Author: Naomi Marshall

Tips on Handling Interview Nerves

Posted on by Naomi Marshall

How do you handle nerves before an interview?   We get asked this a lot from our candidates and truthfully, it is not so much how you stop those nerves but how you manage them. Here are our top tips for prepping for an interview & not letting those nerves get in the way:

  1. Take Control of what you can

Nothing gives your nerves an adrenalin kick like running late or being disorganised for an interview. Make sure you control what you can and be as organised as humanely possible. This means:

  • Do you research a few days before your interview (no cramming on the bus on your way in).
  • Know where you are going, who you are meeting, what time you have to be there and allow extra time for any delays out of your control.
  • Have your outfit picked, ironed and ready to go to avoid any wardrobe malfunctions.
  • Have a good nights sleep the night before (no big nights or hangovers before the Big Day).
  1. Take Care of the Physical Nerve Reactions

If sweaty palms are a side effect of your nerves – be prepared and have a hanky in your bag or pocket (we know – you might have to borrow one from your Nanna – but they are so handy & don’t disintegrate after the first use). There really is nothing worse than shaking hands with a candidate and feeling the balmy squelch as you connect…YUK!

  1. Own your Nerves!

We get it. The Hiring Manager gets it. Everyone is human and nerves are natural. Own them!! Let your interviewer know you are feeling a little nervous and be honest. It will not only help diffuse the situation & let everyone know how you are feeling, it also demonstrates that you are a good communicator who is able to articulate what you are feeling and not being too shy or embarrassed to say so! Also, nerves mean you are keen on the job & want to make a good impression! That never hurts for the interviewer to know!!

  1. Deep Breaths and Take your Time

Your voice is shaky, or perhaps you are talking really fast, maybe you have sweat dripping off your brow as you try to listen to the questions. Sound like you??
STOP. Take a deep breath. Have a drink of water (wipe your brow if necessary). Slow everything down.
Focus on the question you are being asked and answer the question. Don’t waffle. Stop and take a breath whenever you feel like you are starting to nervously waffle, wobble or lose concentration.

Interviews are not easy. They are not mean to be. They are as much as about seeing how you perform under pressure as they are about your experience & getting to know you better. Take control of what you can, do your best to manage the nerves with all the components you can control. Practice deep breaths, have a laugh and run with it. Now is your time to SHINE!

If you want to talk more about how you can prepare for an interview, feel free to get in touch with the Sprint Team.

10 Steps to Finding your Dream Job!

Posted on by Naomi Marshall

Are you looking for your dream job? Are you waiting for it to land at your feet or are you out there, pounding the concrete on a quest to find it?

Did you know that more often than not, people are sitting back, passively, waiting for that opportunity? That means, your competition has already been halved, because they aren’t even trying.  So don’t be sitting in that group – follow our Sprint Steps below and be the one to stand out and secure your dream job!

  1. Have your CV & Cover letter ready to go:

Urgency is imperative in a job search. So often, by the time we’ve placed an ad on Seek, the client is already asking us for a shortlist of candidates from our database. The ad is often a recruiter throwing the net out to see who else is available but in actual fact, we could already have candidates interviewing! If you sit on a job you like the look of on Seek for a week before you actually apply, chances are, it will be too late. If you want the job, be quick and get in early, before the rest of the candidates trickle in over the coming days.

  1. Have a Seek Alert system

That way, you will be alerted to any new jobs and you can be one of the first to apply. With any job placed on Seek., we expect at least a hundred applications (sometimes it can be a lot more). Although at Sprint we go through each and every one of them, we start at the top and often as soon as the resumes come in we are calling those candidates and organising to meet them. Once we get a few good candidates, we often pause to interview them.  Be at the front of the line to be seen first! If you are one of the last, chances are, that ship will have sailed!

  1. Follow up with the Recruiter or Hiring Manager

There is nothing wrong with showing some enthusiasm! If your skills match the job requirements and it sounds like the role you want, make yourself standout! Call and introduce yourself to the recruiter. Let them know you are keen and let them know you believe you have the skills. HOWEVER, please send your CV in before you call! There is no point calling if the recruiter can’t visualise your experience and see first hand from your CV that you have what it takes.

  1. Tidy up your LinkedIn Profile

Does your LinkedIn profile represent the best of you? Is your photo up to date, professional and clear? Make sure your LinkedIn experience matches up to what you are saying in your CV because it is highly likely any recruiter or hiring manager will be checking you out online before they progress you forwards.  There is nothing more embarrassing than LinkedIn saying you’re one thing and your CV saying another.

  1. Check your Facebook Privacy & Profile Photos

Just like they are looking at you on LinkedIn, it is likely the hiring manager or even HR will be checking out what else they can find out about you online. Please remove all inappropriate photos from your Facebook and Instagram accounts and check your privacy settings. You don’t want to be looking like the perfect candidate on paper, proceed all the way to interview only to have it go down the toilet because of some inappropriate photos posted on social media 6 months ago!!

  1. Ask around friends and Family

Sometimes the role for you won’t even be advertised. It will be through a friend of a friend or an old colleague. Make sure you are letting your wider network of friends and family know that you are on a mission to find the job of your dreams.

  1. Do some research

Not 100% sure what the dream job entails? Ask around. Meet up with different friends, family and colleagues past and present. Find out what they do in their jobs, what they like, what they don’t like. What they do day to day! Identify what parts of their jobs you would be good at and start to see where your skills match up.  You never know where this exercise could lead by way of introductions and job offers!!

  1. Identify a Company Hit List

What type of company do you want to work for? Small, large? In the city or in the suburbs? Make a hit list of organisations you’d like to work for. Research them. Send your CV in to the HR team and let them know why you’d like to work for them and why you’d be a good fit!! It’s all about being proactive and getting your name out there.

  1. Don’t Give Up

We know. Believe us. We live and breathe it every day. Finding a job that you love is really hard and it takes a lot of resilience and perseverance. Don’t let a false start or a missed opportunity be a deterrent. There is a job out there for everyone and there is a career out there, one that you will love and prosper in. It can just take time, so keep going!!

We believe if you follow our Sprint Steps to your dream job it is only a matter of time before that perfect role is offered to you. Just remember finding a job is hard work. It isn’t meant to be easy and it rarely falls at anyone’s feet! If you want to chat more about how we can help you to finding your next role, please get in touch with us at Sprint People!!

What do I bring to my interview with Sprint People?

Posted on by Naomi Marshall

Congratulations! You’ve been asked in to meet with the recruiter for an interview. This is the first step to securing that dream job you applied for. Now is the time to shine. Please don’t get complacent about this recruiter interview and fall into the trap of thinking “it’s just the recruiter, it’s not a real interview”.

Meeting with your recruiter is as important as meeting a client. If we don’t love what we see and we can’t see you sitting in front of our client, answering the same questions with the same fabulous answers you are giving us…we won’t be sending you anywhere! Least of all, to our client who are expecting only the best from us. When we send a candidate to a client, you are representing us as well as yourself so we want you to *Shine*.

Which brings us to our question in the title. What do you need to bring to your interview, to demonstrate not only your skills and how right you are for that job, but also to make sure you are a bonafide, registered candidate on our books?

Come prepared
Know how you want to present yourself and your experience. Know your strengths, weaknesses and accomplishments. A job interview is not the time to wing it!

Arrive on time
Early or late – neither looks good. Arrive on time (maybe 2 or 3 minutes early) and announce yourself. Remember how you speak to the reception staff – they will taking in the first impressions and are often called on for insight.

TEMPS – Bring your Paperwork
If you would like to be considered for temp work (now or in the not too distant future), you will need to bring your paperwork so we can pay you!! This includes:
* Tax file number
* Bank details
* Superannuation information
* Any appropriate visa documentation

Bring your Testing
If you have done prior testing with another agency, bring a copy of these results for your file.

Know your Referees
We may need to do a reference check. It is a good idea to have a couple of referees up your sleeve that you can call on if need be. We won’t be calling them without your prior consent (and time for you to give them a heads up), but come prepared with their details.

Bring your Best You!
We want to see you at your best. That way – we know that we are recommending our client hire the right candidate and the best person for the job.

If you would like to know more about how you can prepare for an interview. Please refer to Sprint Coach on our website or get in touch with us directly.

Aligning your Ambition with the Job Interview.

Posted on by Naomi Marshall

When you are talking about “ambition” in a job interview, make sure that you are keeping it relevant and aligning your response to the role you are interviewing for. Make no mistake, ambition is great. It creates energy and enthusiasm in people and it’s what drives them. All very good things.

No employer ever briefs me on finding them a lazy, unmotivated, disheartened employee – ever. What they do, is brief me on a specific job and quite simply the want someone to do THAT job. End of story.

The word “ambition” is often brought up before, during and after an interview. Sometimes clients say that they’d prefer to find someone who isn’t too ambitious, as they would prefer the person to stay in the role for a length period of time (as opposed to going through the effort and expense of re-recruiting quickly). Other times they’re open to recruiting an ambitious person with a bright, active mind – full of new ideas. Perfect for a dynamic, growing business and/or team. It really will depend on the role and company.

But what I need to help you understand is that if you WANT TO GET THE JOB you are interviewing for, then you need to keep your ambition aligned with what an employer would most likely expect for the role that they are recruiting.

Recently I’ve had a few candidates asked the question: “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” (In the world of office support roles I feel is a ridiculous question. But I will write about why I feel that way next week so stay tuned!)… I had one candidate reply with “running my own childcare centre. I’ve been saving for years now, it’s a pipe dream but I know I’ll get there eventually”.

Ok. So this came from a fantastic EA who had a hell of a lot to give the business and she genuinely felt that would show them that she was ambitious and capable of more than just an EA role. However, we must remember that the client is a CEO, and he is hiring an EA. He wants someone to be the best EA in the ENTIRE world, save his day, make him even more successful than he ever thought he could be and build a close knit business partnership…He doesn’t want to hire someone who isn’t committed to him and his role. You can imagine how that interview ended. She missed out on the role. Sadly, up to that point he wanted to pretty much offer her on the spot (due to her background, presentation and the first 30 minutes of the interview).

It’s not that her ambition was wrong – but sometimes you have to show discretion when you are in an interview. Keep your short term ambitions relevant to the role you are interviewing for and hold off on disclosing your long term ambitions (as long as it doesn’t effect your ability to commit to the job at hand).

Some might say that the role wasn’t right for her, as ultimately she wanted to run a childcare centre. I disagree. It really was a pipedream and for the next 3-5 years she is ready to commit to a fantastic EA role however, by disclosing her ambition she was overlooked.

If you think of how a CEO of any major corporation would answer that question, he wouldn’t be saying to answer the board of Directors , “I’m keen to retire in the country, build up my own B&B business, grow citrus trees and tend my veggie patch’. It doesn’t really scream “hire me” as the driving force of your company.

So by all means be open about your plans for the future but try to keep them relevant to what relates to the employer and the job you are applying for. Use some discretion and make sure your ambition is aligned with the role you are interviewing for.

Naomi Marshall – Director
P: (02) 9271 0011
M: 0422 139 910
E: naomi@sprintpeople.com.au

 

Using Recruiters: The Difference Between Success & Failure

Posted on by Naomi Marshall

We all know the challenges of recruiting new employees.  It’s distracting and done incorrectly fraught with a high risk of failure. Is there a better chance of success if you use a good recruiter?

In my experience, there appears to be an inverse relationship between the time you take to hire and the chances of landing a brilliant candidate.  The less time you take the greater the chance you will be unhappy with your selection in the long run.

Poor selection processes are amplified in small business environments where there is no room to hide and the propensity for damage is greater.

The Recruitment Consultant

Enter the recruitment consultant.  For a large part of my career, I thought recruiters were a waste of time and money (I might also add I felt the same way about personal trainers until I turned 40!).  Why would I engage a recruiter to do what my HR department should be doing? It was only through experience that I learnt that HR professionals don’t necessarily make the best recruiters.  It’s a bit like asking a nutritionist to cook your dinner.  Just because somebody understands the fundamentals of a healthy meal doesn’t mean they know how to combine the ingredients into something edible.

I discovered the benefits of using recruiters about 10 years into my career.  Time poor and focused on managing a business, I finally gave in to my inner voice and engaged a recruitment consultant to assist with backfilling some difficult roles.

I was initially surprised when the consultant insisted on coming out to visit our office.  “Surely you can take the brief over the phone?” “Absolutely not” – came the terse reply. “I need to get a feel for what I am getting my candidates into”.  Although I felt it unnecessary at the time, nowadays I wouldn’t engage an agency that didn’t have a deep understanding of my business, the staff and its culture.  If you want a recruiter to write the kind of killer ad that would lure the best staff from your strongest competitors then it had better stand out.  A recruiter needs to be able to walk the talk and you can only get this from on-site experience.

Make no mistake crafting a great advertisement to attract the best possible candidates is an art form.  Good recruiters know how to write great ads.  SEEK and others offer limited opportunity for your ads to visually stand out, so the choice of words matters.  If the ad isn’t SELLING the job and your business then you’ve probably engaged the wrong agency.

Once the ad is placed and the responses start rolling in then the real work begins.  Years ago it seemed a great covering letter could make a difference.  Nowadays they seem almost superfluous to needs.  Most recruiters worth their salt will jump straight to social media to ensure that a candidates backstory matches their CV and determine whether there is likely to be a cultural fit.

I’ve never been one to make a hiring decision solely based on skills and experience. If it’s a line ball call I’ll take attitude and energy over a lesser skill set every day of the week.
I insist that my recruiter meets the short listed candidates in person before sending them for interview.  If they live out of town, get them on SKYPE. I expect candidates to know as much about my business as we know about them.  It’s a recruiters job to ensure that candidates are fully briefed.  Most good candidates will do their own research, it’s a  recruiters job to fill in the gaps.  If a recruiter isn’t meeting the candidates in person they’re not doing the job your paying them for.

By the time I meet a prospective candidate I expect that they can do the job.  That should be without question.  I’m interested in ‘how’ they will do the job.  It then becomes an issue of cultural fit and individual personality.  Will they fit in with the team? Will they add a new dynamic? In a small business, look  for a broader skill set – beyond the job description, something that will enhance business performance and add that slight edge.  Candidate selection can be a very subjective affair.  I never interview with a list of pre-existing questions.  I prefer the process to be organic.  What makes the person tick? What drives them? What makes the job appealing? Candidates can become pretty adept at rote learning responses to typical Dorothy Dixers.  Encourage them to lower their guard and you might be surprised what you learn.

Successfully hiring the right candidate is a challenge at the best of times, but using a recruiter should take a lot of the guess work and time out of the process. A good recruiter should not only be submitting candidates to you, but consulting with you, your team and the candidate throughout the process to ensure that everyone is on the same page and no nasty surprises pop up last minute (or worse, once the candidate has started and you’ve invested your money into them).