Before embarking on job hunting, it is a good idea to get to know the structure of the hiring process in detail. It would help diminish inevitable stress and figure out an appropriate behaviour during this process. Well, what are you to be prepared for? First of all, we need to mention that the hiring process may vary from one employer to another, but there is a certain framework that underlies recruitment and selection in any organization.

In this article we would like to provide a quick review of how the hiring process is designed including the details that are often not seen by job applicants.

The recruitment process starts usually with a job analysis, identifying skills and abilities needed to successfully perform in the job, and creating a job description. The job description is usually used as a basis for preparing a job posting to attract applicants. If the vacant position is not new, then the existing job description might be used.

Employers may choose different methods of soliciting applicants: placement agencies, referrals, internal applicants’ database etc. In all cases, the starting point of the recruitment at any organization is an explicit and up-to-date job description. Be discreet with those not having one! If you apply for a job through a placement agency, recruiters may just briefly list some responsibilities that the position entails and may not show you a job description in the form of a written document. However, ensure that the job description at least exists and is up-to-date.

Screening

As soon as an employer got a sufficient number of candidates, they start screening applications. Make sure you submit your application on time. An employer may not consider applications received after a specified deadline. Screening is the first hurdle an applicant should overcome and it implies a process of just matching the qualifications needed for the job with applicants’ qualifications. The closer your qualifications are to the required ones, the better your chance is to be screened in. It is very important to customize your resume, so that you even use the same vocabulary as in the job posting. Very often resume screening – the first and to our mind most important step in selection – is very often fulfilled by a junior recruiter who due to the lack of necessary experience might not always be aware of specific terminology used in a certain profession. And what he or she does, is just matching key words indicated in a job description with those in your resume, without even knowing that some terms may be used interchangeably or mean same things. More than anywhere else it pertains to technical industries such as IT. For example, “Netscape Enterprise Server” indicates the same server product as “iPlanet, SunOne”. Or a screening person who is assigned to look for candidates with “shell scripting” development skills may just neglect the resumes stated “sh, bash and ksh scripting”, which basically mean same things, but he or she may not know it.

The rule of thumb is that every screening is accompanied by a phone interview, when a candidate is asked questions on their resume. The main purpose of such phone calls is: First, to verify that the candidate is still in the market and would still be interested in pursuing the role. Second, to specify some details in the resume or very often just check the candidate’s communication skills and cognitive abilities. The result of the screening phone interview is often a decision to proceed with the candidate or not. During such phone interviews digging questions might be asked, verifying an applicant’s professional skills and personal attitude. Some of such questions we touched upon in our article “How Is Your Job Search Going So Far?”

Testing

If you successfully passed screening and the hiring manager would like to proceed with your application, you most likely will be offered to take a test to check your professional and/or personal skills. Sometimes, employers prefer to meet with candidates in person before putting them to test. But given that a personal interview is a somewhat costly process, testing is supposed to significantly decrease the number of candidates by screening out the less qualified ones. We are not going to dwell on types of testing in this article. The wide variety of tests is discussed in the article “Testing in the Selection Process.”

Testing is supposed to be the most objective part of the selection process, as it either does not at all or involves minimum of personal communication between parties. Though there might be exemptions as well.

Personal Interview

As we mentioned earlier, a personal interview is often used as a screening tool. But this practice mostly applies to recruitment centers, where professional recruiters can afford to spend time on a personal meeting with a candidate to discuss their resume, estimate both professional and personal skills, conduct testing or ask how he or she would deal with some hypothetical situations at work. This is a recruiter’s job they do round the clock.

Quite different is the situation with potential employers. Hiring managers have to adjust their busy schedules and get round to meeting with candidates in person. Being quite expensive, a personal interview is normally left till the end of the selection process, after initial screening and testing have been conducted.

A hiring manager does not usually waste time in a personal meeting on going through all the details of a candidate’s resume again, as he or she already did so when talking on the phone. The hiring manager may come back to your resume during the personal interview, only if you did not discuss your resume before, or if some questionable moments, if any, in your resume were revealed after your initial phone interview.

In all other cases, the personal interview bears either behavioral or situational character. Moreover, you need to be prepared for panel or serial interviews (including meeting with HR specialists and a series of technical or professional interviews). If you wish to know how to distinguish different types of interview and thus to better prepare for them, you may find the details in the article “Types of Interview”

We wanted to take a closer look at some behavioral aspects of a normal job interview as well as the manner in which the interview should be structured.

Pay attention, if your interviewer is making notes as you speak. The interviewer who does this is more reliable and professional. Also, the interviewer normally takes lead in the conversation and do not let interviewees speak up or ask questions in any time (excluding specifying questions). Usually there is a time dignified for interviewees’ questions at the end of the interview.

Be alert, when the interviewer says that your meeting is going to be an informal conversation. Although it may put you at ease in the first moment, such an interview usually ends up being confusing. Unacceptable is the situation when the interviewer is making up questions as the interview progresses. Speaking of this, we do not mean specifying follow up questions that the interviewer may ask any moment but questions that just pop up in their mind in no particular order. Candidates usually sense such situations and start taking lead in the conversation to make a good impression on the interviewer. The practice shows that very often such unstructured and informal conversations end up with poor hiring decisions or may lead to discrimination. In such cases, the interviewer, who did not have a list of questions prepared and did not make any notes during the interview has a very weak defensible position, if it comes to the point to justify their hiring decision.

Decision Making and Job Offer

A job offer usually crowns a successful hiring process. But do not think that you can breath a sigh of relief after learning that a company is about to make you an offer. You may probably find yourself in the situation when you were interviewing with several companies, and several companies are ready to present an offer to you. Despite tension in today’s labour market it is still quite possible when several employers go after the same (highly qualified!) candidate. Usually, reputable organizations give their chosen candidates some time to make a decision and to send a signed letter of acceptance back to them. It is worth taking this chance to think carefully about their offer unless you are a hundred percent sure that you want to accept it. It became a common practice by employers now to make a verbal offer by the phone before sending an offer package and to request an immediate verbal acceptance from the candidate. Quite sensitive is the situation when you got an offer from one company while waiting for a more desirable offer from another. Asking the first company for more time to make a decision may make them think that they are not your first choice, which sometimes may lead to offer withdrawal. In the end, you may loose the offer you’ve already got and not get another one. If possible, try to avoid giving solid verbal acceptance right on spot, unless you have already made up your mind about this employer and are truly willing to accept the offer. If you have any doubts, say something like that you are pleased to receive an offer from such a great organization and are sure that you have all necessary skills for doing the job successfully. By saying this you are not giving a direct “yes” or “no”. At the same time, by showing your interest in the offer you will not turn off your potential employer.

Great deal of sensitivity is involved in accepting an offer from one company and afterwards rejecting it when a better offer comes in. While it is not illegal to do so, a situation like this may have unpredictable consequences. Remember, it is a small little world and you never know who you meet again down the road. Very often employers think that candidates just use one offer to leverage another more desirable one.

These are the stages that comprise the usual hiring process, though not all of them may be present at every organization. But you would rather be aware of all of them and their usual sequence than be caught surprised and unprepared.