How Employers Hire
As always, fore-warned is fore-armed. Knowing before hand what the employer expects from you will reduce a considerable amount of frustration which may arise if you plunge into Project Job Hunt without any preparation.
Hiring processes are like snowflakes each one is different from the other. But some basic guidelines that companies follow are rather common. These are Recruitment, Screening and Selection.
A recruitment ad does not necessarily mean that the company is hiring. Sometimes they just need to enroll applicants to have a database ready for future vacancies.
The different ways in which companies organize such enrollments are:
- Advertising: Using every possible medium
- Internal Posting: Only existing employees get to see this kind.
- Referral: Employees can refer candidates whom they know.
- Placement Service Providers: These are agencies that can carry out the task of recruitment on behalf of the company.
- Personnel Staffing Services: They provide employees on contract.
- Job Fairs: A great place to fill the company database.
- Internet: Where the company can find all kinds of people and still maintain anonymity.
- Other Recruitment Sources: Like educational institutions.
The hundreds of resumes received in the recruitment process have to be screened for prospective candidates to be interviewed.
As a first step the company discards all those that do not have the right qualifications, experience and skills. Then they may conduct a screening interview either in person or over the phone. Make sure you use all the keywords that they may have mentioned in their ad or else your resume may be discarded by screening software.
This is the final part of the process and a wrong decision can cost the company dearly. Hence they painstakingly interview the candidate not only for technical skills but also other important aspects like personality and how much he will cost.
Most companies have a hierarchy in place for people involved in the hiring process.
Advertised Jobs
There'll be hundreds of jobs advertised using all the possible media. But remember you are not the only one who will see them. There will be countless applicants for such jobs. And not all of these jobs are worth applying to, so don't raise your hope too high. Apply immediately even if the address is only a post box number, but don't pin your hopes only on advertised jobs. If possible, address your application to a person and not to 'whomsoever this may concern'. Follow up.
Today's Job Market
The job market today is an extremely changed world from what it used to be. The employers today don't even bother expecting people to stay with the same company for too long as used to be in the past. Job hunting is now an inherent part of everyone's career.
