Let me provide you with some "food for thought" and useful tips and techniques that you can use (either now, or sometime in the future) in the job-hunting process (be they active or passive).

You may think that some of the issues raised in this bulletin are very basic, however they are also, in my opinion, really important.

As recruiters of tertiary qualified technical and operations professionals, we are privileged to meet and build relationships with many inspirational technical leaders on their way to bigger and better things in their careers. At the other end of the scale, you would be amazed how many senior level candidates present very poorly when they decide to apply for a new position.

First impressions at Interview

The time that you spend at an interview could potentially have dramatic effects on your progress with particular job applications. Thus, it is critical that you present well at interview, because no matter how good your career record is to date, if you don't make a good overall impression at the interview, it is highly likely that your application will stop there.

How do you make a good impression with prospective employers?

Remember that as well as creating an impression at the interview, you are creating an impression before and after the interview in addition to any telephone conversation associated with the application. For example: we have had a small number of candidates who have interviewed extremely well. However, they have blown a $100K job because they were rude to one of our admin staff. You may well think that this is somewhat severe, but if you think about it, the true personality of the person has been exposed in that situation.

Prior to any interview you should prepare yourself to answer questions such as:

• Why do you want this job?  
• Reason for leaving last job?  
• Your motivations and aspirations?  
• Where you see yourself in the next five to ten years?  
• Are you prepared to move for your job?  
• How other people perceive you at work - what do other people say about you?  
• What is you current salary and what are your expectations with regards to salary requirements?    (Best to tell the truth here because it always surfaces at some point).

We perform competency based interviews where we ask candidates questions related to real life situations. So be prepared. The interviewer is looking for demonstrated ability in things such as leadership, conflict, ability to learn from mistakes, etc.

Negatives we look out for:

• Late for interview (let me give you a tip - never be late for an interview)
• Poor personal appearance (dirty shoes, body odour, bad breath etc)
• Lack of "presence"
• "Soggy" hand shake
• Poor grammar or diction "know it all" attitude
• Poor listener
• Need to condemn present or past employer
• General lack of enthusiasm
• Inability to ask pertinent questions relating to the role

Recruiters tools

Another thing that I'd like to talk about is the fact that in the electronic age, most recruitment companies have large databases (ours has over 10,000 CVs on it). The current software available is very powerful and with a focused key word search most recruitment agencies are able to find relevant candidates very quickly. So don't be to surprised if a recruiter rings you about an opportunity, even if you haven't heard from them for a couple of years. By the way this is not "head hunting" as many people often mistake it for, it is actually referred to as database search and it will become more and more common as the technological revolution continues.

Also with regards to nice fancy cover pages on CV's - REALLY unnecessary on electronic copies, so be aware of that.

I hope some of these tips will help and would really like to hear any feedback on your experience with the recruitment process.