Are You Interviewing the Candidate or Just Checking Their Pulse?

The interviewer with a candidate at the Starbucks in Hong Kong Central seemed nice, bright and engaging.shutterstock_117963070

She was, unfortunately, conducting a train wreck of an interview in front of me; when she asked early on, “You’re not a micromanager, are you?” I thought she was a goner.

When the candidate smiled, said “Of course not” and she smiled back, I knew she was dead on arrival,

She had just confirmed that the candidate had a pulse and an IQ (e.g.Read the rest

The Trouble with Recruiters

There is trouble in recruiter-land.

Talk to any in-house recruiter and they know it. Talk to any job candidate and they suspect it.

Heck, as someone who has run small, medium, and large size talent acquisition operations I even know it.

You probably do too.

So what’s going on?

Back in the pre-online application days, circa 1996,  internal recruiters working for employers customarily carried (preface: at least the good employers who knew to balance workload with quality) 10-15 job requisitions – openings they were trying to fill – at any one time.… Read the rest

(Almost) Never Take the Counter Offer

The question from a Quora post was not-so-unusual,

 

Vector handshake

I am working for a company from last 8 months. I resigned there because i was getting better offer in terms of money anywhere else. My present employer counter offered same salary. Work wise both companies are same. Will things change if i stay in my current company (like perspective of manager and HRs towards me)?

Read the rest

Your Career: When the “Sure Thing” Isn’t

Sometimes the job you’ve been promised won’t be there; sometimes the job you think you’ve lost may return.

So how do you know if it’s a sure thing?

You won’t.

Learn why the “sure thing” today is likely the maybe thing tomorrow, and what you can do to make yourself better prepared when that sure-thing-to-make-or-nothing happens.

Why is the sure thing is not exactly the sure thing?Read the rest