Several upcoming college grads and even parents are asking questions about their job search. My own daughter has called me numerous times and I’m proud to say that she’s accepted a great position, starting a couple of weeks after her graduation. For many graduates, this is the first time they are in a serious job search.

What differentiates one candidate from the next when there is not a career history to demonstrate achievements? For starters:

1. Showing genuine interest
2. Their stuff’s in order and they’re in order
3. They align what they’ve done with what they could do
4. It’s ok to reach for the stars . . . but keep it real during the interview process!

You might be getting the advice not to jump at the first opportunity that crosses your radar. I agree. You don’t want to come across as someone who is “shopping” an opportunity. Hiring managers want to hire someone who wants to be a part of their team. If you come across like a kid in a candy store who is making up their mind what to treat themselves to today, you won’t be viewed as a serious candidate.

If this is the first time you’ve applied for a position using a resume, this is where you want to make an investment. A high-quality resume gets noticed and helps you to showcase how you can bring value to an organization. Make sure you show your background in the best light and have several sets of eyes review it before sharing it publicly. You may want to invest in a reliable resume writing service as well. If you earn an interview, maximize this opportunity. Spend extra time on the little things that show that you pay attention to the details – get out your iron, shine your shoes, make sure you’re put together to make the best first impression! Be certain to arrive early enough so that you feel relaxed rather than rushed, but not so early that you’re infringing on the interviewer’s time pre-interview.

Don’t be afraid to apply for positions where you cannot check every box on the description.  Many candidates are hired who don’t meet every requirement. In fact, this can be viewed as a positive opportunity for growth. You do want to show that you have the competency to meet each requirement. Show the results from previous jobs, school and volunteer work that validate you can succeed in the one you’ve applied for. Pay attention to their terminology and use it when you can. When you’re fortunate enough to get the interview, research the company thoroughly and have examples from your background fresh in your mind to share.

A final bit of advice. You’ve invested a lot to get your degree. Pat yourself on the back! But don’t inflate that achievement before you’re due. Don’t focus so much on where you want to end up in your career that you miss the opportunity to begin it. Focus on winning the opportunity at hand. And don’t forget to provide updates along the way to those who have helped you with your search!

The great news is that the job market is strong. More requests are coming from our clients to add recent college grads to their teams. You’re a hot commodity! Putting thought and effort into your job search process will set you apart from others with similar experience levels.

How did I get here again? We hear this a lot from hiring managers while managing their hiring process. They believe they have diligently worked the steps only to realize a few months after the candidate starts that they are not such a great fit after all.

Before reworking your candidate profile or adding additional steps in the hiring process, you may want to consider these questions:

1. Do I really understand the gap between a bad hires’ skills, motivations and behaviors and what’s needed for the position and our culture?
2. Did we spend time upfront building a strong attraction campaign to bring in the best talent?
3. Was the candidate set up for success from their first day on the job and at incremental steps as they learned the expectations for the role?
4. Am I ready to let past mistakes go and effectively and efficiently work the hiring process to my next great hire?

If questions one and three can’t be answered with a resounding yes, using an assessment tool as part of your hiring and on-barding processes will bring value when you are ready to go through the hiring process again.

Teams with several individuals in the same position benefit from benchmarking the job to develop a complete picture of the position. This allows you to compare talent to the unique requirements of the position. If you’re not benchmarking the position, at a minimum you should be clear on the top results expected from individuals in the position. Your interview process can then be built around competencies that are key to delivering these results.

Candidates typically start a new position motivated to bring value and succeed. Providing the right resources, access to key information, and a specific guide of expectations as your new hire starts in their new role will help to set them for maximum success. Tailoring this to the individual’s identified drivers and strengths provides an added edge. A new hire who is a strong fit for the role, gets off to a great start and is positioned to continue to gain momentum with the organization, will be a valuable long-term asset.

Using an assessment to uncover areas to delve into deeper during the interview process with additional behavior-based questions will give you a much better idea of who you are hiring. This will keep you from saying, “how did I get here again?” shortly after a hiring decision! An added value with using the right assessment is that it gives insight to tailor the on-boarding process to get each individual new hire off to the best start.

We invite you to share your hiring stories and to reach out if you have questions about building an effective hiring process or how to set new hires up for success.

It always makes sense to scope a position when you are ready to add someone new to your team. Asking yourself and your team a series of questions before jumping into the hiring process will result in an improved interview process, a more effective search and ultimately the best hire. A few questions to consider are:

• What personality traits fit well in our culture? For instance, high energy vs. steady, innovative vs. consistent
• What are the top three or four outcomes we expect the new hire to accomplish?
• Then, what’s the timetable to accomplish those things and how will their success be measured?
• What do we have to offer that will attract the right candidate?
• What’s the cost if we don’t hire anyone?

Focusing on having the right competencies, skill set and demonstrated results to match the position, rather than being too focused on years of aligning industry experience, is smart. You may even consider using an assessment tool to benchmark the skills and competencies of the most successful individuals who are doing the job well now or who have done the job well in the past. For example, to identify what sets your top sales reps apart from less successful reps on the team.

Remember, when you define the criteria for the role you have open, ask yourself the cost of not filling it. If it’s a big impact on the team, you may want to consider diminishing parameters tied to years of industry experience or the type of degree. Instead, focus on finding the person who demonstrates a strong aptitude and motivation for the role, with aligning past successes. The same flexibility should be shown if your business growth is stalled while you wait for the “perfect” candidate to appear! Don’t let yourself lose opportunity or overworked team members by chasing a purple squirrel.