Tips to Interview: Do You Have to Jump Through the Hoops?

Whenever possible, you want to interview with a hiring manager and not the Human Resources Department. Human Resources professionals have important roles at their companies, but are generally not hiring managers and decision-makers. There is an option for job seekers.

Tips to Interview: What I hear from candidates

Working with job seekers on a daily basis, I frequently hear about their frustration with the required processes to get a first face-to-face interview. My client Pat said he spent three hours on personality, math, logic and other skills tests; followed by two phone interviews, a group interview and then … he was told to follow the company on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook—before taking another assessment.

Tips to Interview: What’s the status quo?

I certainly don’t want to offend HR professionals (I am one), but sometimes the policies, procedures and rules can in reality become a bureaucratic series of hoops that while perhaps making the HR process easier, are a nightmare for the candidate.

Here’s what often happens:

• HR screens résumés and applications based on an explicit group of criteria that has been outlined by the hiring manager. They receive a résumé, match it to the hiring qualifications and, if it matches, forward it to the decision-maker.

• Some screeners eyeball every submission, while others search for certain keywords among applications and résumés. Various applicant tracking systems (ATS) are frequently used, reducing the candidate’s submissions to database figures.

• Some screeners consider cover letters in their applications; some do not.

• Candidates should expect to wait anywhere from a few days to several weeks before receiving a response to an application, if at all.

In fact, according to CareerXroads, a human-resources consulting firm in Princeton, New Jersey, a survey of more than 50 companies with at least 500 employees revealed that less than 27% have a formal process to notify decline to external candidates they consider for an opening.

With the above scenario, there is no opportunity in the process for individual interpretation; it’s simply a match-up and for the job seeker, a wait—often wait, wait, wait—ordeal.

This is not what you want to happen in your job search.

Tips to Interview: What can you do?

Your goal is to get your résumé in front of the right decision-maker (e.g., President, VP of Marketing, VP of Operations, Customer Service Director, IT Manager, etc.). These are the people who have the power to make a hiring decision and get you through the HR process. When contacting companies to explore hiring opportunities:

• If you are responding to a posting that dictates you forwarding your résumé and/or application to the HR Department, do as directed.

• Don’t rest there. Find the name of the hiring manager or decision-maker, and also call and/or send your  correspondence to that person.

This double-hit method can be very productive! Remember my client, Pat? He started using the above approach. He recently told me that he had applied online (with application, as well as attached resume and letter) for a Sales Manager role for which he was well qualified. After a week, on the very day he received a “No thanks” letter from HR, he received a call from the VP of Sales to schedule an interview.

What’s the reality here?

If managers think HR is creating a lot of red tape holding up movement in terms of getting the right people hired, they will happily take a call from a candidate. Decision-makers aren’t necessarily all that interested in the hoops. They just want a great fit for the company and its needs. Sometimes it pays to sidestep the hoops.

Photo: Kissimmee