accomplished these things in your past. Your resume should be the best place to seek this information as it is what has landed you in the interview.

Research the Company for Useful Interview Answers

• Newsworthy events

Research any positive news on the company or how they are addressing the negative news.

• Were they involved in a scandal?
• How are they increasing their accountability?

• Have they completed a huge community project?

• Challenges facing the company
• Key initiatives the company is focused on
• Etc.

Be Prepared With Answers And Supporting Examples To Standard Hr Questions Such As:

• What are your career aspirations?
• Why do you want to work for our company?
• What interests you about our product/service?
• Of your previous jobs, which did you enjoy most and why?
• How have you managed conflict at work in the past?
• Describe what you have done in your career that shows your initiative.
• What does teamwork mean to you?
• What style of management gets the best results from you?
• What have been your major achievements to date?
• How would your manager describe you?

Remember you are being interviewed because the interviewer wants to hire somebody not because they want to trip you up or embarrass you. They will be searching out your strong and weak points, evaluating you on your qualifications, skills and intellectual qualities and they will probably probe deeply to determine your attitudes, aptitudes, stability, motivation and maturity. Find out more about how hiring managers conduct an interview here.

Spend some time practising your answers to the questions below. If you can answer them, it is unlikely you will be faced with a question at your interview that you cannot respond to effectively.

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An Interviewer Will Want To Know About Where You See Yourself In The Future:

• Would you describe yourself as ambitious? If yes, why?
• If we were to hire you, how long would you see yourself staying with us?
• Where would you like to see yourself in five years time?
• What are you going to do to ensure you reach those goals in five years time?
• Do you plan to study further in any particular area?

How Do You Treat Candidates Who Dont Get The Job

Recruiters are often incentivized based on how many reqs they close and the time in which they close them. As a result, some short-sighted recruiters often forgo providing a good candidate experience to the candidates they reject, focusing solely on the people who have moved on in the hiring process.

This approach to hiring recruiters can hurt your companys employer brand and potentially your consumer brand too.

Instead, the best recruiters should make it clear they provide a strong experience to all candidates. This might include responding to every candidate who applies, even if they dont make it to the next stage, and personally phoning every interviewee who doesnt get the job. Listen for answers that show the recruiter is committed to consistently updating candidates throughout the process, so no one is left wondering where they stand.

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Avoid Smoking Before An Interview:

Always the recruiters and hiring managersâ advice that if a candidate is eager for the job he should come early with at least fifteen minutes to spare before the interview starts.

Avoid smoking before an interview since it reflects badly on your behaviour and appearance as others do not appreciate the smell of smoke and the managers will surely not be impressed to see this lapse. The smell of smoke is also repelling to non-smokers and if any of the interviewers is a non-smoker he will be disgusted.

Always after arriving at the interview venue check your appearance in the washroom mirror tidy the hair and make sure that the tie is straight and the hands are clean.

Which Part Of The Position Has The Steepest Learning Curve What Can I Do In Order To Get Up To Speed Quickly

For some jobs, learning the technology or the internal company procedures is the most challenging aspect of coming on board. For others, it is about understanding the human network. Any guidance on how to speed up the learning process and make you effective and productive quicker can give you a significant advantage.

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Top Five General Recruiter Interview Questions And Answers

During the interview, you may also be asked general questions regarding yourself and your career background. These common interview questions are used to evaluate your motivations, aspirations, and strengths. Check some of the types of questions below.

Why did you choose to become a recruiter?

At this point, you can explain what makes you passionate about the whole process of recruitment. This may be that you enjoy finding promising talent, helping people land their dream jobs, or being an important part of helping an organization succeed. You might personalize your reasons based on the specific field you will be recruiting for.

What are your strengths as a recruiter?

Dont be shy or afraid to state your strengths. Go ahead and talk about professional skills you have acquired over time as well as how your experience and communication skills help you to assess candidates. You can also share details on your job success rate via social media advertising and interviewing techniques.

What can you do for this role that other recruiting candidates wouldnt?

Here, you can talk about implementing innovative trends in the recruiting industry and how you would use your particular soft skills to improve the hiring decision process. You can also talk about previous challenges you have had, how you overcame them, and the lessons you learned from the experience.

What are your aspirations for this recruiting role?

More Recruiter Interview Questions

Here are 15 more recruiter interview questions you might encounter when you meet with a hiring manager:

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The Top 10 Interview Questions You Should Ask When Hiring A Recruiter

LinkedIn-er, Author of “How I Found Peace: 14 Revelations That Cleared My Mind”

The mantra of any recruiter worth their salt is that people matter above all else and that the key to building a lasting organization is continually hiring best-in-class talent.

It makes perfect sense then that recruiting leaders really, really care about the people they hire to fill out their talent acquisition team. And they should, because hiring a great recruiter can have a significant long-term effect on any business, providing a higher level of talent at your organization over time.

So, how do you know if someone will make a top recruiter? To help you make this determination, we put together a list of 10 outstanding interview questions you should ask when hiring a recruiter.

Save Negotiations For Later

Try to save discussions about salary and benefits for after you receive an offer. That puts you in a better position to negotiate. If asked during the interview what your salary expectations are, provide a vague answer and redirect back to other topics about employer expectations and your qualifications.

Sometimes, though, you might need to provide a number. This is likely the case when the employer needs to be sure that your salary expectations align with what they are willing and able to pay for the job. If this is the case, place yourself in a position to advance monetarily but leave room for further dialogue about the matter at a later date. You can state the annual amount you are currently making and your desired salary based on market value for a candidate with your qualifications.

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Tell Them About Yourself

Most interviewers give you an opportunity to tell them about yourself. You should answer by telling them about your most recent professional accomplishments leading back to your academic studies or extracurricular contributions in college unless they ask you specifically to start with college and move forward to the present.

Also, they aren’t looking for a personal recitation of who you are in general, but rather what you’ve achieved, what inspires you professionally and your career goals, including your progress toward them. It’s helpful, though, to use this portion of the interview to focus on those things you are most proud of and passionate about. Doing so gives your recruiter some insight into whether your personality fits the role and the company culture.

Are You Working For A Hiring Company

Ask the recruiter about their work experience in the company. There are mainly two types of recruiters.

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Operational And Situational Questions

• Describe your preferred mix of candidate sourcing methods. What has worked well for you? What do you no longer do?
• What was difficult about sourcing in companies youve previously worked for?
• List and describe your favorite tools for tracking and following up with candidates.
• Which jobs do you think are the hardest to fill and why? Steer clear of obvious answers, e.g. developers.
• How do you approach interviews? What is your game plan? What are you trying to find out?
• Talk about a hiring process from a previous company. What worked well? What didnt work well? What would you change?
• Describe your experience with referral programs. How did rewards, technology, and engagement contribute to the overall performance of the program? Is there anything that you would change?
• Heres our current time to hire, cost per hire, and success rate. What could we do to improve these? Where would you start?
• Describe the common challenges of working with hiring managers.
• What if you were asked to double the volume of your hires next year? What would you change about your process? How would you maintain the quality of your hiring?