New Interviewing Technique

I just read a group discussion on LinkedIn about a new hiring technique.  The woman who started the conversation said that she no longer asks for resumes; instead she has applicants send her answers to these three questions:

·        Tell me everything you know about my company

·        Why you are applying for this job?

·        What makes you a great employee?

If she likes the answers she will call them for a telephone interview and then, if she really likes them, she will invite them in for a panel interview.  Talk about pressure.

As an applicant you must do your research on the company and the position. You need to be prepared with specific examples of your accomplishments and skill set. That’ a given.  If you don’t, well, it’s your loss and hopefully you’ll be better prepared next time.  An organization is looking to weed many candidates to get to the very best match. That said, it’s almost as if some companies are taking a “better than thou” approach to hiring these days by coming up with all sorts of new hiring and rather odd hiring techniques.  I’m not talking so much about the example I read this morning although that technique is teetering on the edge of unnecessary torture. I’m talking about the wacky questions that appear to have no relation to the open position. Questions like:

·        How many planes are currently flying over Kansas? (Question asked at Best Buy)

·        How many cows are there in Canada? (Question ask at Google)

·        A penguin walks through that door right there wearing a sombrero.  What does he say and why is he here? (Question asked at Clark Construction Group)

·        Can you say Peter Piper picked a pickled pepper and sell us a washing machine at the same time? (Question asked at MasterCard)

·        What do you think of garden gnomes? (Question asked at Trader Joes)

If any of these question deal with the open position or the company then OK but as a business owner, I would want to ask questions relating to the applicant’s skills set.  I’d want to see if there is a match and from my interviewing questioning get an idea of the applicant’s communication and interpersonal skills.

Sometimes I think that companies are playing games and with the unemployment numbers high (I’m talking about the real numbers); these new interviewing techniques are unwarranted. What do you think? Have you come across this in your interviewing?

Easy Job Search Tips

I had a job search coaching session with a delightful, intelligent, thoughtful young woman this morning. She just got out of graduate school and wanted to know how to find a job in her field when the unemployment rate for young adults is so high.  She also would like to take a position out of state.  We discussed the following:

1. Go to a job search engine and open a position that interests you. Look at the job responsibilities and ask yourself  if your skills match. How? Where? Add some of this specific job focused wording to your resume if it matches your skill set.

2. Have a specific resume for each opening.  Don't rely on a cover letter for specificity because half the time those aren't read.

3. If you know someone in the town that you would like to move to, ask for their permission to change your current address to their address.  You can just use the town and state. Make sure that this new information is also on LinkedIn.

4. Make sure to add some some soft skills to your resume. 

5. If you speak another language add it to your resume with the word Bilingual. It looks good up on the top in your Summary Statement.  Add the type of  language (example Spanish, French) in the Skill Set section of your resume.

6. Use your LinkedIn group connections to ask for introductions into various companies and advice.

7.  Change your LinkedIn privacy settings to Anonymous and look for contacts.  You can send your resume to these contacts or send them a private message. Don’t forget to change your LinkedIn profile back to normal when you have finished looking for contacts.

There are other things that a job seeker can do.  Do you have any suggestions?