Behind the Process: Recruiting Uncovered
Recruiting, at its simplest, is a process of elimination at the beginning and comparison at the end. In your job-hunting journey, if you understand the process and what motivates recruiters, you stand a better chance of surviving the process and landing jobs. In this article, MedZilla explores the ins and outs of the process and the differences between recruiters.
Marysville, WA (PRWEB) March 19, 2004--When you're looking for a job, if you
understand how recruiting works and what motivates recruiters, your
understanding will help you to work within the system better and improve your
chances of landing the job you want.
A key aspect of the process is
recognizing the different motivators for both in-house recruiters and recruiting
consultants, says Frank Heasley, PhD, President and CEO of MedZilla.com, a
leading Internet recruitment and professional community that targets jobseekers
and HR professionals in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and science.
"Your understanding of those differences will allow you to better navigate
through the different phases of recruiting — from the initial 'screening out' to
securing the job and salary."
New technology, old profession
The
job recruiting process really hasn't changed since the turn of the century,
according to Ron Selewach, CEO of the Human Resource Management Center (HRMC),
based in Tampa, Fla. Selewach, who worked for more than 40 years as an in-house
and consulting HR professional, says what has changed is the communication
vehicles and technology that recruiters use.
Labor was abundant at the
turn of the century, he explains, and candidates would line up at the doors of
employers. Overwhelmed, employers started using resumes and job applications as
ways to find the best workers. Today, recruiters perform the same basic function
of attracting, then whittling down the numbers of applicants who respond to a
job ad.
Though Selewach does not agree with the concept, he says that,
in reality, recruiting is "a weeding out process rather than a weeding in
process."
Catch their eye
James L. Wright, a partner at Bridge
Technical Solutions, a technical staffing company in East Greenwich, RI, says
that it's often a matter of getting the attention of people who know nothing
about the job, itself—a part of the recruiting process he calls the "catching
their eye" phase.
You might think your job application and resume are
going right to the decision-maker's desk. That's not the case, Wright says.
Usually, there are a couple of layers of people who are qualifying candidates,
and your application must pass through several screens and reviews before it
gets to a department manager.
Recruiters might use computer software or
administrative personnel to sift through resumes and look for specific words.
The simple "qualification" process is not so much "for picking winners as it is
[spotting] people who are obvious no's," Wright says.
Your strategy for
getting through the "catching their eye" phase is to incorporate the words that
computers or office assistants might be looking for often and at the top of the
resume or application.
Selewach adds that once a job has been
advertised, the process becomes one of comparing candidates' credentials to one
another — not of comparing a candidate's credentials against the requirements of
the job. "If candidates understand that, they'll also understand why it's most
productive to do their own networking [in addition to] responding to advertised
jobs," Selewach says.
Once you’ve "caught their eye", you must convince
people who better understand the job that you are worth pursuing. Your goal, in
this phase, will be to distinguish yourself by focusing on accomplishments — not
duties. The recruiter's goal is to decide whether to pursue screening you in
phone interviews, then in-person interviews.
In-house versus consultant
recruiters
Your job search will be smoother if you realize that there are
different types of recruiters.
Phil Preston, senior vice president,
Comforce Corp., a $500 million public staffing and consulting company
headquartered in Woodbury, NY, says that while both in-house and consulting
recruiters succeed in their jobs by placing good candidates, they tend to be
motivated by different things. Consulting recruiters (people who work outside
the employer’s company) tend to be motivated by the commissions they receive for
placing people in jobs; in-house recruiters are judged not only on their
productivity but also on the quality of people they hire. Another difference:
Third-party recruiters represent their own interests; in-house recruiters
represent employers.
"From an in-house standpoint, recruiters are
looking to screen out people to get to the best of the best. They're the ones
who will ask the questions that don't seem to pertain [to the job] to get a peek
at who you are and how you handle things," Preston says. "Contract recruiters …
are going to throw you soft, easy stuff because they want to prepare you for the
interview. They don't necessarily want to rule you out. This starts early in the
process: the in-house tries to screen you out while the consultant will try to
qualify you."
Preston says that consultant recruiters might be more than
willing to pre-educate you about a job and company and you should consider
taking advantage of the opportunity by asking questions.
Using the
process to your advantage
According to Dr. Heasley, if you understand how
and why recruiters operate the way they do, you will be better prepared for the
hiring process. "They know to research the position and incorporate key words
high up in the resume or application. They know that they should not necessarily
talk too freely with an in-house recruiter because that person represents the
employer. In other words, they avoid the pitfalls that unknowing candidate's
fall right into," he says.
About MedZilla.com
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professionals and employers in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, science
and healthcare. MedZilla databases contain about 10,000 open positions, 13,000
resumes from candidates actively seeking new positions and 71,000 archived
resumes.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/3/prweb112176.htm