The "OTHER SIDE": How does the recruiting process look from the employers' point of view?

a) Step 1: Incoming resumes and phone calls

After placing the ad, the prospective employer receives 10 - 100 applications within a time frame of 3 weeks. Bigger companies which have name value obtain more applications than smaller ones. Let us just assume that you applied for a bigger company. The manager or HR person taking care of the hiring will do an initial screening. He/she will not assign 10 minutes for each application. Instead it is more likely, that the person in charge will initially spend something like 2-3 minutes for each application to sort them out into two or three piles - 1) consider, 2) maybe, 3) not consider.

Advice: Therefore, you have to make sure that you resume is sorted into the "consider" stack of applications. How do you do that? You have to make sure that your application looks decent. Is it correctly addressed and formatted? Does it have a cover letter? Is the cover letter targeted to the position or is it just a generic one? Do you have the qualifications to apply for the job? If at least one of these questions have to be answered with no, it's likely that you will not advance into the "consider pile" of applications. As a rule of thumb, 50-70% of applications don't make it to the next step.

Advice: As companies with name value receive more applications than small and medium sized firms, you have a bigger statistical chance of landing a job with smaller companies. A company that has only gotten 10 applications is more inclined to consider each of them at length even if candidates might not fulfill all criteria. Furthermore, contrary to common belief smaller firms can be as interesting because they require employees to take care of multiple tasks. In many cases, employees get assigned responsibilities more quickly.

Advice: Unless a submission date is stated, you have approximately 1 to maximum 3 weeks to submit your resume. It's not true that the first resumes to arrive have a higher success ratio. On the contrary, resumes which for example come in by email on the very day of the ad might leave a negative impression with the recruiting manager. "This person probably just sent out a generic application and didn't really take the time to prepare the documents carefully" is what he/she might be saying.
So take the time to study about the position and the company, to prepare a carefully worded cover letter, to make sure that your resume is up to date, and to proofread all your documents.
If more than 4 weeks have passed since the ad appeared and you still want to apply, consider giving the company a call to see if they still accept applications.

b) Step 2: Detailed screening of applications in the "consider pile"

The remaining applications are read in detail to see if these candidates are up for the task. Some of the questions the recruiting manager ponders about are:

Does the candidate really possess the necessary qualifications which we requested?

Does the application look appealing even after the first glance?

Are there gaps or inconsistencies in the resume which are beyond explanation in an interview?

Could this person be a good match for the company?

Very often this second step is done by at least two company representatives. This helps to reduce subjective influences. Nevertheless, during this 2nd step the "consider pile" is reduced further. As a result only about 10% or less of the initial applicants advance to the interview stage.

Advice: This all means that unless your application is really targeted to the position and you possess all the necessary qualifications you will most likely not make it to the interview. Think about it, out of 100 applications 90 don't get invited to the interview. The probability of being interviewed is much smaller than being rejected. If you are telling yourself now "What's the point of applying in the first place?" then think again. The conclusion should be that applications have a much higher success ratio if they are specifically targeted to the position you are applying for and you have the necessary qualifications for it. Don't try to send out as many applications as possible. Instead choose your target companies carefully. And then meticulously prepare your application putting in the necessary hours.

c) Step 3: Interview

Let's assume that out of the 100 applications, 10 were finally invited. You have succeeded in joining a distinct group of 10%. You should be proud of yourself. On the other hand, the race is far from over. Actually it has just begun.

If one interview takes at least 30 minutes, that means the interviewers will need more than 300 minutes or 5 hours to meet all candidates. Most likely it will be even longer. In any case it is a tiring, repetitive and long process for the managers involved. Keep that in mind when you prepare for your next interview! The candidate is not the only one who is sweating. Interviewers are more likely to have a favorable impression of you, if you don't waste their time and if you provide more than just set answers.

Recruiting managers have at least three objectives going into an interview.

1. Verify the content of the application during a face-to-face meeting. Obtain the information that is still missing, or which was not sufficiently covered in the application.

2. Evaluate the candidate in his/her interactions with other people. The candidate's written skills may be good, but does he/she have what it takes to interact professionally and effectively with people.

3. Inform the candidate of the position and the company in an attractive and objective way. Provide the information necessary for the candidate to be able to make the decision if the position is really something he/she might be interested in. (Often companies are not enough aware themselves of this third and important objective. Some erroneously assume that all candidates are interested in working for them.

Advice: Be conscious of the time the company is putting into this interview. Therefore, be on time. Try to answer the questions in a concise manner without talking endlessly. When you are given the opportunity to ask questions, ask the ones that are really crucial for you and don't think you have to ask them all.