I was recently directed to a relatively new website - JobPoacher.  After the initial 'is this legit?' question, I realised it's actually a pretty amazing tool.  We find that a lot of great candidates are via referral or head hunt; but of course it's difficult to know whether people are looking for a new position and would welcome the call.  A lot of people won't put their CVs on job boards for fear of getting 'found out' by their current company - so this website is a great way to stay anonymous but still put 'feelers' out in the market.

So if you're looking to be 'poached', why not check it out!

Over the years, three of the things that have really wound me up when carrying out interviews have been candidates who do not prepare, in particular researching about the company and role.  Lying, I am no body-language expert but you don’t have to be a qualified psychologist to spot inconsistencies or when they claim to be Nobel laureates.  Finally, not having any questions to ask, besides ‘how much do I get paid?’

It appears that I am not the only one to have this frustration, my colleagues tell me that one way to tackle this is to test candidates by asking them what they hoped to achieve in their first 90 days in the job, thus having to demonstrate their knowledge, research and ask smart questions.  Not only does it appear that my esteemed colleagues are asking such questions but I also read the blog by John Lees on get this, the Harvard Business Review, who supported this.

This question, in turns is a minefield to answer, if the candidate is critical of current activities and that is the ‘proud achievement’ of one of the interviewers – whoops! Equally if they come out with ‘I will spend time learning about the business and meet with key stakeholders before I make any changes’ the interviewers can think, boring, dull, safe.

Lees suggests an answer which is both learning and doing, giving around what specifically they will need to know and suggesting things the candidate may have you have tried elsewhere, which will open create a two way conversation and a teaser to a potential strategy.

I would build on this and suggest it is also an opportunity to build a rapport, establish trust and credibility.  Show off what you have found out and to ask those really shrewd questions.  The danger of all this, they then have to deliver what they said!

Either way, the bottom line of an interview is all about fit.  Fit with Companies culture and values, fit into the team, likeability, attitude and how they add value. In a market where UK unemployment has hit 2.62 million and is predicted to reach 2.75 million next year, it is an employer market; so candidates really do have to step up to the mark and really show their USP and that they are an asset that cannot be overlooked.

Gideon Schulman

MA Chartered FCIPD MCMI MILM

I would like to sincerely thank Gideon for his contribution as a valued guest blogger.  Check out Gideon’s own blog - http://yachne.me