Why call it Empathic Recruitment℠?
People often ask me why I called it Empathic Recruitment℠ so I thought I’d share my answer. I named L J Doulton “the empathic recruitment consultancy” for two fundamental reasons. Firstly, I developed the service that we offer by empathising with employers. I thought ‘what sort of service would I want from a recruitment agency and what are the current issues?’
Secondly, I fully believe that all the candidate’s attributes that you get to see with this method are either a by-product of empathy or result from a lack of it. Someone helping a colleague is an act of kindness, but it’s normally because that person could relate to their situation. It is these characteristics you can observe using video application methods, that I believe are more important than what you see on paper. Ideas thrive when you cluster together likeminded team members and the collaborative IQ of a strong team will always exceed any individual
Let me give an example of where it makes a difference:
An example of this would be, If you are a fantastic programmer and know every language with all the qualifications, but don’t know how to empathise, you won’t be able to think of the scenarios your end-user is in, so you won’t be able to make such a useful product. Knowledge is irrelevant if you don’t know how to apply it and it’s empathy that drives the most significant achievements.
There is the third reason: High performing teams rely on empathy to make them work smoothly. Empathy is the catalyst for turning a group of individuals into a team.. i.e. “we are all just cogs in the gearbox of life, and empathy is the oil”. Empathic teams produce better outputs and are the foundations of resilience and of long-term corporate prosperity.
To find out more about Empathic Recruitment℠ gives us a call.
How to Boost Candidate Shortlisting Data
It can be hard shortlisting potential candidates when you are comparing the CV versions of people. Paper-based processing has its restrictions and is open to manipulation and equally, misinterpretation. Employers will only meet a small selection of candidates even though you can have 50 applications. How you filter these applications for the interview stage is crucial. It seems unnecessary to second guess when technology is forever growing more sophisticated making it possible to counter these problems.
That’s why amongst other emerging technologies, we include an Interactive Video Platform (IVP) tool in our shortlisting process. It allows candidates to submit video responses to automated questions within the original application. This offers employers a greater insight into the suitability of each candidate and can save a significant amount of time for both while increasing the value of the shortlisting data tremendously.
Our IVP is a quick and reliable tool that offers more insight into the ethics of a person, their social capabilities, their personality, their leadership and communication skills all of which are essential when hiring the best candidate for the team.
How to use this platform:
We still assess information on their CV and it’s often this exercise that inspires some of the further questioning asked in face to face interviews. What an IVP allows you do is quickly get a first impression of someone’s personality. If you have 3 equal CV’s and only one interview slot, this feature will make your life a lot easier! You can also conduct live interviews online and compare these with other applicants and share them with other managers through our platform to ensure you hire the right person for the team, as well as for the job description.
Have you ever had a perfect application on paper only to be disappointed after conducting it? Not anymore!
How to Stand out in Job Applications and Ace an Interview
Many people can find job applications stressful, and sometimes it can be brutal. You’re either trying to guess what the best approach for an opportunity, or the ways of increasing your chances of getting through shortlisting. This is only half the battle and you need to ensure you’re on top form for a successful interview. There’s no clear way to go about it all so here are some words of advice:
Research the job and use this to write a covering letter
Researching the role before applying and customising a cover letter for each specific position is a great way to highlight your suitability. Be sure to point out the matching qualifications and experience you have to the job description. I would always include examples of similar work or projects you’ve done previously.
Sending this type of personalised cover letter is invaluable, but it’s worth preparing a template that you can alter to suit each prospect. It’s a great tool that can give a good first impression and showcase your story, skillset, and personality to increase chances of getting an interview.
Interview with confidence
Most of the time an interview goes wrong, it’s due to nervousness so your frame of mind while in an interview is key. It’s important to remember you may not be right for every position you interview for, but that job offer will happen. Best of all is when it does, you’ll look back and be glad you didn’t get those other positions. The best way to think of it is; for the employer, it’s a meeting to see if you would fit the team and the duties required, but it’s also for YOU to see whether you like the sound of the job and culture there too, interviews work both ways! Be yourself is the best advice anyone can give and it’s easier to do that when thinking in this way.
Companies also have different expectations, research the company before the interview (read their website) and make sure you know the basics of the business. Your readiness contributes to your confidence. Prepare any questions you think of while doing this to ask in the interview. Interviews get easier with preparation and practice and the confidence that comes with those is what produces successful interviews.
Interview Follow-up & Feedback
After an interview, Unless given a timescale to expect feedback, it’s reasonable to follow-up after 3 days if you’ve had no response. If you didn’t get the job, still try to get some feedback to help learn from any mistakes you might have made. Following up can also improve the chance of the manager considering your application. Remember, don’t be disheartened if you do not get the job. The hiring manager knows the company environment far better than you so if they feel there is someone better for the role, you probably wouldn’t have liked it there anyway!
Continue reading our blogs to learn more:
It’s worth mentioning a lot of these problems come from the recruitment process we are all used to in itself. This is something we are passionate about changing and we believe that it’s emotional and social competencies that are more important than simply where you worked previously. Yet that’s often the biggest influencing factor with paper-based shortlisting. There is a far more efficient and convenient way of showing what you’re really like within your application. Here is a link explaining how it works in more detail, I welcome any comments.
Happy job hunting!
Social Media | The Hiring & Hire Me Assistant
Social media platforms are becoming one of a recruiters or employer’s main weapons in finding talent. It’s important to understand how they’re used and how your profile affects your progress when looking for a job. Once you have an understanding though, you’ll know where to improve your online appearance. This can be the difference between getting the opportunities you want or being left behind.
Social media is a tool for candidates too:
Job searching relies on a number of factors; a resume, your cover letter, specific form filling or background checks and an interview. But before all of this most Hiring managers will look you up online. A social media profile could affect whether you get a job. This isn’t a creepy or weird thing to do (I’ve had people say this), it’s good recruitment and makes perfect sense. That’s why it’s worth checking the following:
- Search yourself online to see what results come back, and clean up any damaging finds.
- Go through any images you’ve posted or are tagged in and remove any inappropriate images and comments that look unprofessional.
- If you have no online presence at all, it could be assumed that you do not understand or engage in technology which is more embedded in businesses than ever so if you don’t have one, make one.
- 64% of HR and Hiring managers use social media and Google to help screen candidates, do you show yourself in the best light online?
Some employers use screening tools to speed hire which can also promote discriminative shortlisting. Restrict personal social media accounts, instead focus on highlighting skills and expertise on your public profile.
Recruiters recruit smartly but only with the information they are given and judge how you portray yourself using this information, don’t let them use one bad comment made in anger to conclude what you’re really like!
The Best Days and Times for Job Applications
Why does the time you post jobs affect job applications?
Posting job adverts at the right time can beat the competition or help reach the intended market maximising job applications. The times that people apply vary for different jobs. This can be used to help predict the best times to advertise your vacancy. People looking for work spend approximately half an hour daily. This is done through various job boards so timing this right and in the right places, can be an efficient way of boosting your coverage.
One job board has 200 million visitors monthly handling 37.5 million resumes. A surprisingly large portion of which apply either midday or dinnertime from Monday through to Wednesday. These rarely get many on Fridays and weekends. This is the active and employed group. Employed people will have a tendency to apply in the evening and rarely in the day excluding lunch time. Unemployed candidates apply more frequently during the afternoon which makes sense. Although there’s a variety of different groups the times they apply spread the traffic out, Monday, Tuesdays and sometimes Wednesdays will typically win the race of the busiest times people look for jobs online.
In summary: If you recruit for a range of positions, Monday through to Wednesday are your busiest days online. The best times to post are normally between 10-2pm or after 6 pm.
However, there you can take this concept a lot further. Variations in who applies and what times they look online could have you better off posting on different days on occasion. A good example is, if you were hiring for a graduate position, statistics show that graduates tend to follow a similar pattern to people out of work. Most apply for jobs on Monday and Tuesday, stopping from midday, and resuming in the late evening. But the most popular day that graduates have been shown to apply is Sunday evenings from 7pm onwards. If you were looking for a Graduate, having the campaign start on Sunday evening puts you at the top of the job board when they’re likely to be looking.
Will Robots take over our jobs in the future?
Will Robots Takeover?
Robots vacuum floors, automate machines, and restock fridges; it’s understandable people are starting to ask will robots take over? Continually improved automated software makes human workers redundant to a number of individual roles. Organizations and employees will need to adapt, learning how to respond and remain a thriving part of most working environments.
Does this mean they’re a threat?
Automation and AI isn’t a new concept, but its constant development has seen millions of people lose jobs to machines. It all sounds rather depressing! The truth, however, is they also create new opportunities to learn new skills. With more innovative systems and tools, it allows us to create more efficient and exciting work. Fortunately, new technologies bring new jobs for people that work in conjunction with these new technologies. It becomes a new industry itself. There’s a good reason for the symmetry between these because that’s precisely what it provides.
You can see this has happened Historically
If you look at the industrial revolution for example which also involved new technology, but the most significant catalyst was the new, organised methodologies and well-planned manufacturing processes which swallowed millions of the public jobs overnight. People felt intimidated as technology aggressively retired their skills leaving the economy seemingly unpredictable. But in the 20th century, these improvements created new job opportunities like an automation worker, airline pilot or missile mechanic; the list goes on. My point is that previous generations would never have dreamed of these, so although you need to be aware and ready to react to how technology emerges, it’s not the end of the world. At worst we will have some short-term disruption, but with the ability to have even higher growth and productivity long term.
Don’t be afraid of new machines, robots or technology, use it to make your own work more productive and embrace innovation instead!
Why Hiring Graduates Work
I’ve noticed a lot of companies are reluctant when hiring graduates. Young people leave university and are often looking for their first professional role. Yet most companies will often only accept candidates with experience. Graduates have so many long-term benefits as well as a lower initial salary and have more to prove. That isn’t always a bad thing! When I see Graduates struggling to get through the door it can be frustrating.
I’ve highlighted the five reasons they are always worth considering:
1. Graduates are enthusiastic
Getting a university degree is liberating, and now this person wants a professional career. Jobs are competitive, so graduates have gratitude when they’re employed, and tends to do well and commit for this reason. The fact they don’t have experience which can seem a disadvantage which also creates a more grateful applicant.
2. Graduates are adaptable
Previous jobs give us experience and skills for new jobs. Some people do not move on and learn new skills, whilst graduates are eager to learn and to improve and adapt your companies habits.
3. Graduates know technology
Graduates are familiar with the technology, hardware, and software, (99% of people aged 18 to 24 own a smartphone); this can be a useful consideration when filling a particular role.
4. Attaining diversity
Diversity is important and improves innovation and performance when cultures merge and graduates come from all backgrounds and walks of life.
5. Nurture long-term talent
Sometimes overlooking a lack of previous experience is good, focusing on a person’s potential and progression instead is the long-term business model. Recruiting people with particular qualities encourages growth, and you may find someone great to lead your company one day in the future.
Conclusion
There are risks hiring less experienced candidates of course, but there are actually different but comparable risks in hiring anyone and graduates provide technical aptitude and adaptability, as well as valuable characteristics. Its a way of recruiting tomorrow’s talent today and you may just find somebody great.
Empathic Recruitment ℠ allows you access to all of these areas that previously you wouldn’t see within the application process, throwing away talent without even knowing it.