Recruiting

They Just Want to Be Noticed

In yesterday’s Advisor we took a look at a study done by CareerBuilder concerning what lengths candidates will go to in order to get noticed. Today we’ll see a few more examples along with some suggestions on how to handle them.

Candidate arrived to interview in a white limousine, an hour early, dressed in a three-piece suit. The open position was middle wage and had a required dress code of khakis, company button-down, and black shoes.
Should this happen, let the bells of warning ring clear. Putting their notions of punctuality aside, you want someone who well fits the position. If they are already too big for their breeches before they even start, you’ll be filling that position again as soon as the interviewee finds a better job.
Candidate kissed hiring manager.
Sexual harassment much? Avoid this candidate like the plague. Things like kissing, hugging, or other inappropriate behavior on the part of the interviewee so early in the process clearly shows that there might be much more serious problems down the road.
Candidate gave hiring manager a book on a subject he knew candidate manager enjoyed.
Before LinkedIn, this would probably be strange and uncomfortable. However, if your information is on a professional social network, don’t be surprised if your candidate has read it. Ask candidate if he or she has read the book; if yes, you might have a very dedicated worker sitting in front of you. If not, the gift is a lot less meaningful.
Candidate wore a tie that had the name of the company he was interviewing with on it.
Compared to the rest of the items on this list, this seems very mild. A little team spirit never hurts.

Survey Methodology

The nationwide survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,367 hiring and Human Resources managers aged 18 and over (employed full-time, not self-employed) between May 11 and June 7, 2016. With a pure probability sample of 2,367, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 2.01 percentage points, respectively.

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