As Talent Acquisition Professionals we are constantly in search of talent for vacancies that crop up at regular intervals. With that being said, getting candidates that meet all the requirements isn’t easy. In such a scenario we start looking for ways and techniques that can help boost the candidate search. This got us thinking whether creativity has something to do with the candidate search hence the question, “what difference can creativity make when Recruiters are already meeting their targets?” This was the focus of the WhatsApp Group Chat that was held. Here’s what we found out…This discussion that we had was amazing with interesting inputs to the question. A look into the discussion made us realise that we’ve never thought about these aspects. Well, we got the answer to the question that was posed earlier on in the write up. But if you’ve also added to your knowledge and would like updates to similar upcoming chats then follow @SourcingAdda.

The advancement in technology has undoubtedly brought people closer together. As a result we have become more globally connected. While the internet serves as a very good tool for getting connected and being connected with your friends and relatives; whether close and far off it should be noted that it is also an exceptional tool for recruiting too.

Modern recruiters now focus on social media recruiting and sourcing therefore a job seeker’s first impression is no longer done during a personal interview but rather through social networks such as Facebook. So if you have an online presence it is essential that you watch what you post and display as recruiters relay on these platforms to get a first impression of a potential candidate.

Statistics of Digital Recruiting

Several studies have been conducted and the statistics in recruitment showed that 30 % of all google searches are mostly job related, 94% of recruiters either use or plan to use social media for recruiting, close to 78% of recruiters have already hired via social media, over 1 billion endorsements are done on LinkedIn and 93 % of recruiters now look at social profiles. Lately a new trend is followed in recruiting with 43% of job seekers now looking for and applying to jobs through mobiles. 73% of job seekers within the age range of 18 to 40 year olds have used social networks and landed their last job via these platforms (careerenlightenment.com).

Top Social Recruiting Sites

Of the several social media sites the top and the most used by recruiters due to the results obtained are LinkedIn with 94%, followed by Facebook with 65%, in close competition to Facebook is Twitter with 55%, followed by Google+ and YouTube with 18% and 15% respectively. In addition 94% of recruiter’s use Social media for their own job hunting (careerenlightenment.com).

Tips for Tech Savvy individuals

• Be careful of the information you share and what you do online, as there are lots of fake job search sites that use your information for illegal use. Besides be prepared for someone checking up on you.
• Beware of sites that don’t name the people involved, don’t offer contact information and ones that have an inadequate privacy policy.
• Use a separate email id for job searching or create one that doesn’t say too much of you. Make a simple one such as your name@email address.domain.
• There are chances that a potential employer will check up on your social media site, so be sure to add information regarding your volunteer work and work experience.
• Don’t conduct your job search at your current employer’s expense, as many companies monitor your computer use and email and will know if you are job searching instead of working.

These are some tips that most individuals with an online presence tend to forget or don’t pay attention too. So if you are a sourcer, recruiter or simply a job seeker you too need to focus on these aspects as it has a bearing on future career prospects.

If you are someone who still relies on traditional methods of recruiting its probably time to wake up and be In with the crowd as your chances of acquiring a job via traditional methods is rather miniscule. As you need to adapt to modern methods of recruiting if you want results and speed up the process.

Hiring a great candidate isn’t easy; ask any recruiter and even more so hiring a marketing candidate at that! As a result recruiters have a hard time landing that perfect candidate for the firm that they represent. As such even corporates that seeking out such individuals share in the brunt of inefficient employees. Therefore there are, “3 Interview Questions every Recruiter should ask a Marketing Candidate” in an effort to recruit an efficient marketing candidate that you might encounter. So let’s find out what these interesting questions are…

What’s the difference between marketing and selling?

This is probably the most important questions that will help you identify an efficient candidate. This is a common question with mixed answers, as most individuals tend to confuse the two when it comes to the individual roles that each one performs. This confusion then leads to conflict between the two as employees that are part of the sales group tend to be more focused on making the numbers and it is difficult for them to perceive and appreciate the ground work that marketing create. Similarly, a marketing professional will find it difficult to perceive and appreciate the complexity of the steps involved in making a sale. Regardless of this conflict it will affect either party’s productivity of the organisation on the whole.

How would you contribute, if you’ve temporarily been assigned to the sales groups?

This is a nice way to cross check the applicants that you receive and a way to build bonds between sales and marketing groups. And even if this is not your objective, nonetheless you should still pose this question as it is the practical aspect of the previous question, for the candidate. This question will definitely give you an idea as to the kind of personality the candidate has. If you get an answer like, “I’m sure that I’d be good at selling, but an assignment such as this would not be the best use of my talents.” This response suggests that if the candidate is hired then they are likely to have difficulty in creating marketing programs the delivery of products that are useful to the sales teams as well. But the ideal answer would be something like this, “I’d learn everything that I can and then bring that knowledge back to the marketing group to help make it a more effective one.”

Tell me about your brand

This is a bit tricky, for the simple reason that on the surface it provides an opportunity to the candidate to apply and talk about their unique experience in the industry and how they come out to the outside world. All very important aspects for the job profile. This will also highlight whether your candidates priorities are to either help your marketing team to build a stronger brand or to build a personal brand for themselves to advance in their careers. You want to hire someone who defines their personal brand in terms of service, working in a team and helping the company to be a success. A candidate displaying more of a personal brand to be independent is sure to be problematic for corporates. These individuals usually tend not to get along with co – workers and are bound to affect the performance of others.

So there you have it the questions that might just be the key to unlocking doors to catch that perfect candidate which you effortlessly seek but leads to an attempt of futile effort of gathering those hard to get candidates. Now that you have some more information on making a hire, you should probably be implementing it in to your list of strategies to land a perfect hire! You can also leave your views in our comments section and we’ll be glad to implement them.

You know what time it is, well it’s time for a recap on the discussion that we had in our WhatsApp Group Chat platform. And I’m sure you are impatiently waiting to refresh your memory on the aspects that were discussed. So find out what our fellow Talent Acquisition professionals had to say about, “Are Present day Recruiters well equipped to assess the culture fit of a candidate?” If you weren’t present then you’re in for a thought provoking session and are likely to gain interesting insights too.

Now weren’t you glad that you went through the entire chat, I’m sure you’d have forgotten some of it already. If not then you have added to your learning and you know something more than what you originally did. How great is that. I bet you can’t wait for our next WhatsApp Group Chat. Wait no more all you have to do is follow us @SourcingAdda for timely updates.

It’s time to refresh our memories on the SourcingChat (#SourcingChat) that was conducted by our all-time favourite Community, Can you guess which? Yes, you’ve guessed right Sourcing Adda (@SourcingAdda). We at Sourcing Adda would like to thank all our participants for sharing their interesting insights about “Candidate assessments, does it matter at every level?” It was quite informative for the ones present. But let’s get right to the point and find out which were the Top Tweets of the SourcingChat (#SourcingChat). Interesting enough…

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda
  • 1 What are the various types of assessments followed? #SourcingChat

• Mettl Inc. @mettl_
  • #SourcingChat #Aptitude and #Psychometric, at a ground level. Tools today enable you to mix and match, and get the output you want!

• QuodeIT @quodeit1
  • @SourcingAdda A1. (1/2) Depending on the position there are mainly 3 types of assessment 1. Aptitude 2.Technical 3.Psychometric. #Sourcingchat

• QuodeIT @quodeit1
  • (2/2) And these assessments can be clubbed and taken accordingly. #SourcingChat #QuodeIT

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda
  • 2 Does your organization have assessment for all level of hiring? #SourcingChat

• Mettl Inc. @mettl_
  • A2 Organizational fitment is needed at every level => it makes sense to assess at every level, and hence, YES. #SourcingChat

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda
  • 3 How does assessments differ from lower level to higher level hiring? #SourcingChat

• Mukta Patil @MuktaPatil4
  • A3: At a lower level we stress more on technical know-how, whereas higher level we stress more on achievements and function #SourcingChat

• Vethamoorthy A @vethamoorthy
  • lower level concentrates on theory while higher levels focuses on problem solving experience #SourcingChat

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda
  • 4 When it comes to employee referrals, are the assessment results seriously considered? #SourcingChat

• Mukta Patil @MuktaPatil4
  • A4: 100% without a doubt! No matter the Source of the candidate, he/she had to go through the appropriate assessments #SourcingChat

• Parul Sharma @parulsharma23
  • A 4 #sourcingchat to some extent, Employee referral r given more weightage but certainly d level of assessment should be followed religiously.

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda
  • 5 What are the key issues that arise out of having different assessments for different levels? #SourcingChat

• Mettl Inc. @mettl_
  • We really don’t see any issue. @mettl_ provides a one-stop solution for those who do. #SourcingChat

• QuodeIT @quodeit1
  • No issues. Different type of assessments only gives more options for assessing better! Assessment simplified at @quodeit1 #sourcingchat

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda
  • 6 How has technology enhanced the assessment process for different levels? #SourcingChat

• Mettl Inc. @mettl_
  • Saves {financial+human+logistical} Capital & Time. Allows better selection based on fitment assessment. #SourcingChat

• Sachin Khurana @SachinKhurana05
  • A6) # Technology enables efficient, fast, measurable, common platform 4 assessments across all levels #SourcingChat

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda
  • 7 Which is your favorite assessment tool? Why. What is the unique feature that sets it apart? #SourcingChat

• QuodeIT @quodeit1
  • Well, definitely @quodeit1 !! We do not brag about it but it’s not bragging if it’s true! #sourcingchat #CompleteAssessment #QuodeIT

• Sourcing Adda @SourcingAdda
  • 8 What is the most innovative way of assessment you have implemented or have come across? #SourcingChat

• QuodeIT @quodeit1
  • (1/2) QBBA (Quality Beyond Academic Aptitude) which is a Psychometric Assessment specially designed for fresher’s #sourcingchat

• QuodeIT @quodeit1
  • (2/2) QBBA is an innovative way of assessment which will help assess a fresher in future. It is under development at @quodeit1 #sourcingchat

Well this sure was quite informative, I mean there were things that I wasn’t aware of until the SourcingChat and I’m sure you too weren’t aware. Besides we had a lot of views expressed and I can say that it was a success this is because of the feedback we received from our Tweeters. If you’ve enjoyed the Chat then I’ sure you’re waiting to know when we’re having the next Chat. To get timely updates be sure to follow us @Sourcing Adda or #SourcingChat.