Why Employers Hate Hiring.

if you're an employer who loves hiring or is indifferent toward it at most, but doesn't really hate hiring yet & you've come to my post huffing & puffing, thinking.."I don't hate hiring, what the heck is this article about?" do still stay on to read my full post, you may not necessarily end up hating recruiting but my jokes might end up amusing you & doing the very opposite probably, leaving you a little refreshed & rejuvenated toward the whole hiring process but it is primarily aimed at the junta who hates hiring from Step 1 till joining day formalities. :)

Ok so for the rest of you, who're thinking, ''Why DO I hate Hiring?", "Why do I always approach this whole getting new employees thing with the fear & trepidation one reserves for the movie theater when going for a Horror movie?" Oh why o why can't it be light & breezy & only slightly irritating like watching Hannah Montana film? Ok I haven't watched Hannah Montana, so I won't further dissect it.

So lets go through the Hiring House of Horrors now, shall we? Buckle up.

1> Don't go there, its the House of Horrors!! Lets try dashing cars!!:

So you're having a tough time even deciding if you want to go there. "Why do we need a new employee? We have 6 in that team & they're doing a fabulous job. So what if one of them quit last month, we still have 5!! Haven't you heard of Lean teams?"

The classic Who moved my Employee state of denial. :)

2> Ok FINE. Lets get on that ride. But, I just ate, so...

 Finally you've come around to the constant pestering of the guys from THAT department which always has attrition (God knows why they can't hold on to their people!!) & you've decided you will go sit in that buggy after all, & it will take you for a lovely tour of the HHOH. [Hiring House of Horrors, catch up pls]. Now you may have already allocated 99.99% of the yearly Hiring budget to Marketing & Sales (ahem) & the figures don't add up & new approvals will be needed to even think of bringing a new employee onboard, which brings up your barf sensitivities right to the top. Get new approvals from the BOSS? Ugh..feel sick. 

Denial was SOOO much better. Ugh, Ugh, UGH.

3> Me, Scared?

So you're just entering the tunnel into the HHOH, & well NO ONE keeps the good stuff right at the beginning do they? And by good, I mean scary. So you're feeling a little smug sitting pretty in your little chair, how you could feature as the Hero in any daytime Horror soap & how in your mind you've already closed this position when BAM! Your higher up conveys, you have a hiring budget that would shame the guy applying for it to rethink why he even bothered investing any money into his fancy MBA course. You almost fell out the Buggy, didn't ya? 

My Boss definitely has a Sense of Humour, err Horror.

4> I am the Bruce Willis of Horror Movies.

So, you're the Bruce Willis of horror movies, & you shall go on further in. With a gun in your hand & yes, no one to watch your back. When you realise, "Dang, Am I by myself?!?! I thought there were 4 people in this Buggy!! Whatever man. Bruce Willis doesn't need backup, yo!" Except you're not Bruce Willis & you do need back up, yo. So your so called Talent Acquisition team has ditched your sorry ass even before you got on this mandate. Or was I imagining the team? Ugh.

Ugh times four. One for each one of my team members who ditched me.

5> Foyer ends. Enter the LIVING ROOM. 

Oh you thought you're almost out to the other end? You hadn't even entered! Cmon...that's like HHOH 101. Ok so you made the job descriptions, reached out to some candidates, flipped through job portals, & its the SSDD. [Same shit Different Day]. No one RELEVANT has replied to your job posts & now your inbox is full of irrelevant cvs. Suddenly, the biggest, bloodiest zombie you could ever imagine almost falls on you, giving you an almost cardiac arrest. The Training department has decided to have 3 days of Soft skills training bang in the middle of the month. And you were supposed to close this position before the week ended. As you heartbeat returns to normal (& you suspect it won't be normal for a long time), you start thinking about juggling the laws of time travel & if indeed you could be in two places at the same time...Hmmm..if they think I can close this position in 5 days, miracles CAN happen, no?

Back to the Future, could happen.

6> Carnage time:

So turns out, you DO have to attend the training, all 3 days worth. And just to add salt to your wounds, they make you sit with your team that ditched you in the first place. Heh, you will be friends for these 3 days now, cmon. So the ordeal over, you return to your desk after these 3 days, & instead of seeing cvs you see emails from your Training Head, asking you to collate your team's post training feedback & have it at his/her desk by/before 9 am the next day as he needs to show it to your BOSS. That leaves you with ONE day to source, interview & close the position.

Positive affirmation: Rome WAS built in a day.

7> HHOHH. The extra H=Hangover.

Say it with me, Hiring House of Horrors Hangover. 
Hiring-House-of-Horrors-Hangover. Hiring-House-of-Horrors-Hangover. Hiring-House-of-Horrors-Hangover. Hiring-House-of-Horrors-Hangover. We're on the last leg of the journey now, final day of reckoning. There is a fantastic way out. Sick leave. After all, you DO have a hangover.

New Opening in the HR Department? :P Just kidding. They wouldn't last a day without you.

Happy Hiring!

Neha Asthana
Email: neha.asthana@hr-interface.com

Most Common Reasons for Interview Rejection & How to Avoid Them

Write today to us to enquire on:

careerservices@hr-interface.com

Interview Pitfalls: Are you prepared?

Many companies have begun planning their Recruiting budgets & huge manpower requirements are out this year owing to the near non existent hiring last few years. Thinking of changing your job?

Now..
■ How does your cv look? Is it professional? Clean? Cluttered? Ancient?! Well Written..? Highlighting your best aspects & expertise? Is it relevant to the job you are interviewing for? Or are you just following a basic template everyone follows?
In this unpredictable sea of Monsters & Pirates & Gold & Treasure, where will you sail? How will you sail? Because only skill & experience will help you steer clear of Icebergs & sail smoothly away to beautiful destinations.
Let us look at some common problems & important questions, one should not avoid being ready for, in an interview.

■  At HR Interface Corporate Services, we prepare more than 200-250 people per week for interviews, consult them on repairing their cvs, managing job jumps, sabbaticals, breaks, industry changes, helping them project their personalities & profiles in the right light, answering these questions & more with elan & perfection. 

■  We believe the best interview is a smooth interview where the employer feels the positive impact you make on the room & on your resumé. It is questions answered proactively BEFORE they're asked & answered with relevance & proper context AFTER they are asked.

■  We help you work out problems as only we can, after having conducted over 30,000+ interviews across all industries & all levels.

Pre Interview Grooming Services By Us Include:
■ Helping you work out Career Transitions
■ Handling Job Jumps
■ Industry / Functional Area Changes
■ Career Scripting & Planning - Long term
■ Salary Negotiation Tips
■ Whether or not to apply for a Particular Job or industry
■ Aligning Your cv & Your Jobs Perfectly
■ Repairing of Cvs Spoilt by sporadic jumps & bad decisions by consulting you on your next move
■ Cv writing
■ From Graduate/PG Freshers to CEO/CFO/CXO Level pre interview grooming services personally by us.

Also, To give you a very good idea of why you should come to us for Pre Interview Grooming [pls write to interviewgrooming.hrinterface@gmail.com to know our offerings & charges] Pls read this article, the link to which I have mentioned below that I wrote not a very long time ago.
It will bring to the table the many, many unidentified errors/issues/disconnects lurking in your cv, in your interview & more so follow you through all interviews you give. I help you up your chances of success, by helping you polish your cv, your interview experience & your career view overall.
Pls find the blog post on
Regards,

■ Are you thoroughly prepared to give (successful) interviews?

■ Have you got disastrous job jumps & gaps on your cv that you do not know how to handle or express?

■ Unsure of whether you should move from your current company?

■ Don't know how to return to work after a long sabbatical?

■ Confused about what academic courses you should do to complement your work?

■ Do some interview questions leave you stumped & speechless?

■ Have you planned your next 5 years, work wise?

■ Do you randomly job hop? Taking up a job opening that randomly comes to you? 

■ Could you have ignored a winning job opportunity just because you didn't plan your career well?

 ....& about a thousand other questions.

The Interview process is one which needs to be approached with a method that is almost scientific, logical, methodical with a wee bit of Human Intuition / Intervention thrown in for good measure. The process has evolved, & so have Interviewers, along with the parameters which decide your selection, factors influencing Likeability, Job-worthiness, evolving skillsets, desirability of certain backgrounds as also ofcourse..the rejection parameters! What was seen as acceptable yesterday, may be unacceptable today, One company might see your blogging habit as a threat to company confidentiality, another might see it as a must have attribute. Some jobs prefer men, some prefer women, some have age limitations, Some don't prefer hiring freshers, while another hires freshers only!

1> Tell us about yourself.
2> Why have you decided to interview for a job at our company? 
3> Why do you want to quit your current company?
4> Why did you quit your last 2 employers?
5> Is bad health an issue?
6> Why were you on a Sabbatical?
7> Are you persuing any education at the moment?
8> Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
9> You have worked in a different industry that ours, how do you expect to fit in?
10> What if you don't get this job?
11> What does your routine day look like?
12> What do you do on weekends?
13> What was the last challenging problem you faced at your current employer's place & how did you handle it?
14> How do you fit into the role you are interviewing for?
15> Would you work for your ex-employer again? If no, why?
16> Would your ex-employer hire you again? If no, why?
17> Having a family business, why do you want to work elsewhere?
18> Do you have plans to marry/have kids in the near future?
19> Where else have you applied for interviews?
20> Why did you leave your last employer without a job in hand?
21> Why have you changed your industry?
22> Why did you do that particular course?
23> Are you open to working abroad? 
24> Are you open to travelling?
25> Are you open to working weekends?
26> What are your hobbies?
27> Do you like to travel?
28> Do you like reading? What was the last book you read? What did you think of it?
29> Who is our Founder? When were we founded?
30> What latest news about us have you read?
31> Name 3 aspects of yourself you'd like work on.
32> Do you have any further study plans?
33> What are some brands in our industry that you admire?
34> If you were sitting in my chair, what question would you ask yourself as an interviewer to an interviewee?
35> What was the last movie you watched?
36> What is your favourite movie/book?

...& many more questions unique to each person's cv, experience, background & current situation.

■ Personal Etiquette & Grooming
■ Pre Interview Preparation & Mock Interviews for full prep.

Checklist for Giving a Great Interview here: http://recruitment-mantras.blogspot.in/2013/10/checklist-for-giving-great-interview.html & WRITE To us Today to avail of our services & book an interview preparation / Cv correction / Career Consultation session today by writing to us on:
interviewgrooming.hrinterface@gmail.com


HR Interface Corporate Services

The Networker's Guide to the Linkedin Treasure Chest.

So, let me start off by saying first whoever created the funny LinkedIn meme LinkedIn : Connect with people for no reason at all definitely was never on Linkedin.. 

Try something like.."For Selfies you have Instagram, for Unproductivity you have Facebook. For anything productive, there's Linkedin." based on the ever funny Mastercard commercials. or ANYTHING ELSE. Literally. But connecting for no reason? That's funny, but in an 'You're so ignorant' manner. :)

So Linkedin. Why do I love thee? Let me quickly count the ways...

1> Targeted Networking:

Linkedin has a Search feature which allows you to enter search parameters that help you connect to targeted pools of people, which may be relevant to your search. And of course, paid accounts have an ever increasing number of parameters depending on your urgency for such connnects which have an even deeper filtration. This can further be narrowed to geography, company, industry, degree, schools, company size, seniority level, looking for, etc etc. Go ahead, use as many as you require to make your search more specific & relevant!

2> Recommendations:

No, no. Not the endorsements tab [God knows why its even there], which almost just about anyone has thousands of, as random people click away everyday as it pops up on their linkedin screen. But the actual written recommendations. Although I have seen rare instances where people ask their friends & close contacts to recommend them [I funnily get recommendation requests from people I have never even worked with a day in my life, guess they don't know how it works, huh?], one can judge a particular person's work by seeing who else has recommended them, if these recommendations have Ex Bosses, Reporting Managers, Satisfied Clients, etc more or less that person is Linkedin add-worthy. So the ardent networker may choose wisely!

3> Its Where The Cool Kids Are At:

So, thanks to its every growing popularity, Almost everyone who cares about their Work / Career / Business is on Linkedin already. So that increases your chances of wanting to add someone & getting to add that someone, since in all probability, they're already on the site. Honestly! A long time ago, I used job sites / job boards at one point in time to connect with candidates. But because of the telling nature of those sites [Read: If you're on a job site, then you must be looking for a job!] many people choose not to be on job sites at all. But Linkedin is more of a must have, given it is a business network where you get to connect with your co-workers, clients, target market all at the same time & showcase how good you are [via Recommendations] without the bias of being a ''Jobseeker'' tag.

4> Global & Local Networks:

At any given point in time, if I wanted, I could be able to connect with the Director of a Native Tribal Health Consortium in Anchorage, Alaska or I could connect with a Legal Manager specializing in Criminal Law in Goregaon, Mumbai, India! Given its insane growth over the last decade, Linkedin has deeply entrenched itself, & in both Local & Global networks. So if you're an Aspiring Entrepreneur, A Global Company or a Travel Happy Jobseeker, you all would benefit from the many ways in which you can connect with Linkedin to just about anybody [with purpose, please :)] who may be 20 blocks, 20 miles or 20 flight hours away! I myself find it extremely easy to connect with just about anybody I want [I currently have 25,000+ connections] It isn't rocket science you know. :)

And please! Complete your Linkedin profile, have a decent picture people can identify you by, request recommendations from people you have worked with, & check your LinkedIn email atleast once a day!

Happy Networking!

Regards,

Neha Asthana

Wrong Senior Level Hires, A reflection on the hiring process.

What comprises best hires in Leadership positions? When do things go wrong? Can there be a permanent assurance for the best/most effective kind of Senior leadership hiring?

Times of India published an article this weekend that caught my eye, my two cents on the same.

In my years of hiring for Senior Level Leadership positions, there have been times I have wondered how that particular hire’s first day..rather first week might have been. I have a habit of getting so deeply entrenched in the hiring process, right from the time the mandate (hiring request) is sent to me by the client till my selected candidate joins the company, I find it hard to disconnect even a little after the individual has joined the client’s teams! :)
So in effect I always wonder/imagine how this employee’s first few days/weeks/months really are.

Anyway. The first week (leave alone the first month), for a Senior Level Hire is never the famous or infamous ‘Honeymoon period’ as corporate cats like to call it. As you go higher, the time in which a Senior Leadership Executive is supposed to Hit the ground running gets lesser & lesser, as the organizational  ecosystem is heavily, heavily dependent on its top line. And this pyramid cannot function without its tippy top. 

Imagine, with this short a gestation period, an even more impatient bottom-line, time running out even before the incumbent has joined the company, what is he/she happens to be a wrong hire from the start? The image of an organizational equivalent of a Hiroshima/Nagasaki blaze in my mind, as I imagine the chaos. 

Ofcourse I have seen & heard of far more realistic versions of this chaos in the industry in the last decade, from clients, HR Reps, CEOs/COOs lamenting on how a wrong hire can range from being mildly annoying (in very strong, top heavy setups where someone is always there to take over & do damage control) to being a disastrous domino effect where an entire line of top performers quit owing to a wrong, wrong, wrong Senior Leadership hire.

So, what goes wrong? I hear a million voices answer that question echoing from the hallowed wood paneled cabins of those company stakeholders/owners/promoters to the cubicles of Human Resources/Operations teams who report into these mishires (like misfire? :) heh). Ok that’s not a word, but you know what I mean.

From force-feeding management styles from their previous workplaces, down everyone’s throats at the new company, to over or under estimating how much trouble the current situation at the new company is in, not taking enough help/assistance to over relying on immediate reportees to not understanding policies & procedures or whatever, & about a zillion more things.

Now, while this all could be true AFTER joining, what are some fatal hiring flaws made WHILE hiring or BEFORE the person in question joins in?

1> Need over Deed?: Time constraints unfortunately play havoc more times than any, when the company need in short time for a new hire far surpasses...ok, ok, slightly discounts the deeds or performance background or even simply the skill set fitment of a particular hire. Ofcourse there are prerequisites in place that have to be met with even before a person is shortlisted, but aside from years old & sometimes shoddy barely there outlines of a job description, depending on company to company, even a job skills outline can be defective or ill written/constructed. And adding to that the ticking time bomb of a deadline can severely mar the quality of a good hire. Time Constraints + Shoddy Job descriptions = Faulty/Compromised Hires. So although in cases when there just isn’t time, its best to work with larger recruitment teams, outsource this hiring to discreet Executive level search consultants or simply make do with off loading these responsibilities to tier-II teams until a suitable replacement is found.

    2> The Halo Effect/Biased Hiring: Many a times, top management in companies, based on succession hiring, select their own protégés or someone from outside the company but from inside the industry, who they deem to be great fits, which has generally been touted as a great & reliable practice, but in essence, any kind of hiring that involves a bias, or a halo effect as recruiters call it, has the potential to backfire. I never sit for an interview thinking this candidate I’m interviewing is a definite select or even think that somewhere midway in the interview. I keep both options open, so my biases don’t get the better of me, & I make a hiring decision after the candidate has left my office, not before. It helps in this scenario to atleast have a 2 people interviewing panel if not 3 or more, so alternate impressions can be sought to arrive at a much more wholesome median which reflects a better hiring decision.

    3> Wrong shoe, wrong foot:

There are times, especially recent times, where I’ve witnessed cross functional hiring happening, where incumbents from a different background are chosen for jobs of a different background. For eg. Marketing savants are hired for Operations jobs, Operations guys are chosen for HR, HR Generalists are chosen for out & out Training openings, etc etc. Although if a person displays the inclination & technical aptitude for a line of work that isn’t his/her own, there are chances that they may excel..maybe? But I woudn’t necessarily make it a thumb rule. Far from it. So if you’re feeling adventurous, dabble in stocks or go sky diving, but try not to bring a newbie to handle large responsibilities of a totally or even slightly new area for them in your company. There's good reason why tried & tested hold true at critical times, especially.

    4> Compensation Conundrums & Job Roles – Expectation v/s Reality :

Many a senior level professionals have called me within a month of joining a new dig, looking to quit because of compensation related problems or complaining that the job role offered isn’t even half of what was promised/expected of them. So what goes wrong here? HR has been held in contempt for centuries [I’m sure Caesar’s HR Manager was hated by the entire Roman army, & don’t even get me started on Cave man HR politics] for fudging/obscuring/not giving enough clarity on salary break ups to under pressure candidates on the threshold of joining a new company & wanting clarity on their offer letters. This is mostly where salary related issues come to the forefront, or possibly another factor is an alternate employer throwing more money at the same candidate who joined for much less at the previous company, & now wish to jump off a bridge. Salary expectations aside, surprisingly more than even money, senior level professionals look to quit jobs based on roles they have a problem with! I recently spoke to a senior level professional who after working for almost a decade at one of India’s biggest MNC’s joined a new company, where the job role was not even 10% of what he was doing at his previous employer’s company. Obviously, stability doesn’t matter to him at the moment, & he’s all for quitting this role for a much meatier role (money is not an issue he said), but role is very important. There you go. So ensure monetary mayhem is transformed to Sentient Salaries & Job descriptions are neither inflated nor underplayed. Transparency is your friend.

So, while CXO Inc India battles with a horde of problems everyday, never has the need for a perfect hire been more important in decades, that it is now. Can’t ride into battle with a Vice President who’s from a Toy Factory, now, can you? :)

With Best Hiring Regards,

Neha Asthana

CEO

HR Interface Corporate Services

Mumbai | India