Organizations seek those candidates to be members of their team who shall be an appropriate cultural fit.

Whether a candidate makes it to the second round depends on his / her performance in the 5 - 10 minutes of HR interview. The candidate thus tries to put his best foot forward and may have practiced the answer to the question "Tell me about yourself" several times in front of his family or friends.

There may be some who may be appropriate for the job but due to their nervousness during the first two three minutes may end up getting rejected.

Thus while knowing about the candidate is important, the question does not have to be put directly.

Secondly if one is nervous, we need to give him some time to relax by asking simple questions such as "Tell me about your family" or "From where did you do your schooling".

Utmost care thus needs to be taken whether those 5 - 10 minutes have been able to depict the true picture of the candidate.

Regards,
Anika

Great posting Shiny, however, I do not completely agree with it .

It is not that we HR people are not ready to go beyond the humdrum of their activities but repeated blows to our efforts to improve the working environment leave us disheartened, after all how much authority does HR have in an organization.


Nonetheless I do agree that HR is d bridge between the company and the organization and not a leaning pole for the organization.

ANIKA

Hi Sanvi,

There is no fun in putting the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle and you are one of the lucky few who gets to make the start.

You can start by putting the pieces of recruitment and selection process within your company together. Focus on what is wrong with the existing system and then proceed to create a policy with the aim of improving the process.

You are welcome to get in touch with me if you need help with the same.

Regards,
Anika

Thank you all for your valuable inputs.

In the light of recent events we have adopted a new method where we make an offer to one candidate and another one is kept on reserve. The first one is given a Letter of Intent which does not state his salary (so that he can't use it elsewhere to negotiate for a higher price) but there is a clause in it that the candidate would have to submit his letter of acceptance of resignation or relieving letter by the date mentioned (usually three days from the issuance of the letter) failing which would lead to the cancellation of the offer. The offer is then made to the second candidate.


This may not be a fool proof method yet it might go a long way in avoiding wastage of time while searching for a fresh candidate in case of a "no - show". Moreover, the inputs provided by all go on to show that this method would prove effective.

LOL !!!!!!!!!! Good one !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Dharni,

While skills, experience and qualifications play a crucial role in screening of a resume.

A well drafted mail and resume displays a certain degree of professionalism. But then, the criteria can differ depending upon the position the person is being hired for.

I would be able to give u a clearer idea if you may tell me the type of positions you work on.

ANIKA

Handling this topic from a different perspective, I would also like to state that quite often we mention the name of a public figure or someone close to us while talking about our idols.

However, every person is unique in his or her own way and has the power to inspire us to be better humans. We just need to have an eye for the details.

ANIKA

As I see it, every person is a bundle of skills and ideas.

However, in order to use this bundle for shaping a better world for tomorrow, we need to keep them soft as clay but our own inhibitions to venture beyond the trodden path and strong control of outside forces make us rigid.


Anika

Hi Dharni,

While screening the resumes, a recruiter usually does not spend more than 3 to 5 minutes and therefore efforts need to be made to catch the attention of the hiring manger from the word "Go".

The most common method used nowadays for applying to vacancies is through e-mails. However while composing the message many use abbreviations like "ur" "for "your" and “thanx" for 'thanks" which just goes on to show that the applicant was in a great hurry or when a candidate can't compose an application (which is his/her gateway to a better career opportunity) properly, he/she would not be putting in too much thought or effort in his/her work. Such resumes many a times get sent to trash without being opened even if the person may have drafted a perfect resume.

Before attaching the resume it is always better to check it at least two times and one must use spelling and grammar check to rectify any errors because spelling and grammatical errors are not always taken in good spirit by hiring managers.

Try to show a correlation between your experience/education and the key skills required for the job you are applying for.

Hope these tips would be useful for you.

GREAT PIECE OF INFORMATION