Professional & Enterprise

Development
CT024-3-1

Recruitment Strategy
Advertisement, Job Interview
Level 1

Prepared by: RHR First Prepared on: September 10, 2006 Last Modified on:
Quality checked by: MOH
Copyright 2004 Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology
 Structure of the Lesson

Planning for a Job advertisement

Interview

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 Learning Outcomes

Describe how to timetable a

recruitment process
Interview process

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 Key Terms You Must Be Able to
Use

If you have mastered this topic, you should

be able to use the following terms correctly in
your assignments and exams:

Job Advertisement

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 Step 5: Job Advertisement
How to design and write an effective job
advertisement?
1. The job is your product
2. The readers are your potential customers
(appropriate job-seekers)
3. The aim is to attract relevant interest (establishing
relevance in the minds of ideal candidates)
4. Design should concentrate on clarity and
conveying professional image
5. Branding should be present but not overbearing

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 Job advertisement
Things to avoid
1. Over designed graphics
2. Extravagantly presented words (distracting)
3. Fonts too small or too big
4. Capital letters & Fancy Fonts
5. Lots of words in italics
6. Too much technical details about the job or the
company
7. Boring and uninspiring descriptions of roles
8. High emphasis on the job and not enough on person
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 Job advertisement
Checklist
Job title
Employer or recruitment agency
Job base location
To whom the position reports
Outline of job role and purpose
Outline ideal candidate profile
Indicate qualifications and experiences (essential and
desirable)
Salary or salary guide
Full Time or Part time , Contract or Permanent
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 Job advertisement

Checklist Cont
Other package detail
Explanation of the recruitment process
Application instructions
Contact details

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 Job advertisement

Look at other job adverts to get ideas for how

to lay them out
Look at jobsites on the internet
There are lots of poor ones out there!
Think about which get your attention and why

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 Job advertisement - sample
Innovate Corp.
Job title: Web developer - E-commerce
- .NET
Salary: RM45K depending on
experience and skills
Job description:
You will join an experienced team
and build e-business solutions for key
customers such as Toys 'R' Us, Reuters
and Unilever. You will be challenged to
develop systems that handle a large
number of users, complex transactions
and extensive integration, while hitting
high standards of usability, reliability and
manageability.
Innovate Corp is a Microsoft Partner and
our solutions are built using their very
latest technologies. Development work
is on the .NET platform in C#.
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Person requirements:
Ideally you will have some experience of .NET
and ASP.NET. You might also have some object
oriented knowledge and a familiarity with
software design patterns. More important than
any of this is a keen desire to be a great
software developer.
We have a technical career development path
leading to MCSD.NET certification.
Degree requirements:
While good A levels and a good degree are
important, a demonstrable passion for
technology is essential.
Location: Klang Valley
Number of vacancies: 2 Vacancy type: Permanent
Job status: Full-time
Closing date: 30 October
How to apply: Email debbie.mills@innovate.com
Please send your CV and an informal letter.
Introduction
 Step 6: Interviewing Process

A face-to-face meeting of two people to

accomplish a known purpose by discussion (in
this case to hire the right person for a certain
position)
Asking the rights questions in the interview is
good for getting the right kind of information.
It is important to plan for the right questions

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 Interviewing Process Cont
Four kinds of questions :
Rapport-building questions (help put candidate
at ease)
Open-ended questions (invite candidate to
respond with a good deal of information)
Probing questions (asked when more
specific/focused information is needed)
Non-question questions (make candidates
more comfortable responding by asking with
language that does not end in a question mark
eg May I suggest you try the new library?)
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 Interviewing Process Cont
More points on the interview process :
Interviewers who are poorly trained are unlikely to be
effective in their selection of graduates. Imagine the
embarrassment of the interviewer and the cost to the
organisation, associated with a candidate who clearly
shouldnt have made it through the first interview but
has. Lack of training doesn't pay.
Candidates are quite sophisticated in their interview
techniques, are well aware when interviewers lack
skills. A waste if the candidate leaves the interview
with a low perception of the interviewer and
organisation.
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 Interviewing Process Cont

More points on the interview process

The interview is meant to be a two-way
process. Interviewers need to be prepared to
answer questions about the organisation
You and your interviewers have to be very clear
about what you hope to get from the interview,
how the candidates are to be assessed
Keep interviewer-response form will to assist
with the decision making.
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 Interviewing Process Cont

Reserve list
It is sensible to include some contingencies.
You can expect to have a dropout rate from
the list of your applicants/interviewees, so it is
wise to keep some of other candidates in the
background .

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 Interviewing Process Cont
Conducting the interview
Avoid questions that can be answered with a "yes" or "no" or
that prompt obvious responses, such as "Are you self
motivated?"
Ask questions that force the candidate to go into detail (open
ended question/probing question/non-question questions)
Pay attention to the candidate's non-verbal cues
Does she seem alert and interested or does she slouch and
yawn? Are his clothes wrinkled and stained, or clean and
neat? A person who can't make an effort for the interview
certainly won't make one on the job if hired.
Leave time at the end for the applicant to ask. This is the time
when applicants can really show they have done their
homework and researched your company
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 Interviewing Process Cont
Conducting the interview

End the interview by letting the candidate know what

to expect next
How much longer will you be interviewing? When
can they expect to hear from you?
After the interview, take 5 or 10 minutes to write down
the applicant's outstanding qualities and evaluate his
or her personality and skills against your job
description and specifications.

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 Interviewing Process Cont

Interview stages
Identify the criteria to be assessed
include a scoring system to assist with the choosing
process

E.g.
Communication skills
10 --- 9 --- 8 --- 7 --- 6 --- 5 --- 4 --- 3 --- 2 --- 1
Can average Quiet and
communicate communicator reserved
very well

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 Interviewing Process Cont
A good interviewer is trained to question every word you say.
They are used to polished, text book answers. They want to
know about the real you.

1. Make a list of the key characteristics and experience

required for the role.

2. Think back over your career for specific examples of when

you have demonstrated these.

3. Be able to describe each example BRIEFLY.

4. Make sure your examples are specific, not woolly.

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 Job Interview Questions
The Top 10 Job Interview Questions
1.Why do you want to work for us?

2.Give us an example of a situation where you

didn't meet your goals or objectives.

3.Give us an example of a situation where you

faced conflict or difficult communication
problems.

4.Where do you see yourself in 3 / 5/ 10 years?

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 Job Interview Questions

5. What would your current manager

say are your strengths?

6. What would your current manager

say are your weaknesses?

7. Why should we give you this job?

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 Job Interview Questions

8. Give us an example of working within an

unreasonable deadline or faced with a huge
challenge

9. Do you prefer working in a team or on your

own?

10. What is the first thing you would change, if

you were to start work here?

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 Tough Question Strategy
2 CHOICES:

Panic and give one of those "regret-it-later"

answers.

Employ the "tough question strategy" and

give your best answer

So what is the strategy? How do you answer

tough interview questions?
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 Tough Interview Questions

Arent you overqualified for this position?

Answer
Even though overqualified can be shorthand for
old or expensive, it is important to stay
positive.
Express your enthusiasm for the job and pride in
your qualifications. Explain what makes you
interested in this position
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 ILLEGAL QUESTIONS

What classifies as an illegal question varies

vastly between countries

As a general rule (UK and North America), questions

concerning marital status, sexual preferences, ethnic
origin, health status or family plans are not allowed

If the answer to a question could be used to

discriminate against you on grounds other than your
ability to perform in the role, then it should not be
asked

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 ILLEGAL Job Question

For example:
If asked whether you are married, you could
be opening a can of worms by answering "yes"
or "no". Whether you're married or single, it is
not a concern. So you could answer:

With all due respect, it is important to me to

keep my work and personal life separate. My
marital status shouldnt be relevant to my
career here at company XYZ."
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 WEAKNESSES- CRACK A JOKE

"I'm easily bored, a bit sloppy and you

wouldn't like to meet me on a morning
before I've had a coffee - I'm an ogre!"

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 Practical Session: Interview
Strengths And Weaknesses - Step 1

What would your manager miss about

you? And what won't they miss?
Tell me about a time when a project /
objective went badly.
What do you find most difficult / dislike
the most about work?

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 Practical Session: Interview
Strengths And Weaknesses

Step 2: Prepare before the interview

Think about your strengths.

As for weaknesses, it's often better to

think of them as "development areas",
rather than "faults".

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 Tutorial: Interview Strengths And
Weaknesses
Step 3: Learn how to answer it
Think of 3 of your "weaknesses".

What's the "positive side-effect" of that trait?

Are there any "negatives" that you need to

address? How do you perform despite this
weakness? How can you describe it so it
sounds like a benefit to the employer?

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 Tutorial: Strengths And
Weaknesses
1. Write down in your notebook 3 strengths and
3 weaknesses
2. Keep a copy for yourself and hand in one
copy to your lecturer
3. How do you plan to address the 3
weaknesses?

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 ASKING GOOD INTERVIEW
QUESTIONS

err... nope... I think we've covered

everything.

To make a great final impression!!

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 ASKING GOOD INTERVIEW
QUESTIONS
Make your questions relevant, genuine
and intelligent.
Do not ask about something that doesn't
interest you; it will show in your body
language
What are the 3 things you want to know
about the job, the team, the company?
What does your interviewer like most
about working there? What would they
change?
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 Question and Answer Session

Q&A

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 Next Session

Topic and Structure of next session

Career Element
CV and Cover Letter

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