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Category: Career Advancement

Introducing Practice Video Interviews!

Introducing Practice Video Interviews!

Job Seekers, do you want to ace your next job interview?

Take a practice video interview now. Watch how you did, share with friends, get feedback or request coaching for interview experts at EasyHire.me.

We’ll help you make sure you’re ready for your next interview.

4 Ways to Increase Candidate Engagement in Higher Ed

4 Ways to Increase Candidate Engagement in Higher Ed

Don’t miss out on a Nobel because of bad process

Higher education institutes have always grappled with long hiring processes. Of course we’d like it to be faster, but we also recognize the search process as inherently longer because of the nature of the position. Each search is conducted with careful consideration and the hope that taking time to make the right decisions is mutually beneficial for new hires and the institutions. That said, it’s difficult to maintain candidate engagement throughout lengthy decisions. Here’s a few ways to cut down on the “black hole” effect. Don’t lose your hires because of bad processes because you’ll be kicking yourself if you lose a candidate and see them winning a Nobel prize at another school a decade down the road.

 

1. Be thoughtful when building an application process.

Ensure your application process is flexible and includes only the information necessary to make a decision. Too much information required upfront can discourage some of the best candidates from applying. For example, references are often not required during the initial round of review. Requesting more information from candidates who are qualified later in the process will keep them engaged if they see your process as logically sequenced and relevant. Essentially, don’t push away smart candidates with dumb process setting.

 

2. Manage Expectations!

Be upfront with your candidates about the timeframe. You may have a period of when applications are accepted before anyone at all gets reviewed. You may have expected delays such as breaks or other known periods where the hiring team will be busy or unavailable. Look at your calendar, assess, and establish a realistic timeframe for your candidates by attaching dates (or date ranges) to each application step and review.

 

3. Communication is your friend!

According to a recent hiring survey conducted by Robert Half, “when faced with a lengthy hiring process, 39 percent of survey respondents lose interest and pursue other roles, while 18 percent decide to stay put in their current job.”

Use your institutions marketing software or the thousands of free or paid tools you can find on the internet to set up an email sequence. Letting candidates know you are still interested in them as well as providing more details about your Institution and community to keep them engaged. In the final rounds or if it comes down to the candidate choosing your institution rather than you choosing them, hosting events and tours can be another great way of keeping candidates engaged.

 

4. Have a personal touch

Sending updates via personal secured video messages are easy and cost effective – sometimes free! Vidyard Go Video for example is sleek and simple way to communicate with candidates or employees via a personalised video.

Simply record a quick video that personal and effective. This tool also tracks when candidates or employees actually watch the video and how many times viewed.

 

Check out EasyHire.me – by far the best platform for integrating video interviewing, live or recorded, into your hiring process for faster acquisition times and consistently higher quality candidates.

 

Jeremy Hoffman
Vice President, Sales
EasyHire

Human Resources Today


Scaling Fast? 3 Questions HR Can’t Afford to Forget

Scaling Fast? 3 Questions HR Can’t Afford to Forget

Don’t forget the essentials – especially in times of fast-and-furious growth

Job interviews can be a jarring, if not a downright anxiety-provoking event for many, especially when it’s not for a mere ‘job,’ but for the brave next step in a candidate’s career. Depending on the position, interviews can be high stakes for candidates and hiring managers alike. With recruiting agencies, advertisements, time spent on training, cost of low productivity, possible upfront moving costs and even hiring bonuses, the wrong decision on a hire can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Unstructured interviews with a lack of consistent questions can sometimes have HR and hiring managers forgetting the most basic questions:

 

-Can you do the work?

-Will you like the position and bring your best in every day?

-Will you fit in with the company?

 

These are, of course, the very basics. There are thousands of articles and blogs containing the words: “Top Interview Questions” and most questions do assess one of these things. However, companies of every size need to be cognizant that gaps can start growing if they lack quality HR processes. Make sure to having screening tools, consistent interview techniques, and collaboration processes. For example, an enthusiastic ‘thumbs up’ from the department head should not be the ultimate decider in the hiring of a candidate.

Finally, I’d be an irresponsible blogger if I didn’t mention EasyHire. Which, by total coincidence has sponsored this blog space (too weird!) This software is used by HR departments and staffing professionals to screen large pools of candidates with intuitive video interviewing technology. 

 

One last thing: for job seekers reading this, I think these questions are just as valuable. If you don’t know the answers to these questions with regards to companies you’ve applied for, maybe you should find out!

 

The EasyHire Team

Human Resources Today

How Well Do Your Candidates Interview?

How Well Do Your Candidates Interview?

Video Interview

 

Grill candidates with video interview prep to cool their nerves and increase confidence on game day 

 

Whether you’re working in a search firm setting or a corporate environment as a contract recruiter, think for a moment how much of your time you spend sourcing, screening, and recruiting candidates. A lot. Now think: how much time do you spend preparing your candidates for actual interviews?

Before in-person interviews are scheduled between the candidates you’ve recruited and the companies you represent, it goes without saying you’ve already done a whole lot of work developing the matches, the “good fits.” However, understanding the role and its context within the company and confirming a genuine candidate is great due diligence, but is it enough?

Question for you: “How well do your candidates interview?” If you don’t know, you need this article.

Preparing candidates for real-life interviewing is critical to your success. Using a video interview platform allows candidates to comfortably practice on their own time and gives you the opportunity to review and provide feedback where needed.

 

1: Record, Review, Refine…

 

In the few days, hours, and minutes leading up to the interview, everyone gets nervous. No matter how much coaching you provide, it’s simply how we’re wired. Video interviews can help simulate some of the same pressure felt in in-person interview. Additionally, get used to curveballs. Prepare candidates for questions they may not have thought of candidate can be asked questions they might not expect. Being able to practice this scenario over and over will create flexibility in candidates’ responses.

 

2: “Why do you want to work here?”

 

The well-prepared candidate should know the company he or she is interviewing for better than their own resume. If candidates don’t prepare for this question, it will  not only be obvious, it may be a dealbreaker for their candidacy. Asking this question and reviewing it in a recorded video interview will help your candidate avoid the longest most awkward silence ever.

 

3. Ready, Set…

 

Video interviewing platforms such as Easyhire can simulate the challenging interview environments by prompting candidates with similar questions in a live or pre-recorded scenario. Alongside timed assessment, multiple-choice, extended text, including coding / whiteboarding windows, written response, and others, you can be more confident in your rockstar candidates on their big day.

 

4. Go with confidence!

 

Even with years of experience and qualifications a candidate may have, don’t take chances and assume your candidates will do great until you’ve seen it with your own eyes. Some may be ready to go off the bat. However, many candidates may have been out of the market for a while or are entering a new industry. With new technology, preparing candidates with video interviews may be innovative to some, but it’s really just common sense.

 

-Jeremy Hoffman

VP Business Development

EasyHire

 

Human Resources Today

Impact of negative feedback

Impact of negative feedback

Negative feedback is defined as any input or comments provided as a result of and adverse outcome in job performance. This form of feedback is most often used to improve performance but can very easily backfire on a manager.  Often negative feedback is given with a position of authority and superiority which is a large blind spot and one of the largest contributors to managers being rated poorly and having low productivity and poor retention.

According to a study by Joseph Rosse and Howard Miller the best approach to negative feedback is to approach employees from their level with an attitude of problem-solving. Too often the result of negative feedback is counterproductive behavior such as retaliation, exits, or general neglect going forward.

Another hurdle to face with negative feedback is the associated with the impact of the negative feedback bias. This theory states that even though people might receive several doses of positive feedback they will always place more emphasis and more importance on negative feedback given even if a performance review is overwhelmingly positive. Psychologists say that negative thoughts take more neurons to process and thus naturally consume a larger part of our thoughts.

Alton Simmons is a good example of providing negative feedback in the form of a traffic ticket. Alton has 0 complaints from citizens reported to the department. Over the last 20 years after more than 25,000 traffic stops this officer has received 0 complaints.

Alton says he never looks at himself as a position of authority. He simply sees their behavior as a temporary problem and tries to help them solve it with a good attitude.  As one driver stated “I’ve never been so happy to get a speeding ticket in all my life. This was the best part of my day so far!”.

Influence of positive feedback

Influence of positive feedback

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Can you think of a time when some good timely feedback made the difference in your career? Can you remember a few times when feedback steered you in the right direction and improved your performance, but was delivered with the precision of a sledge hammer. Not only did it damage your relationship with your  manager it affected your confidence when dealing with customers. It’s not that you didn’t appreciate the feedback but it was not delivered strategically.

Many times performance feedback is not given at all and we tend to find out about it when a project fails or a customer or employees leaves or when we lose a big deal. There are clear strategies to provide feedback in a precise timely strategic manner that will both engage and develop the employee and not make them ashamed or embarrassed causing disengagement.

Positive Feedback

Great managers give regular feedback as part of their daily work. Great managers know which type of feedback to give according to the individual and the situation. One method for providing feedback is positive feedback. When someone is given positive feedback from a great performance they are more likely to repeat that behavior again and again. Positive feedback:

  1.       Indicates what aspects of your performance is most important.
  2.       Gives employees and sense of control and achievement.
  3.       Helps employees set future performance goals.
  4.        Supercharges engagement and learning

Expectations

Richard Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobsen conducted an experiment in an elementary school in the 1960’s. They gave students a mick IQ test and chose students at random and gave them the following feedback. They identified a random group and labeled them as intellectual bloomers. This group who was randomly selected proved to constantly score higher on future exams. This is known as the Pygmalion Effect.  This theory states that positive expectations are directly related to positive performance outcomes. Positive expectations need to be provided to both over performing, average and underperforming employees as well. Positive employees produce positive results.

How to perform well In a video interview

How to perform well In a video interview

Over the last decade, our lives have changed considerably, as new technology is constantly being implemented. Modern technology is changing the world we live in: our work, education, daily activities, and now, the recruitment process. Over the years, video calls have become more reliable and ubiquitous than ever and it has become part of our everyday life.

video-confrence
Video interviews are gaining widespread acceptance in corporate recruiting process. Currently, numerous companies are developing platforms to conduct video interviews in order to recruit potential candidates. These new platforms are exceptionally convenient, allowing them to evaluate each candidate without taking the time to meet them face-to-face.

A video interview works the same way as a face-to-face interview; the interviewer asks a series of questions to the candidate and evaluates them based on their knowledge and how they present themselves. The latter can get quite nerve-racking, as many of us might feel uncomfortable and uneasy talking to someone unfamiliar and trying to convince them why they’re the best for the job. However, instead of struggling and avoiding video interviews altogether, we have devised a few tips on how to overcome your fear and impress the employer.

  • Practice

    As a famous author once said, “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice reduces the imperfection.” Before a video interview, practice answering potential questions and general questions about yourself. Try speaking in front of a mirror to further improve your facial expressions; this will definitely carry on to the interview, as you will feel confident in what you are saying.

  • Dress professionall

     When choosing your attire, it is essential that you dress appropriately. By dressing professionally, you convey a great impression to the interviewer and let them know that you are serious for the position. Additionally, dress in light colors against a dark background and dark colors against a light background. Plan ahead and keep your clothes ready for the interview well in advance. Remember, “You cannot climb the ladder of success dressed in a costume of failure.”

  • Be confident

    In a video interview, it is necessary to exhibit yourself as someone who is confident of themselves and in what they do. In order to accomplish this, look directly at the camera and not at the screen. By looking directly at the interviewer, whatever you say will be more effective and will be taken more seriously. Nod and smile to further show your interest in the interview. Additionally, verbalize and articulate your words clearly and loudly so that you can express all of your thoughts and ideas.

  • Create a list of questions to ask the interviewer

    After the interviewer evaluates you and asks all the questions necessary, you are typically given the opportunity to ask some questions of your own. Having this in mind, create a list of questions beforehand to ask the interviewer. For example, you can ask about the management style of the company, the prospects for growth, or aspects of the company culture.

Clearly, video interviews are becoming the new norm in the recruitment process. It is to your advantage that you adapt to the modern times sooner – embrace video interviews and take the upper hand in the competitive job market.

Preparing for Your Interview

Preparing for Your Interview

Preparing for an interview can be a nerve-wracking experience. Follow these steps to ensure you are ready when you step into that room.

  1. Research the Company – Nothing sends an interview into a downward spiral like a candidate not having any background information on the hiring company. Looking through the company’s website and social media can reveal a lot about what they do and how they function.
  1. List Keywords – Create a list of keywords you would like to remember. Whether they are about your work experience, the industry, or why you should be hired, writing these words down and having context around them will help you remember them during the interview.
  1. Get Sleep – Make sure you get a good night’s sleep the night before your interview. Being well rested will allow you to be more alert and on top of your game when answering questions and interacting with the hiring managers.
  1. Have an Outfit Ready – Do not spend your morning worrying about what to wear. Have the outfit already picked out and set aside. This will also prevent last minute emergencies of finding stains or tears on clothes.
  1. Eat Breakfast – Going into an interview on an empty stomach can throw you off. You will not be as alert or focused as having had a healthy, filling breakfast beforehand.
  1. Decide on Questions – Know the questions you will ask your interviewers ahead of time. Pick questions based on your research of the company or from the job description. Having questions prepared shows your interest and professionalism.
  1. Breathe – It’s natural to get anxious before an interview. Many people get a little flustered, sweaty, shaky, or red. To help calm your nerves, don’t forget to breathe. Take a couple deep breaths as you walk in, smile, and get ready to shine!