Know before you ask
If the candidate hedges, Parker questions whether she should invite the candidate in for a job interview. If the candidate answers yes, Parker asks:
What is your impression of what we do?
“I want to see if the candidate can articulate the information about our company and the job,” she says. Her reasons for asking are twofold. First, she wants some feedback on how effectively the company’s recruiting materials are working. But even more importantly, she believes that a candidate who has taken the time to thoroughly study the recruiting materials demonstrates real interest in the job, while one who has not is a poor risk.
“If you want to work at Integrated Design, I insist that you demonstrate at least a basic understanding of what the company does,” she says. The best way to demonstrate that is to ask Parker informed ques tions, such as:
I’ve scanned your Web site and the materials you sent me. I understand that Integrated Design specializes in employee data integration.As a service business, has the recent economic downturn changed the weight of the build-versus-buy calculation that every customer must evaluate?
Such a question tells Parker that the candidate not only researched the company’s mission but has a mature understanding of the challenges of a service company. On the other hand, Parker experiences a visceral turn-off for applicants who show no evidence they looked at the recruitment information packet she sent about the company. She also has no use for applicants who expect her to repeat all the information contained in the information packet. Such applicants-they hardly rise to the status of candidates-are too unmotivated to get Parker’s attention.
“If candidates ask no questions at all, especially after I sent them an information packet of recruitment materials, I know they are cruising,” agrees Bob Conlin, VP of marketing at Incentive Systems in Bedford, Massachusetts. “If a candidate tells me she is considering committing the next phase of her career to Incentive Systems, I want to know she is thinking hard about the opportunity. I expect to hear some very probing questions.”
One of the strongest candidates in Conlin’s experience was prepared not only with great questions, but with a portfolio of materials the candidate could point to during the interview. The candidate for a senior marketing position had copies of Incentive Systems’ company’s data sheets and full-page ads and those of its competitors. Using these materials, the candidate asked informed questions about the merits of specific marketing campaigns on behalf of specific products. “As soon as he pulled out the portfolio, I said to myself, ‘This is my guy!’” Conlin recalls.