Application Tips: Use Technology To Get The Interview

Use Technology To Get The Interview

Don't Wait for an Interview Request! Send a Link to Your Pre-Interview With Your Resume.

By Felicia Marsh

Updated June 24, 2022. Originally published September 20, 2020.

If you are searching for a job, you probably already know that your resume is probably one in hundreds, sometimes even thousands. How do you get noticed and remembered in that sea of electronic paper? Give them something more.

Besides your qualifications, offer up a digital extension of a hand shake (or fist bump, elbow bump, or whatever equivalent).

Think about it. When you send a copy of your resume to an employer or hiring manager, they will most likely review it in electronic format. This means they are at a computer, or some other electronic device, reading it and can easily access any media you offer up.

Why not use the opportunity to get noticed and put your smiling face right in front of them? Literally.

Including a link to a pre-recorded pre-interview in your resume or cover letter will increase the chance of being noticed and make yourself memorable to a potential employer.

And there are several other advantages to doing this.

1. Make yourself memorable.

As mentioned before, providing additional information about yourself in formats that are unique will make you memorable.

Except in media-based fields, no one is really taking full advantage of video introductions or one way interviews just yet, at least in the current environment.

But it is getting more popular.

By having a pre-recorded pre-interview available for a potential employer to pre-screen, you are proactively taking the process a step further and setting yourself apart from the crowd. Read Laura DeCarlo's "12 Keys to One-Way Video Interview Success" for some great ideas and tips on what makes a great pre-interview recording.

2. Make it easy for them to follow through to the next step.

Additional screening beyond the resume will now require little effort on their part. Now, with a simple click of the mouse, you have given a potential employer much more than just a CV or resume to evaluate your for a potential interview. The more time they spend looking at your information, the better they will remember you.

3. Less pressure on creating a first impression.

With your pre-recorded video, a potential employer will have a carefully curated presentation on which to base their first impression of you.

Your initial presentation of yourself to a potential employer can be scripted and practiced and recorded without the pressure of sitting in front of your interviewer.

4. Steer them toward the information you want them to see.

Instead of relying on whatever information they might pull up in a random search, you can nudge them toward more pertinent information. There are lists of common or recommended interview questions from a multitude of qualified sources that you can comb through to provide a "beyond the resume" picture of what you are capable of.

5. Showcase you.

By all means, show your next potential employer who you are, highlight your personality, and demonstrate your presentation skills. Showing what a great person you would be to work with, how motivated you are, or your willingness to learn. A great story that creates a connection can oftentimes help overcome mild technical deficiencies in your skillset.

6. Less pressure going into the interview.

You have already made an impression and they obviously liked it. You have probably already answered some of their questions. You now have an opportunity to go into more depth during your interview.

Unless you have your own commercial website, consider using a platform such as YouTube,  LinkedIn, or some other widely recognized website to host your interview video so that screeners will feel comfortable clicking on the link.

Of course, not every resume screening will lead to a viewing of the pre-interview. You will still need to make sure that your resume is polished and pertinent when submitted.

It would also be wise to include the link in multiple places, such as in the resume header or footer and in the cover letter, and to make one of those links plain text that it is not stripped out if they are using software to remove links. And call it what it is based on the questions you are answering, like a pre-interview, resume supplement, 'technical' skill discussion or demonstration, ice breaker, or about me interview.

Lastly, it is always a good idea to have a trusted friend or colleague to review your video and give you feedback.

Just remember, represent the best you in your pre-interview.

Best of luck!

The Résumé Black Hole

By Felicia Marsh, January 28, 2022

What happens when you send your résumé to an employer?

Most often it is dumped into a huge database for matching and filtering.

Photo by Thomas Jensen on Unsplash

I have helped dozens of friends and colleagues writing résumés and the most common complaint I heard from them is "I have sent out hundreds of résumés and haven't heard back from anyone." How is that even possible? For the most part, these are educated and experienced individuals, so the numbers don't really add up.

It made me wonder, how much do computer software algorithms play a role in disposing of an applicant résumé before it ever crosses human eyes for consideration.

Is it a simple matter of filtering being so stringent that you need an exact set of keywords embedded in your résumé to get pass the electronic gatekeeper? That seems to be what the recruiters are selling.

So I started to dig a little.

Filters Are Potentially Excluding Millions

Well, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal, The Millions of Resumes Employers May Never See (Dill, Sept 4, 2021) that is likely the case.  Along with a number of other surprising "negative" criteria that immediately eliminate qualified or capable candidates.

According to Kathryn Dill, different ways of describing skill sets can unintentionally exclude ideal candidates.

For example, experience managing employees can be described as managing, supervising, overseeing, team building, directing, etc. If an applicant's resume describes their experience as supervisory and the job description requires managerial experience, it is possible that the resume may be discarded if it doesn't have a high enough percentage of keyword hits.

Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash

And I get it. Businesses get hundreds or thousands of applicants that have to be filtered or they would never get through them. I have friends who have papered the internet with multiple versions of their résumé using apps like ResumeRabbit or other auto posting software in hopes of getting a few hits.

But when I hear hiring managers say things like "I just can't find good people," I have to wonder how they are overlooking so many people who are out there searching. How does someone with a 2 degrees or an MIS degree and 10 or more years of experience have trouble even getting an interview?

Not Matching Up

Employers that search against long and/or complicated job descriptions instead of narrowing their requirements down to key capabilities to perform the job will often miss out on very capable candidates that may be searching across industries. This is very apparent for military personnel who are crossing into the civilian workforce and have to translate their job title and skill set into marketable terms in a much broader and less universal pool of job descriptions.

How to Navigate the Filters

Tailoring. As much as job seekers don't want to hear it, there is no way around having multiple versions of your resume.  The best way to get through the filters is to tailor your resume to each job description that you are applying for.

10% Return Vs. None

Focus on 10 to 20 of the openings at the top of your list and customizing the descriptions of your experience and skills on your resume to include the same wording as the posted job description. While this seems to be a massive effort when you are submitting hundreds of resumes, it truly is a manageable task when you narrow down the number of applications you submit to a much smaller group. After all, even if it takes twice as long, it is better to get a response back from 2 out of 20 submissions, than no responses out of 100.

Best wishes in your searches!

References:

The Millions of Resumes Employers May Never See by Kathryn Dill, printed in The Wall Street Journal, Sept 4, 2021, pages B1, B6. Online version titled Companies Need More Workers. Why Do They Reject Millions of Résumés? posted Sept. 4, 2021 12:00 am ET.

The Plight of the Alternative Worker

By Felicia Marsh, December 30, 2021

What is an alternative worker?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), laborers who have "alternative" arrangements for their primary employment, such independent contractors, on-call workers, temporary help agency workers, "gig" workers, and workers provided by contract firms, fall into a category the bureau calls "alternative employment arrangements".

Photo by Alex Kotliarskyi on Unsplash

I was doing some research trying to find some data on the size today's third party contract worker labor market to speak to the rapid increase in the number of workers in the US with "alternative" or non-traditional primary employment arrangements. Sadly there is very little information out there with hard data.

Light on Labor Statistics

In fact, the latest report/survey done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS 2018) was completed in 2017 and released in 2018. And many find that the numbers reported seem to contradict what other researchers are reporting. According to an article on Brookings.edu, the "BLS focus on primary employment is obscuring a broader increase in nonstandard employment" (Shambaugh 2018).

A report from the International Labour Office in 2018, estimates that of more than 43 million workers employed through private employment agencies and staffing companies worldwide in 2015, the largest numbers were found in the United States at approximately 15.6 million (ILO 2018). These numbers are admittedly deficient since they are confined to agency workers employed by members of The International Confederation of Private Employment Services.

Where is the Labor Coming From

Another set of data points lacking in any of the statistics is the origin of the labor provided through these agencies, thus making it difficult to tell who is actually doing the work and from where. 

The Trouble With the Lack of Numbers

This inability or unwillingness to clearly define and collect data about the nonstandard labor force is troublesome for many reasons. 

Many laborers believe that these numbers are purposely being blurred to the benefit of the employment agencies and of the businesses that prefer to employ a cheaper labor force overseas or to purposely give the perception of fewer full time employees in order to provide investors with favorable balance sheets.

Photo by mostafa meraji on Unsplash

Considering the relative lack of accountability and transparency in the recruiter process, the lack of protections for "gig" workers, many of whom use short contract work as their primary employment, and the general "disposable" attitude towards contract workers by businesses, lack of representation in the reported labor statistics leaves an ever increasing portion of the labor market vulnerable to all manner of unfair and unethical behavior.

References:

International Labour Office (ILO), October 2018. Multi-party work relationships; concepts, definitions and statistics, 20th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS), Geneva

Shambaugh, Jay; Nunn,Ryan; and Bauer, Lauren; June 7, 2018. Independent Workers and The Modern Labor Market, The Brookings Institution

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), June 7, 2018. Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements News Release (USDL-18-0942)

Hiring Pitfalls: The Bait and Switch Contractor

The Bait and Switch Contractor

A Dangerous Pitfall of Hiring Through a Third Party Recruiter

By Felicia Marsh, October 2, 2020

Is this even the same person?

Ever hire an employee or contractor and after a few weeks on the job, wonder if this is the same person that you spoke with during the interview?

They just don't seem to know as much as they did during the interview or are missing skills that you felt where there when you spoke before.

Or maybe they are not able to communicate at the same level as they did earlier and you just have this feeling you are not talking with the same person.

You may be the victim of a bait and switch.

Sadly, it really is a thing.

How it works.

You are presented with a superior candidate during an interview, in a manner that you can not easily identify the person you are speaking with. This person performs well and you feel like you hit the jackpot, so you negotiate a salary based on your experience with this person you spoke with.

But the person who shows up, the one you are actually paying for, is not nearly as skilled, or even knowledgeable about the job.

You are not alone.

Recently, where I worked, our IT group took in 2 such imposters. We fell prey twice before we figured out what was going on and changed how we screened potential hires.

Both times the candidate performed extremely well in multiple interviews, answering complex technical questions with confidence and great knowledge and acumen. After the individual was hired, the person who arrived to perform the work surprisingly possessed none of these qualities or the knowledge to do the job. A fact they were able to disguise briefly because of the on-boarding process, where they basically spent their first week sequestered with stacks of training material.

From discussions with colleagues in other groups, this is a particular problem in technical fields and especially prevalent in IT where it is not uncommon to hire someone without ever meeting them face to face.

Many times, the only assurance you have is a recruiter's word that they are who they say they are. And even when working with a recruiter you are familiar with, which was the case for one of the above hires, the candidate comes to them through another recruiting company or affiliate.

What the Farce!

How can this even be legal, you are wondering. It's not.

But the burden of proof lies with you to prove the imposter is not the person you interviewed or that they (the candidate and/or recruiters) intentionally deceived you. Not an easy task if you didn't take measures to concretely identify the person early in the hiring process.

And, while the cost to the company may seem like a lot to you, more often than not, the loss is usually not significant enough for most companies to be willing to bear the expense or resources it would cost to pursue restitution or reimbursement, even with solid evidence of the fraud.

What to do?

So how do you determine if the person you are interviewing is the person who will actually show up for the job?

Well, the obvious answer would be to always require an in person interview. It would be exceedingly difficult to pull the wool over your eyes if you actually see the person physically answer the questions you ask.  However, this is not always feasible, particularly if your search for qualified candidates is far-reaching, such as nationwide or internationally.

In these cases, do your due diligence, approach the candidates defensibly, and hopefully make any potential con artists think twice.  Here are a couple suggestions that can lessen the risk.

1. Insist on a video conference interview.

Get them in front of a camera.

And make sure you are watching the candidate as they answer the questions instead of being distracted by other tasks so you can be sure that they are actually the one speaking.

Watch for clues that there might be a coach off camera feeding them answers. Take notes of their answers so that you can ask about them later.

2. Request picture identification for the interview.

Having a name attached to a face is invaluable when ascertaining if you are meeting the person you interviewed. It also eliminates potential errors in communication of who you will be hiring if you have an ID to verify who you are speaking to. However, this is only helpful if you are able to lay eyes on the candidate during the interview.

3. Communicate directly with the candidate when possible.

If you are not able to connect with the candidate visually during the interview process communicate with the candidate directly when possible in order to develop a feel for their behavior and who they are. Be sure to ask questions about unique situations they may have encountered and what they did to resolve them; questions that another person may not be able to answer with as much detail.

Ask personal questions (just be sure they are legal) that would bring out their things like their interests or hobbies, things that you could normally identify about your other co-workers. Things like Joe's love of a certain football team and all the sport paraphernalia he collects, or June's love of llamas and the artwork she displays in her cube.  

This makes it easier to tell when something is different about the person who shows up to work at the office on day one with a couple of ice breaker questions about things they may have mentioned, like football or llamas.

4. Revisit the interview before on-boarding.

Once you have hired someone (or if you were unable to connect with the candidate visually), make sure to revisit the questions you asked in the interview before the on-boarding process begins. Compare their answers to your notes until you feel confident this is the person you spoke with. Taking the time to do this saves days worth of training and expense.

5. Check with your legal department.

Check with your legal department.  See what policies your company may have to address these types of scenarios in your contracts with recruiters and/or contractors. Pointing out these items and their penalties while discussing the contract with the recruiter and the new hire prior to agreeing to hiring someone may deter any malefactor from proceeding with signing on.

In essence, take every opportunity to get to know the candidate and communicate expectations and company policies.

The idea is to maintain awareness and protect yourself without unfairly projecting suspicion on a candidate.

Happy Hiring!