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      in Talent Acquisition

      5 Tips for Managers to Maximize Interviews and Secure the Best Talent 

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      Businesses are currently battling a candidate-driven jobs market when searching for talent. There are more jobs than job seekers, so it’s more important than ever for managers and HR professionals to ensure they’re maximizing interviews to secure the best talent.  And with unemployment rates lowering to 3.7% in Q1 2022, the lowest rate since 1974, but a recession on the horizon now, is the time for businesses to ensure they’re streamlining their hiring processes to ensure they secure the best talent going into unfavorable economic conditions. Below, we outline five top tips for businesses to make the most out of the hiring process.
      1. Don’t get stuck on the must-haves
      It is highly unlikely jobseekers will have every skill and level of experience desired for a job role, so it’s important to remain flexible when reviewing candidates. Having two different lists of candidate requirements on the job advert, one for ‘essential skills’ and another for ‘desirable skills’, ensures the best talent isn’t intimidated out of applying due to a lengthy job requirement list where they may not meet every criterion. It’s important to remember although a professional may not have the level of experience desired, their key skills may be useful within their role and will allow them to be trained to the level required – so keep an open mind.
      2. Take time to prepare
      As much as the candidate needs to prepare for an interview, it’s also important when hiring to go into the conversation with all the facts. Ensure before the interview you have reviewed the candidate’s CV and any other documentation they may have provided to get a well-rounded view of their experience before you meet them in person. It’s also a good idea to look at their LinkedIn profile to see if they have been active in any recent discussions that you may wish to bring up in the interview. This will allow you to really get a feel for their personality and how they will integrate into the culture of your business.
      3. Plan out the interview
      It’s a good idea to plan questions prior to the interview. This ensures the right questions are being asked, allowing you to find out everything essential you need to know about the candidate. To make things fair, it’s important you use the same questions for each person you interview.
      Additionally, planning the interview in advance will help get the information you need quickly, saving time and resources, and reducing the need for second interviews and follow-up calls. Being as efficient as possible and cutting out unnecessary stages in the recruitment process can be a make or break when securing talent in the current market. It’s also important to factor in a relevant task that a professional may be required to complete to ensure the interview process gets a well-rounded view of the candidate and their suitability for the role – this may need to be done at a second interview, and similarly to the questions, to keep things fair the same task should be given to all candidates. Also, think about your interview panel – having a diverse panel can help to ensure you are limiting unconscious biases from the process.
      4. Allow time for questions
      Once you’ve asked all the questions you want to be answered, it may feel as though the interview is now complete. However, not allowing the interviewee to ask questions can mean essential pieces of information slip through the cracks. Not only will the questions asked by the interviewee give you a feel for their level of interest in the role and business, but it will also allow you to gain an understanding from the candidate’s point of view, meaning you can streamline your hiring process by providing the correct information and asking the right questions in the future.
      5. Don’t hang around
      Because of the candidate-driven market, it’s important to act quickly if you are interested in a candidate! While you need to take the time and consider if someone is the best match for your business, as the market is moving so quickly, talent is being snapped up fast, so consider if there are ways your hiring process can be streamlined to reduce the time taken to offer a job. If you’re taking the time to discuss a potential hire with every member of your team, the candidate may have already taken another offer, so always communicate your interest in a timely fashion. This could involve setting a transparent timeframe that you will give the candidate feedback, as this may make them more likely to wait before accepting another offer.
      By Claire Harvey, Managing Director of UK Network, Reed.
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      in Employer

      How the Automotive Technology Space Is Attracting New Talent

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      Big changes in the automotive technology space have inspired a renewed focus on attracting tech talent and workplace diversity for this company’s employer brand leadership.
      That focus is just one of the creative challenges Joanna Babiarz faces as Aptiv’s Global Employer Branding Director.
      Your Candidate Messaging Should Evolve with Your Industry
      Recent and rapid tech innovation is rendering certain skill groups obsolete while placing others in high demand. This is especially true of the automotive industry, which now courts very different talent pools than it did a decade ago, according to Babiarz.
      At first, Aptiv’s employer brand messaging wasn’t focused on tech. However, after clocking the industry shift toward being a tech-centric space, Babiarz and her team reshaped their candidate messaging to grab the attention of tech talent and position Aptiv as a competitive employer to this sought-after demographic. Today, roughly one-third of Aptiv’s engineers are software developers and ship over 40 billion lines of code each day.
      To Achieve Workplace Diversity, Start Early
      Refurbishing your employer brand is an ideal time to ensure your messaging reflects your values. During a recent rebrand, Babiarz and her team realized they had an opportunity to disrupt an automotive industry trend with Aptiv’s employer branding: its male-dominated workforce.
      Aptiv employs a diverse team of workers from many backgrounds, but like most other companies in the space, it still struggles to reach women and other demographics underrepresented in STEM. “We are trying to change this ratio. We are trying to show that this space is a fantastic opportunity for growth for anyone, regardless of gender or ethnicity,” Babiarz says.
      What Candidates Really Want
      Today’s candidates don’t just want to collect a paycheck; they want their work to hold meaning. Babiarz observed this when talking to Aptiv employees who’ve stayed at the company for five years or more, as well as those who returned after leaving for a different job.
      She noticed a theme among employee responses: “They have a purpose here. It’s not that they’re working on another software app; they’re helping save lives and mitigate the risks of accidents. They offer solutions that reduce emissions.”
      No matter the nature and scale of the shifts occurring in your industry, Babiarz’s advice to employer brand leaders is the same: Ask your employees about what needs to change. “It’s not always about the market trends or what the stakeholders expect from you,” she says. “You have to talk to your employees!”

      To follow Joanna Babiarz’s work in employer brand, connect with her on LinkedIn. For help gathering data and insights you can act on to improve your company, get in touch.
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      in Talent Acquisition

      How to Effectively Respond to Candidates’ Final Interview Questions

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      The seismic shift during the last two years has turned the labor market on its head. Today, there is a near record of ~11.2 million jobs available, with almost two job openings for every unemployed American. And with the constantly shifting landscape, companies continue to face high employee turnover and difficulty acquiring quality talent to fill open roles. Sixty-nine percent of recruiters believe attracting and hiring talent will be difficult for the remainder of the year, per the latest data from Employ Inc.’s latest Quarterly Insights Report.
      To overcome this challenge, it’s key to determine whether the role aligns with the expectations and preferences of job seekers. One of the best ways to find out is during the interview process. By opening the interview floor to questions from a job candidate, you have the opportunity to better understand what is important to them and make authentic connections in a highly competitive hiring environment. In the past six months, 72% of recruiters have encountered candidates who have, at one time, received multiple offers at the same time.
      “What motivates you [Recruiter or Hiring Manager] to stay on the team at your organization?”
      Job seekers know what they are looking for in their next position and want to be satisfied with their future employment. In fact, new research shows that 32% of workers would quit a job without having another one lined up if they don’t feel content or fulfilled with their job. Answering this question truthfully will help the candidate determine whether or not your organization is a good culture fit. Especially since 21% of job seekers cited poor company culture as the top reason for leaving a job in the last 12 months. Another thing to consider is welcoming the candidate to ask that same question to others. The different perspectives of your hiring team can help the candidate really understand the organization and how it might align with their values.
      “What has the company implemented to help drive improvement in the organization?”
      While this question is broad, your answer can help your organization stand out. Tie this answer to the initiatives implemented to build your company culture or improve the well-being of employees, such as mental health benefits, strong work-life balance, and flexible work arrangements, among others. Per Employ data, poor company culture is one of the top reasons employers switch jobs. You might also pull an example from how the organization was faced with a challenge, made a change, and was ultimately able to overcome that obstacle. In addition to a strong culture, reinforcing how your team solves problems collaboratively can really help improve the candidate’s understanding of why they would want to join your team.
      “How has the organization been performing against goals this year?”
      Job seekers want to know whether an organization is setting and achieving its goals. This is especially important for roles where reaching individual goals correlates with salaries, as compensation continues to be a driving factor in today’s hiring climate. Per Employ’s latest data, 42% of recruiters found making adjustments to compensation and total rewards to be the most helpful strategy in overcoming the tight labor market. That’s why it’s crucial to leave interviewees with a clear understanding of compensation, how attainable the goals are, and whether the organization has successfully achieved them.
      “What is [Hiring Manager’s] leadership style?”
      Misalignment on leadership styles can cause significant workplace issues and future career paths. That’s why job seekers need to understand their potential manager’s leadership style and for you to know how candidates like to receive direction and feedback. Answering this question with transparency is critical. Otherwise, you risk hiring a new employee who may not mesh well with the team. Employ data found that nearly one-third of workers who left their job after 90 days claim unsatisfactory company leadership as the primary rationale for departing.
      “Do you have any concerns about recommending me for this position?”
      If you have concerns about gaps in skills or experience, take the time to explain why those are important to the position and allow them to respond. The candidate’s response to the feedback can also signal how well they handle critical feedback and if they’re willing to grow in the areas they’re lacking. Pay attention to what experiences they highlight to help reduce your potential concerns. The conversation surrounding this question could ultimately make, or break, your decision to move forward with a candidate or their decision to accept the job.
      Overcome Hiring Challenges with the Right Technology
      Before an interview even takes place, sourcing the right talent for open roles is crucial. However, our data reveals the biggest challenge for over half of recruiters is finding and hiring quality candidates, while 62% said improving quality-of-hire is their top priority. In today’s tight labor market, recruiters must adapt their tactics and processes to identify the best possible candidates, which can be accomplished by investing in intelligent talent acquisition technologies to meet hiring goals.
      When determining the best solution for the needs of your talent acquisition (TA) team, ensure the technology has extensive experience in delivering recruiting results within your specific industry and business size. Identify solutions that go beyond applicant tracking and integrate a wide range of capabilities to support your hiring goals, including recruiting AI and automation, employee referral tools, analytics, and more. With these solutions, organizations will have everything needed to identify the best candidates for every job opening and the opportunity to dig even deeper during the interview process.
      Corey Berkey serves as Senior Vice President, People & Talent, at Employ Inc. 
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      in Talent Acquisition

      How to Ask Better Interview Questions

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      If you want to hire the best people, you need to ask the best interview questions. Online CV builder resume.io gathered the most effective interview questions from successful business leaders and entrepreneurs. And it added some helpful tips and advice on how to incorporate them during your next big recruitment drive.
      Good interviews start with good questions. Those questions need to be open-ended and probing. Open-ended questions can’t be answered with a “yes” or “no” or a static response. They’re often phrased as a statement and are designed to get your candidates talking as much as possible.
      Common open-ended interview questions:

      Tell me about yourself.
      How would you describe yourself?
      How would your boss or co-workers describe you?
      What motivates you?
      What do you see as your strengths?
      What accomplishments are you proud of?

      The best open-ended questions
      Not all open-ended questions are created equal. “How would you describe yourself?” is vague and could lead the interview down an unfruitful path.
      Instead, the trick is to ask open-ended questions that reveal the candidates’ suitability for the role you’re trying to fill.
      Porter Braswell, CEO of diversity hiring startup Jopwell, asks his applicants, “What does success mean to you?”
      Shippo CEO Laura Behrens Wu asks something similar. She inquires, “What are some things outside of work that you’re irrationally passionate about?”
      Both questions appear unrelated to a specific role. However, they’re excellent tools for hiring managers who want to understand what drives and motivates their candidates.
      For example, if your candidate plays a competitive sport and is motivated by a high salary, bonuses, and awards, then there’s a good chance they’ll thrive in a fast-paced, high-pressure sales environment.
      Asking uncomfortable questions
      According to billionaire entrepreneur Tim Ferriss, your success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations you’re willing to have.
      This is certainly the case for recruiters, who should never be afraid of asking really tough questions. After all, every candidate can look like a star if you keep pitching slow balls. Only an elite few can handle the fastballs and curveballs.
      But finding the right balance is crucial. You want the candidate to open up, not clam up.
      Former Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson uses this question to challenge anyone he interviews:
      “Tell me about a time you really screwed something up. How did you handle it, and how did you address the mistake?”
      It’s an excellent interview question. It assesses the candidates’ honesty and humility – would you really want to hire someone who claims they never make mistakes – and it’s an opportunity to tick off other essential competencies, including problem-solving and the ability to respond positively to feedback.
      Here are some more ‘uncomfortable’ questions from successful business leaders:

      “What would someone who doesn’t like you tell us about you?” – Luis Von Ahn, Duolingo CEO.
      “What’s one piece of critical feedback you received that was difficult to hear?” – Pema Lin-Moore, VP of People Operations.
      “Describe yourself in three words,” – Sara Blakely, Spanx CEO.
      “If you were in my shoes, what attributes would you look for in hiring for this role?” – Tim Chen, Co-found and CEO of NerdWallet.

      Get your candidates thinking
      Elon Musk drops this brain-teaser in during his interviews:
      “You’re standing on the surface of the earth. You walk one mile south, one mile east, and one mile north. You end up exactly where you started. Where are you?”
      It’s not a trick question; the answer is The North Pole.
      For Musk, the question tests a candidate’s cognitive ability – and that needs to be high if you’re designing rockets to Mars.
      But the question is helpful in other ways, too – even if the candidate doesn’t know the answer. In fact, how they respond to not knowing can be extremely revealing.
      Are they humble enough to say they don’t know? Curious enough to ask you to explain the answer? And if they try to wing or blag it, what else are they not being 100% honest about?
      Start trying these questions out in your next interviews. You’ll be surprised by how much they’ll help you find the right person for the job.

      Ashley Murphy graduated with a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Manchester. He works as a content writer for Resume.io, specializing in technology, higher education, and entrepreneurship.
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      in Employer

      How Royal Caribbean Group Navigates Employer Branding

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      “Adventure” isn’t just something Royal Caribbean Group offers its customers. It’s also a love shared by its employees, as well as the key to the brand’s exceptional success at engaging new and diverse talent.
      How do you find the perfect employee when you’re a company as intrepid as an international cruise line? Royal Caribbean Group’s Talent Marketing Manager, Thea Neal, has done it through practices like investing in team morale, practicing inclusion, taking a holistic view of the employee experience, and careful listening.
      The Challenge of Talent Marketing as a Cruise Line
      Building out an authentic employee value proposition for a single organization is difficult enough. It can be even harder when that organization houses six different brands, as is the case with Royal Caribbean Group. Employer brand leaders may encounter hesitancy, as Neal did, from more senior leaders who are wary of defining an EVP that may not feel relevant to all branches and levels.
      Invest in Morale
      To attract and retain the best talent, Royal Caribbean Group makes serious investments in its culture and employees’ well-being. Even during a pandemic, the company has found ways to preserve and adapt its office traditions, like happy hours (now virtual) and Halloween (a staff favorite).
      Practice Inclusion
      Prioritizing diversity and inclusion has helped Royal Caribbean Group attract employees from a range of backgrounds and identities. This has been a special focus of Neal’s team, which recruits talent from around the globe. Cultural context is always top-of-mind for Neal when formulating her employer brand strategy: “The employer brand that I put out in America needs to resonate just as well as the employer brand I put out in the Philippines or Indonesia,” she says.
      Consider the Whole Employee Journey
      Neal’s team frames the employee experience as a journey—in fact, the “Journey with us” tagline appears across Royal Caribbean Group’s careers site, social media accounts, and internal communications. This framing reflects the emphasis they place on supporting people throughout their time with the company, from candidate to alum, and not just on the recruitment process or the “sell.”
      Become a Better Listener
      Neal urges other employer brand leaders to listen to fellow employees as closely as possible, especially when their feedback disrupts your assumptions. “A lot of times, as employer brand folks, we have these rosy glasses on. Sometimes you need that real perspective from an employee to create something better, listen, and evolve,” Neal says.
      This approach to talent marketing has helped Royal Caribbean find perfect-fit candidates that join the family and stay for years (and voyages). These candidates-turned-colleagues share Neal’s love of seeing the world and helping others do the same. It’s a passion that unites the team, regardless of role; as Neal puts it, “Who doesn’t want to sell amazing memories and experiences?”

      To follow Thea Neal’s work in employer brand, connect with her on LinkedIn. For data-driven insights into your company that you can act on, get in touch. We can help you develop strategies for making real change.

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      Attracting Tech Talent in a New Location

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      When reaching out to a new talent market, your existing recruitment marketing strategy may not cut it. New markets bring new competitors, new biases, and new questions to answer with your messaging. How can leaders in recruitment marketing and employer branding do it? That’s what Appian and its Recruitment Marketing Strategist, Chris Fitzner, are figuring out.
      Appian, a US-based tech brand that offers an automation platform to businesses, recently acquired a small company in Seville, Spain. Rather than simply absorb the Seville team, Appian decided to grow its presence in Seville—“to capture that spirit there, and capture that culture,” as Fitzner puts it.
      Research Your New Talent Market
      Fitzner’s team started with the facts: They researched tech professionals in the Seville area to build data-centered profiles of who they needed to reach. Using LinkedIn’s Talent Insights platform, Appian identified the market’s main hitters, broken out by title, industry, and experience.
      Learn What You’re Up Against in Your New Market
      Appian’s approach to sketching out its growth challenges provides a useful framework for other teams hoping to enter new talent markets. First, using the list of major players they’d built when researching their new talent market, Fitzner’s team categorized their competitors: home-grown Seville companies, companies (like Appian) that had recently acquired Seville companies, and large consultancies that hire remote talent from Seville.
      Then, to understand their biggest recruitment hurdles, Fitzner’s team returned to their data, specifically location data. Their website analytics revealed almost no visits from local talent, and Appian’s only Seville-based LinkedIn engagement was from the local employees they’d just acquired.
      Build Your Recruitment Marketing Strategy
      When entering a new talent market, posting a job listing to Glassdoor or Indeed isn’t enough. “You have to get into where they’re actively looking,” Fitzner advises, which means devoting more attention to local job boards.
      “Who is Appian?” was still an obstacle for Appian’s recruiters on LinkedIn, so they began serving ads to targeted audiences in advance of reaching out via InMail, which earned them higher open rates.
      Adapt What You Already Know About Good Marketing
      When building a recruitment marketing strategy, innovation is great, but Fitzner cautions against reinventing the wheel, especially for those coming from a recruiting background. “There are already a lot of existing resources out there,” he says. “Look at existing marketing principles. Learn email marketing. Learn content marketing. Learn the basics of SEO. Learn how to establish a good PR/media program.”

      To follow Chris Fitzner’s work in employer branding, connect with him on LinkedIn. For more strategies and data-driven insights that you can act on to improve your company, get in touch.

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      Building Employer Brand at an Inclusive Tech Workplace

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      Salesforce, the US tech company responsible for one of the world’s most popular CRM platforms, has earned more than 80 awards for its workplace culture. Its team has more than tripled in size in the past five years. Employer brand metrics may be infamously elusive, but these numbers paint a clear picture: Salesforce is doing something right.
      What makes a company an exceptionally good place to work? Chrissy Thornhill, Salesforce’s Global Senior Manager of Employer Brand and Recruitment, has identified a few of the characteristics that have helped its employer brand thrive.
      Intentional
      The environment at Salesforce isn’t a happy accident or convenient byproduct. “We are super intentional about our culture,” Thornhill says. “We write it down. We prioritize it. We build programs around it. We measure it. We constantly innovate on it.”
      Globally Aware
      Salesforce’s headquarters sits in the US, but it operates global offices on six continents. An innocuous piece of social media content may not strike the same tone from one region to the next. The past nine months, Thornhill says, have driven that fact home.
      Inclusive
      Workplace equity not only impacts employees who’ve already joined the team, but also those still in their recruitment journey. It’s why Salesforce made Tony Prophet its Chief Equality and Recruiting Officer, who works closely with Thornhill’s team.
      Accountable
      Thornhill’s team promises candidates big things during the recruitment process. Then, they hold themselves accountable for delivering.
      Frugal with Time
      Sometimes, the success of the Salesforce employer brand team lies in what they don’t do. Rather than spreading their small team thinly across as many efforts as possible, they’re choosy about where they invest their time.
      These traits have kept Thornhill at Salesforce as its employer brand team has doubled. If her own enthusiasm for her workplace is any indicator, that growth is just getting started: “It’s been quite the journey, and I don’t think it’s going to let up any time soon.”

      To follow Chrissy Thornhill’s work in employer brand, connect with her on LinkedIn. For help identifying the values and culture you want to create in your company, get in touch.

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      in Employer

      How to Let Employees Generate Your Employer Brand Content

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      Employee-generated content may not be as strategically crafted as something straight from your marketing department. Its messaging may be more candid than what your company usually posts to LinkedIn.
      But these markers of authenticity are exactly what make employee-generated content (EGC) such an effective advertising tool, and they’re also what makes it so impactful for your employer branding.
      This couldn’t be more true at PetSmart, a pet supply company that offers candidates an employee experience unlike many others—how many places let you cuddle with kittens on-the-job? By showcasing the uniqueness of a career at PetSmart through employee-generated content, the company has attracted better candidates, along with a host of other benefits.
      Here’s what other brands (even those of the puppy-less variety) stand to gain with EGC.
      1. Employee-Generated Content Builds Unity
      Employer brand leaders might assume that the DIY nature of employee-generated content leads to a less unified social feed or inconsistent brand voice. However, PetSmart’s Manager of Employer Brand and Recruitment Marketing, Dani Kaufman, sees a different story.
      2. EGC Attracts the Best Fits
      Kaufman’s team tracks common metrics like application conversions, hires, and retention to gauge the health of its employer brand. Higher applicant volume, however, isn’t a high-priority figure.
      Employee-generated content has been instrumental in attracting those best-fit candidates. After infusing PetSmart’s social timelines with more employee stories, Kaufman says, “People are able to see themselves in the role and make a more personal connection.” The employer brand team’s next project is a Careers website update, due to launch at the end of 2020, that foregrounds even more of those personal testimonies.
      3. Employee Stories Make Your Brand Unique
      Kaufman has observed that the things that make a career at PetSmart unlike a role anywhere else are the very things that attract their best hires. Walking dogs, caring for young animals, and assisting first-time pet parents are part of the job, but the employer brand team knows to frame these as strengths: “You can work at a place that you love. You can love the job, and you can also love the environment,” Kaufman says.
      4. EGC Keeps You Curious
      Kaufman strives to answer “Why here?” through PetSmart’s employer branding, and nowhere are the answers to that “why” on clearer display than in employee storytelling. Staying attuned to the culture in this way keeps Kaufman curious, an attitude she says is essential to successful employer brand leadership.
      Embracing EGC has helped PetSmart fine-tune its employer brand and attract candidates that share the company’s passion for animals, and the ripple effects have been obvious to Kaufman: “It brings our culture to life!”

      To follow Dani Kaufman’s work in employer brand, connect with her on LinkedIn. For more strategies and data-driven insights that you can act on to improve your company, get in touch.

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