Last week we published a blog post from one of the interviewers on The Job Interview and today I’ve got a great blog from Kirsten Crisford who is Brand and Social Media Manager for Bucks and Berks Recruitment. Having watched the show she has some “tips” on what to do if you want your Candidate to not get the Job…
The Job Interview is Channel 4’s latest fly on the wall series, filming candidates in real life interviews with a host of companies across the UK. The public love nothing more than seeing how some shine and some squirm in these boardroom situations (The Apprentice being the classic example). Let’s face it, it wouldn’t be entertainment if all the candidates answered every question to perfection and presented themselves as the cream of the crop. So, if you want your candidates to make fantastic TV and entertain us all with their answers, just follow these simple steps. Be warned, they will probably NOT get the job though!
- DO NOT prepare your candidates – Make sure that they have not researched the company or the role. This way when they are asked what they liked about the company or why they want to work in that particular organisation they can umm and ahh and awkwardly state that they are not really sure and they just really want a job. Also if they don’t know much about the role they can go off on a tangent talking about some totally unrelated skills they have from previous positions.
- NEVER qualify the candidate – If you send a candidate to an interview without checking that they really want to have that role and are keen on pursuing that career route they stand a good chance of talking about a completely different job when in the interview. An employer looking for a digital marketing executive will love nothing more than hearing about why that candidate wants to progress their career in the finance sector and actually they are not very creative.
- DO NOT manage expectations – If you send the candidate before you confirm their salary expectations or hours available to work, you could create a delightfully awkward situation of being offered a job they don’t really want. Similarly, if you don’t find out why they are looking for a new role you can never really know that they will last the distance in the interview process, they may just decide that they weren’t that unhappy after all. There is nothing better than doing all the work of finding the candidate, preparing them, getting to final interview and then their current employer counter offers so they don’t leave.
- NEVER get to know your clients – By making sure you keep your distance from your clients you can send candidates that will never fit in with the organisation, get on with the interviewer, or thrive in the environment. Building strong relationships can help you to understand how the company works and what sort of personalities there are already in the team. Sending in candidates without understanding the cultural fit, you will certainly create a tense and sometimes confrontational interview room atmosphere, brilliant TV!
Of course on the off chance that you would like your candidate to be successful and secure their desired position instead of just being great entertainment, you could opt to follow the exact opposite of this advice!
