I’m a recruiter AMA

[Anonymous]

What did you study in college and did it help you in your career?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Excluding CEO/President level (think VP, senior manager, manager types) at what point does a candidate's age start working against them?

Good question. It depends on the role and the company to be honest. I’ve been in old school industries (think commercial and retail banking) where people stay a looonnng time and someone who is say 45 is about the midpoint of the workforce distribution. I’ve also worked in digital marketing where the average age was like 30. And then in F500 the average age might be in the middle say 38, but by 50 the company is packaging people out.

I will say this
There is no reason to ever put more than 15 years of experience on your resume
There is no reason to put your college graduation date. (1982??!)
There is no reason to still be using Yahoo email. SMH
There is no reason to use Times Roman Font
— when I see a combination of these things on a resume I start thinking ‘This PERSON Has Aged Himself/Herself With This Resume - they are demonstrating by this document that they are not adaptable, will not change.

Guilty. At least it’s not Hotmail?!

I hate gmail with a passion. What email is one supposed to use if you hate gmail?

[Anonymous]

Why do so few companies send out rejection letters to applicants who are not hired?

Agreed with the "why not Times New Roman" question. Times New Roman was designed for narrow columns in newspapers, so it is maybe not the best choice for a resume, but there are also far worse choices. A widely used, timeless, well-designed serif typeface is always a good choice for body text (maybe Garamond or Baskerville).

Why are so many job searches set up to select for the worst possible candidates. Examples include making it difficult to apply (annoying web sites requiring registration, etc., rather than just an email address that accepts resumes), dumb interview questions that benefit those who give obviously bullshit answers ("where do you see yourself in five years?"), extensive pre-hire exercises/tests, multiple in-person interviews, etc. All of these are likely to result in hiring the worst, most desperate candidates, as well-qualified candidates do not want or need to put up with any of this.

What is the cost of a typical job search, and why do so many companies seem to prefer paying it to trying to retain existing (good) employees by improving pay and working conditions?

Why are so many job descriptions either flat-out wrong or at least written by people who have no idea what the actual job involves?

Do you have any funny stories about great or terrible candidates that you could share?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I applied for a job that I think I’m a perfect fit for. I haven’t heard back yet. If this was a position you were hiring for, would you want to hear from me, just to alert you to my application (which may be in a pile of 1000s) and to reiterate my strong interest in the job? Is there anything I could do at this point that you’d like to see, or is it better to just wait?

Honestly, I would. I get a lot of pings via LinkedIn. I give each one a look. Just because they took the extra time to send a thoughtful note and an appropriate but assertive outreach. If they are not a fit, honeslty, I don’t have time to respond. If they are a fit, I ping back! “Got it - TY- I will be in touch!”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What did you study in college and did it help you in your career?

Psychology. And All. The. Time.
I can suss out some dysfunctional behavior pretty quickly now - anger/hostility/high ego/ sometimes lying (what you are saying doesn’t match your body language)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"There is no reason to use Times Roman Font." Mind blown. Recruiter: What are we supposed to be using?

Calibri, Arial, a clean sans serif font works really well

[Anonymous]

Calibri, Arial, a clean sans serif font works really well

Why would sans-serif be preferable? It is generally considered to be harder to read for body text, and it also looks less serious than serif type. And Arial is sort of an abomination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Internal recruiter or external/third party?

Internal Corporate

Why does it take MONTHS to get to the second round and NEVER to respond when you’re not interested?

I get it.
Our priority is to move the best candidates Forward.
That does mean that the hundreds that aren’t our priority get left behind in terms of communication.
So say I interviewed you and 6 others. The Hiring Manager chooses to advance 4 of them to the next round. But you’re not one of the 4. My activity is now hyper focused on those 4. (Multiply this by 10-20 roles). I’m managing communications to say 80 people.
Now it takes 60 days for us to fill a role, sometimes 90. Once the new hire signs the paperwork, we close the job down and disposition the hundreds that in the recruitment funnel. Hence why, if you aren’t the candidate moving forward, for you it takes MONTHS.
I wish the systems could be faster - maybe AI helps to close the candidate communication loop better in next gen ATS’s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Calibri, Arial, a clean sans serif font works really well

Why would sans-serif be preferable? It is generally considered to be harder to read for body text, and it also looks less serious than serif type. And Arial is sort of an abomination.

Your opinion counts. You do you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Internal recruiter or external/third party?

Internal Corporate

Why does it take MONTHS to get to the second round and NEVER to respond when you’re not interested?

I get it.
Our priority is to move the best candidates Forward.
That does mean that the hundreds that aren’t our priority get left behind in terms of communication.
So say I interviewed you and 6 others. The Hiring Manager chooses to advance 4 of them to the next round. But you’re not one of the 4. My activity is now hyper focused on those 4. (Multiply this by 10-20 roles). I’m managing communications to say 80 people.
Now it takes 60 days for us to fill a role, sometimes 90. Once the new hire signs the paperwork, we close the job down and disposition the hundreds that in the recruitment funnel. Hence why, if you aren’t the candidate moving forward, for you it takes MONTHS.
I wish the systems could be faster - maybe AI helps to close the candidate communication loop better in next gen ATS’s

How big is your company that it takes 60-90 days to hire? That's really long time and shows a lack of efficiency in your company's hiring process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Excluding CEO/President level (think VP, senior manager, manager types) at what point does a candidate's age start working against them?

Good question. It depends on the role and the company to be honest. I’ve been in old school industries (think commercial and retail banking) where people stay a looonnng time and someone who is say 45 is about the midpoint of the workforce distribution. I’ve also worked in digital marketing where the average age was like 30. And then in F500 the average age might be in the middle say 38, but by 50 the company is packaging people out.

I will say this
There is no reason to ever put more than 15 years of experience on your resume
There is no reason to put your college graduation date. (1982??!)
There is no reason to still be using Yahoo email. SMH
There is no reason to use Times Roman Font
— when I see a combination of these things on a resume I start thinking ‘This PERSON Has Aged Himself/Herself With This Resume - they are demonstrating by this document that they are not adaptable, will not change.

Guilty. At least it’s not Hotmail?!

I hate gmail with a passion. What email is one supposed to use if you hate gmail?

I see outlook and gmail most often.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do so few companies send out rejection letters to applicants who are not hired?

Agreed with the "why not Times New Roman" question. Times New Roman was designed for narrow columns in newspapers, so it is maybe not the best choice for a resume, but there are also far worse choices. A widely used, timeless, well-designed serif typeface is always a good choice for body text (maybe Garamond or Baskerville).

Why are so many job searches set up to select for the worst possible candidates. Examples include making it difficult to apply (annoying web sites requiring registration, etc., rather than just an email address that accepts resumes), dumb interview questions that benefit those who give obviously bullshit answers ("where do you see yourself in five years?"), extensive pre-hire exercises/tests, multiple in-person interviews, etc. All of these are likely to result in hiring the worst, most desperate candidates, as well-qualified candidates do not want or need to put up with any of this.

What is the cost of a typical job search, and why do so many companies seem to prefer paying it to trying to retain existing (good) employees by improving pay and working conditions?

Why are so many job descriptions either flat-out wrong or at least written by people who have no idea what the actual job involves?

Do you have any funny stories about great or terrible candidates that you could share?

I’ll address this one because you may not understand the mechanics and systems that are being used.
Email does not let me
Run data analysis on the number of candidates in the funnel
Create a dashboard of which candidates are in which stage of the interview process
Nudge me to nudge the hiring manager about your application because it has been sitting in their queue for 5 business days
Identify and red flag that you’re a bot because you’ve applied to every job we’ve posted from entry level to VP
Alert me that even though your resume says Houston TX, you are actually in Nigeria when i go to schedule your inteview
Hold in one place all the notes from all the interviewers about your candidacy and the scorecard that they gave you after their interview with you
Condense all the scorecards for our top 3 candidates so we can see a picture of who we’ve got as finalists

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Internal recruiter or external/third party?

Internal Corporate

Why does it take MONTHS to get to the second round and NEVER to respond when you’re not interested?

I get it.
Our priority is to move the best candidates Forward.
That does mean that the hundreds that aren’t our priority get left behind in terms of communication.
So say I interviewed you and 6 others. The Hiring Manager chooses to advance 4 of them to the next round. But you’re not one of the 4. My activity is now hyper focused on those 4. (Multiply this by 10-20 roles). I’m managing communications to say 80 people.
Now it takes 60 days for us to fill a role, sometimes 90. Once the new hire signs the paperwork, we close the job down and disposition the hundreds that in the recruitment funnel. Hence why, if you aren’t the candidate moving forward, for you it takes MONTHS.
I wish the systems could be faster - maybe AI helps to close the candidate communication loop better in next gen ATS’s

How big is your company that it takes 60-90 days to hire? That's really long time and shows a lack of efficiency in your company's hiring process.

Nope industry standard for F500 TTF Goal = 60 days from posting

[Anonymous]

How much does a candidate’s success depend on “vibes”?

What do you wish more people would know about interviewing, and what advice would you give people to make them better interviewers generally?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much does a candidate’s success depend on “vibes”?

What do you wish more people would know about interviewing, and what advice would you give people to make them better interviewers generally?

Great question! 60% Competence for the job / 40% vibes. Or some combination. When I interview you, I want to QUALIFY you, AND I’m asking Will the team like working with you.

Advice: Despite some funny stuff on TikTok these days that portray the candidate pulling one over on the recruiter or excelling by using AI during the interview - my advice is don’t do it. I can tell when you are reading when your eyes move back and forth. And you come across as flat, no affect, no personality. (Seriously, try recording yourself and watching it back). Just be prepared, know that you are qualified for the role, and go with the interview flow. Especially in the first rounds - like you KNOW what is going to be asked! There are like 10 questions that recruiters use up front. Also know this - I as the recruiter (with hundreds of candidates in the funnel) am clicking into our video call wanting to LIKE you.