Telephone Interviews

When I started doing recruiting, I had a lot to learn, as I didn’t come from the HR sector at all.

One such discovery was the significance and absolute danger for the job seeker related to the initial telephone call from the employer, especially when it falls on an unsuspecting/unprepared person.

At first, when one of my employer clients decided that they wanted to begin a recruitment conversation with one of my job candidates, I understood this to mean that the company would be inviting the person to their offices for a face-to-face interview. Now I understand from hard life experience that this is in fact the best case scenario, and certainly not a foregone conclusion.

My history with the recruitment process until this point was my own personal experience with job search for myself. Maybe I have a faulty memory, but what I remember was that when I submitted my CV and a company was interested in me, they would call and invite me to their offices for an interview. I don’t recall the telephone discussion being anything more than a short conversation to make the logistical arrangements.

What I started to realize very quickly was that many of the job seekers that had telephone conversations with the employer were never actually invited to a personal interview – the process completely ground to a halt for them with this one and only phone interaction.

It was clear that I was missing something - what was actually going on?

Each employer operates differently, but somewhere in their thought process, consciously or not, is the question: How much resources do I want to invest in this candidate? Reviewing a CV is the least “expensive” for an employer, followed by a telephone call, and then finally an in-person interview.

Maybe you have heard that a CV/resume is reviewed on average 20-30 seconds. Of course, this is the first stage of filtering, and most candidates are removed from contention at this point. Anyone who has sifted through large numbers of CVs knows that the majority of people that submit their candidacy don’t even meet the qualifications listed in the job posting. If the CV is especially interesting, I will invest more than the usual amount of time in reading it before ultimately deciding whether the candidate is suitable to be submitted to the company for further consideration.

So, what happened next was shocking to me at first. Not so much that people that I thought were appropriate were not all generating strong interest from the employer – that was to be expected, as I generally was not the only resource they had presenting candidates. However, a much-higher-than-expected percentage of people that the companies decided to speak with based upon the CV that I submitted had the recruitment process stop after one telephone conversation.

I became very curious – what is the employer looking for in this phone conversation, and what are they asking to allow them to arrive at the go/no go decision of whether to invest even more resources by inviting the job seeker to an interview at the office?

When the employer gets the CV, either pre-screened by a recruiter or directly from a job candidate, they do their own evaluation. Certainly the processing is different depending on whether the candidate was pre-screened by a trusted agency or is not filtered at all.

At the end, though, from the oftentimes large quantity of initial CVs, the company whittles the number of candidates down to a more manageable size – those that may meet their candidate profile. What comes next is the process that the company has created to go from “may meet the candidate profile” based upon the contents of a one-dimensional CV to a more confident understanding that this person has the skills and motivation to do the job and fit the company.

Of course, each employer has their own philosophy for the entire recruitment process, and the initial phone conversation is only one aspect of this. Still, it might help the job seeker conceptually to place an employer in one of three categories regarding how they view the call:

1. Scheduling - This initial telephone call is designed to set a time for the job seeker to come to the employer’s offices for an interview. I mistakenly thought at first that this was the only way that companies viewed this conversation, but I now realize that the majority of employers use this first encounter as something much more than simply scheduling.
2. Mini-Interview - The hiring manager/HR person knows that it is impossible to get a clear picture of the candidate from the CV, nor for the candidate to have a full comprehension of the company/position from the job listing, so the call is used to narrow the gaps. Details on the CV are discussed/elaborated upon, and additional relevant information not contained in the CV may be requested. Also, it can be used for the employer to provide additional details about the job in order to allow the candidate to understand better the specifics and respond with their level of interest. Can be 5-15 minutes in length.
3. Full-Interview - The call is the equivalent of an in-person interview, simply conducted by telephone. Oftentimes 30 minutes or more.

I have come to the conclusion that from the perspective of the job seeker, unless you know otherwise, you should be planning that the initial telephone conversation will be a short or long variation of a traditional interview, and prepare yourself accordingly.

First things first... Since this call is generally not scheduled in advance, you can’t know when it’s coming and fully prepare in the same way you would for a more traditional planned interview. So, when the company calls, make sure that you are in a situation where you can concentrate and make a good impression. If you are driving, stop the car! If there is a lot of noise or bad reception, try to find a more suitable near-by location to talk. If you are taking care of an unhappy child, or are in the middle of something that you simply can’t interrupt, politely ask if you can reschedule the conversation. There is a risk in asking to reschedule, as the company doesn’t always call back (quickly) and you may lose your chance to be one of the initial candidates, but generally they will get in touch in a timely fashion.  Having the conversation when you are not at your best is a recipe for disaster. And if you are not available to take a call while you are in the job search process, make sure you have voice mail associated with your telephone, and don’t forget to listen to your messages regularly.

As the conversation begins, keep these points in mind:

• When the company asks for clarification, you should be happy that you have the opportunity to provide additional information, rather than have the company make assumptions that don’t serve your purposes. It doesn’t matter if the answer to the question is already contained your CV – responding intelligently and articulately makes a positive impression.
• Don’t be evasive/defensive. When a company asks why you left your previous job, why you have a hole in your work history, or what your salary expectations are, answer the question clearly. Of course you should be prepared in advance for such questions, in the same way you would be for an in-person interview, and provide pre-planned responses that serve your interests. For more details of interview questions, see this article.

Getting a telephone call from a perspective employer is an excellent sign. You have passed the initial CV review stage, generally something that very few achieve. Preparing yourself for the telephone conversation in the same way you would for a face-to-face interview will give you the best chance to move forward in the recruitment process.

Is it Really So Hard to Say Thank You?

Here in Israel we’ve said a couple of big thanks over the past week, both present day and biblical. The terrible recent fire in the northern part of the country overwhelmed the local fire departments and many countries from near and far came and provided tremendous assistance. The fire caused a lot of damages (estimated at one-third of the forest areas of the Carmel region), but I understand that without this international help the damage might well have been double this. After the fire was contained, our Prime Minister Bibi publicly and graciously thanked the governments that were available in our time of need as well as the firefighters themselves that traveled here and risked their lives to put out the flames. A totally different thank you technique was displayed by the Israeli foreign ministry, whose representative spent the majority of the time reminding listeners how good Israel has been in the past to help others in crisis (which is certainly true), and then sequenced into a thanks that other countries came to our aid as well; in my opinion a less self-serving message would have been more appropriate and effective. In the synagogue last Shabbat, Jacob thanked/blessed Pharaoh for allowing the Jews to live in Egypt during the famine. I certainly hope that the thanks that the modern day Israel gave to Egypt this week for assisting to put out the fires will lead to a better relationship than our forefathers encountered in Ancient Egypt those many years ago!

Now, I hope my transition to employment will be less painful here than listening to a foreign ministry expression of gratitude…

In the US, it is quite common that after an interview, a job candidate will send a thank you note to the person that conducted the interview. Certainly this is not an altruistic act entirely – on the one hand it can make sense to show appreciation for the person that invested time and efforts in interviewing you, but usually the motivation is more “me-based” – raising your visibility in the recruitment process and distinguishing yourself from other candidates. What I have noticed in Israel is that the simple thank you note is almost totally ignored by job seekers. I am not quite sure why this is true, and I certainly wouldn’t associate this with a cultural trait of the local population. Anyway, the more interesting point is not the why, but whether it is useful for a job candidate in Israel to send such a note. In Israel, they may have an even more positive impact than in the US, as the local interviewer may well be getting such a note from you and no one else. I certainly can’t see the harm in it and there is definitely a potential up-side, and if nothing else, it will force you to make an effort to get the interviewer’s name and contact details (something which never ceases to amaze me many people leave an interview without).

So, what should be in this thank you noted, generally delivered by email? The combination of expressing gratitude for the interviewer’s time and the opportunity to better discuss the position and your suitability together with a reminder of what a good fit you are and strong interest you have is ideal. Of course, thinking about the best language to compose such a message is also relevant, depending upon who the interviewer was. It shouldn’t be long, and certainly not a recap of your CV or the interview in its entirety, just a few short sentences that get your point across.

Wishing you great success in your job seeking efforts and heartfelt thanks for taking the time to read this article.

Job Search in Israel Blog – 6 Months Old

The Job Search in Israel blog (http://jobsearchinisrael.blogspot.com/) has passed the six (6) month mark, and I have kept to my target of one new article a week. The objective with the site is to explore issues related to seeking work in Israel, designed for newcomers and long-time residents, as well as those considering moving here. On the right-side of the blog page, there is an archive of all of the previous articles; here is a quick list of some of them:

• New Immigrants' Employment Issues
• Your Employment Search Persona
• LinkedIn – Tying it all Together
• Employment Networking - Getting to the Other Two Thirds of the Jobs
• CV/Resume – Chronological or Skills Based?
• CV/Resume File Type – Is it Important?
• Cover Letters: Can They Actually Hurt your Chances?
• Interviews – What is the Employer Really Asking?
• Job Seekers – Help People Help You
• Job Seeker Black Hole
• Employee Assessment in Israel
• Freelancer in Israel – What does it Mean?
• Work Permit for Foreigners in Israel
• Transferable Skills & Professions
• The “O” Word – Overqualified
• Online Job Boards
• When is the Best Time to Look for a Job?

There is a shortage of job search material that is lacking from the site, of course there are plenty of areas untouched. However, with so much readily available on the web, I don’t want to simply duplicate what can be found by anyone via a simple Google search. Rather, I am trying to address specific issues related to Israel and your employment search.

So, I am asking for your help, dear readers. Please write to me at jobsearchinisrael@gmail.com with feedback on the site, suggestions for future article subjects, problems you have encountered in your job search, and/or questions that you have about seeking work in Israel. So far, readers' comments are positive and encouraging, and I am enthusiastic about continuing to add new material based upon your interests and needs. So, please do take the time to send me a message.

And, best of success in your job search!

Interviews – What is the Employer Really Asking?

I grew up in the wine country of Northern California, so I was introduced to a whole new set of sports when I attended UC Santa Barbara in Southern California: water/beach sports. One of these was water polo, a game similar to soccer/football played in a swimming pool, with the teams not being able to touch the bottom of the pool. I went to my first match and sat next to a friend that understood the game, and he told me that what we saw from the bleachers was only half of what was really going on. Underneath the water, far from the spectators’ (and presumably the referees) eyes, the players were kicking each other and generally doing whatever they could to make their opponent’s lives difficult.

I was reminded of this recently in two separate occasions, one of which relates to employment. First, the non-employment event... In Israel, we are fortunate compared to our non-Israeli counterparts in that we receive the Blessing of the Kohanim in synagogue each Shabbat (twice!). During this prayer, the men lift our tallits high enough so that our children can come underneath it with us and receive this benediction. I guess from the outside looking at our family unit under the tallit, it probably appears to be the picture of serenity. However, anyone that could peek under my tallit would be witness to some quite violent actions by my children, suddenly forced to be so close together. Maybe I have the makings of junior water polo players…

More seriously though, I was speaking with someone that was preparing for a job interview. What we attempted to do was understand what was hidden here, meaning what were the objectives of the employer, so that we could then devise a plan for the appropriate responses to anticipated questions. After this conversation and a little research, I think it can be summed up like this.

Clearly, getting invited to an interview means that you have succeeded in attracting positive attention to yourself and making progress in the recruitment process. The employer has shown enough interest in you to invest valuable resources in understanding better your qualifications and capabilities, to ultimately determine if you meet their requirements. There is no shortage of Internet articles about interviewing, and a quick Google search will give you instant access. Doing some research on the “art of interviewing” can help you prepare for these meetings, allowing you to understand better what to expect and why. At the same time, researching the company and the interviewer will also pay dividends, enabling you during the interview to show that you have prepared well.

I have found it easiest to think of the employer’s objectives during an interview to be divided into two categories:

• Are you qualified for the job? – Here, employers are trying to determine if the candidate can do what is required. The interviewer needs to understand if what is on your CV is accurate, and whether your actual skills meet the company’s real needs. Technical candidates may be required to solve problems. A good interviewer will get the candidate to provide details of their past jobs and accomplishments, asking relevant questions when necessary. So, be prepared to offer these examples of your previous experiences, relating them as closely as you can to the employer/interviewer.
• Will you fit in with the company? – The interviewer also wants to find out if you are a good match for their corporate environment. Maybe you will be given situations that have occurred previously in the company and asked for your reaction. Some companies expect a lot of overtime, or the ability to work in teams (or work alone) – these then become tangible elements in which you will be evaluated in job candidates. For new immigrants, there are special issues, as many times employers have doubts how a person seeking their first job in Israel will survive in the local workplace, both in terms of culture and language. Your task is to understand the company and its environment as well as you can before entering the interview, so that when these questions arrive, you will be prepared to answer them properly.

And what about the Israel-specific interview questions that you may have heard about, those quasi-illegal queries such as:

• Are you married?
• Do you plan to have children?
• How old are you?
• Are you religious?

It is quite difficult to decipher what purpose/relevance these types of questions have in the recruitment process. Somehow the Israeli interviewer must put them in the second category of questions, those used to determine if a person will fit within their company. Why interviewers choose this way to try to understand this legitimate concern is a big unknown for me and most new (and veteran) immigrants, but there are plenty of things in Israel which immigrants probably never find good answers to, such as understanding how people can afford to buy new cars and go take regular international holidays when earning Israel salaries, why there are no good Mexican restaurants in Israel… Nonetheless, you shouldn’t be surprised if such questions are posed during your interview. At that point, you need to remember what your objective is (make a favorable impression and get the job!), take a deep breath, and answer the question so that the interviewer will have the feeling from your response that you match the company environment.

And if all else fails, you are always welcome to join me on Shabbat to receive the blessing of the Kohanim, which may improve your job search results. I’m sure my kids will be happy to make room for you under the tallit.