Net That Job

There are many other ways in which the traditional interview is changing. It’s been a slow start. But once jobs are back on even keel, the transition will be rapid. In India, we aren’t even in the early phases of the metamorphosis. But as in telecom, where we could skip some of the early technology stages because we were so late in starting, we may leapfrog over the West in interview procedures.

The first big change is, of course, outsourcing. You put in your application for a job at a giant engineering company. (These days, if you don’t do it on the Net, you won’t get anywhere.) Who do you think goes through the applications? As mentioned, it is not somebody from the company. The whole exercise is handed over to an outside agency; this is not a core activity of the engineering giant. Somebody at the agency goes through the applications and shortlists about two three times the number of jobs available. These are then sent to the HR department.

There’s a secret that you ought to know. Some external agencies are actually doing this on computers. Certain keywords are fed into software programmes designed to scan the applications. If your CV and covering letter has them, good. If they don’t, that’s another application headed for the recycle bin.

Traditional experts on interview techniques would have us believe that style and presentation matter enormously. Of course, they do. But that’s only after the application reaches a human being. If your keywords aren’t in place, your application may not get to that stage.

How do you find the relevant words, known as “Résumé Keywords”? There is information on the Net. Professional-résumés.com lists the following under Leadership: developed, revitalised, directed, drove, managed, guided, led, organised, and inspired. A fine collection, no doubt. But remember there are thousands of others choosing from the same list. “Avoid using the same words as everyone else,” says the site. How on earth can you help it?

The second thing that is being outsourced is information gathering. Unlike earlier, when companies were forced to take you at face value, everyone does an Internet search before offering a job. Again, this could be partly automated; programmes can look for the name in conjunction with other words. Search, for instance, for Bhatia and lazy (or perhaps something worse). In the West and among the young in India where social media has gone places, you may well find some red signals. Do a spot of ego-surfing (searching for your own name) before going for that job hunt. It may be possible to clean up some of the messes you have left behind on Facebook and elsewhere. Are those rants of younger days still needed? Get rid of the semi-nude picture of you playing with a python.

Another major shift is underway because of sites like LinkedIn. These are professional job search sites. Communities on the Net help each other to locate jobs. This in a way goes against the other developments in recruitment space. This is a throwback to freemasonry while the rest of the Net (and technology) are propagating a more objective (less prone to human influence) form of selection. Perhaps the objective system will prevail at the lower rungs of the ladder while LinkedIn rules the middle level. At the top there are no rules.

While all this is in a state of flux, one thing is certain: the interview experts will soon have no jobs.

THE DISAPPOINTMENT LETTER

The most common mistakes candidates make during job interviews (%)

– Little or no knowledge of the company 38

– Unprepared to discuss skills and experience 20

– Unprepared to discuss career plans, goals 14

– Lack of eye contact 10

– Late arrival 9

– Limited enthusiasm 9

Source: www.telegraphindia.com

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