Bypassing the hiring process can work, but it is not always advisable There is a story in Greek mythology of Hydra, a monster with many heads and deadly poisonous breath. For every head chopped off, the Hydra would regrow two heads and the only way to deal with this was with swords and fire. We…

There is a lot of social media white noise around the value of references in the hiring process. As with everything today opinions are divided and polarised. I mean….. really? People actually feel strongly about references? Seemingly they do. Pros and cons Many people underestimate the value of references in the hiring process. But that…

“Facts tell stories sell” is a piece of marketing and personal branding advice I see almost daily on social media, especially targeting job seekers. Like a lot of bumper sticker homilies, it can work some of the time, but it doesn’t work all of the time. Why? Because it lacks nuance, a topic which is…

Is it time to dump those interview question clichés which constantly crop up and add little value? I would say so! And for once I am not a lone voice! I was recently involved in an interview process and the hiring manager asked the candidate: “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” Poker face…

Our recruitment systems are riddled with hiring biases They always have been. But we need to manage them more urgently than ever post COVID19. If anyone had said on January 1, 2020, that within four months most of those who could, would be working from home, would you have believed them? If they went on…

 In candidate driven markets, hiring managers are the sellers For years the recruitment process has been powered by companies in the happy position of being in  the driving seat. Today, things have changed in a candidate driven market. In a supply driven market, companies posted ads, shortlisted some candidates, put them through rigorous interviews and…

The challenges of Brexit and Talent are long term issues In August 2016 I wrote a post on Brexit and talent focusing on a potential talent drain. It recently gained some renewed traction, so I felt it merited revisiting. I specifically mentioned top end and skilled talent, those with strong transferable skill who were voluntarily…

More and more organizations use video as an integrated part of their recruitment process. But a new step is the automated interview also called the on-demand interview. This is a structured interview where candidates answer a series of predetermined questions which are recorded to camera. There are a number of platforms that deal with this and…

Diversity and Inclusion recruitment processes and workforces are the buzz words right now. If the level of white noise was a benchmark, we should be there and all sorted. But we’re not. So  what’s going on behind the hype? Why aren’t diversity and inclusion recruitment initiatives working? I see regular, but superficial posts about the…

Affinity bias and cultural fit plays safe and stifles diversity Affinity bias is defined as: preference for certain types of people for whom they have an affinity, such as respondents who are similar to them or that they find attractive, and including them in the sample at higher rates than others. “The right fit” is…