Helping jobseekers succeed at interview
Leading recruiters advise employers to meet candidates in-person before offering a role. Since Covid, the recruitment sector has noticed a rise in ‘drop outs’ or hires ‘not working out’ in cases where they've been hired solely on the basis of video interviews.
If flying a plane is exhilarating, landing is better again. Pilots know this. Passengers too. Appreciative applause, if it comes, does so when a craft touches rather than leaves the ground. It’s a skilled manoeuvre. One to admire. But even so, one third of Americans polled in a YouGov survey, believed that in an emergency, they could land a passenger plane with the guidance of air traffic control.
Like landing a plane, landing a job is an endeavour that requires skill. Skill in the application. Skill at interview. A relevant track record of skills.
Earlier this year, IrishJobs published data showing that two in three job applications are rejected due to lack of relevant skills. To increase the odds of landing a job, it helps to be aware of how recruiters – such as James Lynch, COO at Mason Alexander – think.
“Sometimes we see CVs with an overly complicated format,” he says. “Those with multiple columns and graphics can negatively impact the ability of an ATS to gather the important information without getting it muddled. Since clarity and readability are just as important as making a document ATS-friendly, the goal should be to design a CV with a human reader in mind.”
While it’s common knowledge that it helps to tailor a CV to the job being applied for, Lynch adds a helpful caveat: “Make sure it’s genuine and detailed, but not overstated.”
During the interview, candidates may believe that every word they utter carries equal weight. But in reality, some are more impactful than others, with overemphasis on compensation being a common red flag.
“There’s a saying in our industry: ‘If your only motive is money, you’re always on the market,” says Lynch. “Candidates who come across that way are always viewed as a flight risk.”
How the candidate comes across on all fronts is core. Do so as lethargic, uninterested or unprepared, he says, and it will be difficult to come back from that, even with the right experience for the role.
While there’s much that interviewees can get wrong in the interview process, it’s good to know that being yourself pays dividends. “Those who come across as genuine and authentic usually win out,” says the recruiter. “The reason being that people buy into people.”
Interviewers must frequently find themselves torn between two apparently equally strong candidates, in terms of skills, experience and qualifications. Asked what typically tips the scale in those instances, Lynch says it’s the person who is culturally the best fit: “The candidate offered the job will be the one they believe will get along with the team, be the most coachable, and bring positive energy as a team player.”
According to Lynch, other warning signs that sometimes arise during the interview process and commonly concern recruiters, include candidates "being cagey" or not upfront about their motivations, or being involved in other processes.
“These factors can reflect negatively,” he says, “as do delays in coming back on a call or email. These are tells that get picked up quickly. Then there are the more obvious signals, which include candidates seeming unprepared, not sufficiently engaged, not taking the interview seriously, or talking poorly about past employers.”
"People hire in their own image" is a saying that gets repeated a lot.
Asked whether it’s true and to what extent recruiters factor it in when considering which candidates to introduce to their clients, Lynch replies: "At Mason Alexander, we meet all of our candidates and clients to fully understand both sides. It’s a critical part of what we do and it’s not necessarily about people hiring in their own image. It’s about understanding the specific need for the role, including the values and traits that are unique to each company.”
Lynch’s advice to employers and candidates is to have at least one interview on site or in person. “Offering or accepting a role having never met in person is a risk and since Covid, we have seen an increase in ‘drop outs’ or hires ‘not working out’ because of this.
“This is so crucial, that if a company does not offer an in person meeting, the candidate should request one.”
On jobseekers’ misconceptions, the recruiter says a common one among those who have great experience for a role, is the belief that that is all they need to land the job. “Hiring is far more layered than that,” he says, “especially in the current market, where employers are more cost conscious and have high thresholds for hiring.
“Typically, recruiters have very close working relationships with their clients. What they value is more than just the sharing of a CV. The recruiter’s opinion of the jobseeker and their fit for the role matter as well. In that way, a ‘vouch’ from a recruiter can make all the difference.”
Acknowledging the growing reliance on AI for CVs, applications and interview prep, Lynch says: “It can be helpful but it often creates new challenges, including generic answers, real skills not shining through, nervous candidates trying to remember a script and employers not getting a true picture of the person in front of them.
“It is sometimes forgotten that the human element is just as important now as it always has been. Candidates need to trust that being genuine, authentic and natural will continue to land well with and impress interviewers.
Expectations around candidates’ skills are evolving. Lynch says that when meeting online, common challenges include WiFi connection, camera glitches, and an unprofessional-looking background.
For in-person interviews, the challenges run deeper: “During Covid, candidates became comfortable interviewing online and lost the opportunity to develop vital interpersonal skills. This resulted in them losing confidence in their capacity to perform well at face-to-face meetings.
“There’s no growth in a comfort zone so it’s important for candidates to continue to push and challenge themselves. I can’t stress the human element enough. People buy in to people and while some of that got lost during Covid, and is possibly getting lost with the breakthrough of AI, it won’t replace the importance of in-person relationships and building trusted connections.”
Delivering post-interview feedback is something Lynch does regularly. Taking that on board is the client’s responsibility. But what’s core, he says, is that employers want detail and examples, not high-level overviews. “Employers care more about what the candidate did, rather than what the team achieved,” he says.
Interviews are serious business, but as Lynch can testify, human connection can create quirky moments. He recalls working with a new client – a high-growth Irish business – earlier this year. After meeting several senior leaders, including a brief intro to the CEO, and making a number of successful hires, he ran into someone unexpectedly at his local gym. A few minutes into a casual sauna chat, he realised the person he was speaking with was that CEO.
“The realisation from both sides was funny, especially considering where we were,” he says. “Meeting a client in a sauna was certainly a first for me. But it just goes to show the importance of in-person connection and the fact that you never know who you might meet and when.”
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