Talent Inventory Job Candidate: Candidate Questions Date: Fill & Download for Free

They do not create a direct hit match on the resume for the role they are applying to and expect both the ATS and the recruiter to ‘figure out’ how to make the candidate work. If the resume creates the direct hit match - the interview is infinitely easier. However, common interview issues are no demonstrating that the candidate wants the job they are applying for by messing up how they respond to ‘reason for leaving.There are more of course - much more. Here is the more…Interview MythsMyth 1: The ability to do the job is the primary focus of phone screen interview questions.No - the resume has already pre-qualified the candidate. Although these skills will be verified, there are two other primary questions on the mind of the recruiter.1.Will this candidate be a happy, productive, and non-disruptive employee?2.Is this candidate stable and willing to remain in the position for at least two years?To get these answers, the recruiter will ask a list of common interview questions that seem innocent but are the source of most candidate rejection. The phone screen has little to do with your ability to do the job.Myth 2: The most capable employee is the one that gets the job offers.The reality is that the person who wins the job is not always the most capable job candidate. The winner is the candidate who performs the best in the interview, and the majority of that performance is based on the content of their answers.Myth 3: You can get a job that you are not sure you want.Job candidates tend to talk themselves out of applying or interviewing for jobs because they are unsure about the position. If they are unprepared to interview, they will naturally want to know more about the job before saying they want the position. Uncertainty kills great career moves because employers only want to hire people who want the job.Tip: My recommendation is to treat every job as if it were your dream job until you have enough information to determine otherwise.The hiring process may be easier to understand for those readers who have done sales. Hiring is similar to sales in that the candidate needs a pipeline of opportunities. The rule of thumb in sales is closing 4% of opportunities. Although the pipeline for hiring does not need to be as wide and deep, it is more advantageous if the job candidate is talking to more recruiters, hiring managers, and employers versus focusing on one single lead (company and position).Once you get the job offer, then you can decide to decline or accept based on the offer and interview experience. Go for it, be excited, and be flexible, and then when the job offer rolls in, negotiate, accept, or walk away.Myth 4. Interviewers ask you what they want to know.No. There are few times when the recruiter asks straightforward questions about a person’s background and tells the applicant their concerns about their candidacy.The majority of the time, the interviewer will ask other common questions to uncover the true goals and attitude of the job candidate. That is why so many interview questions are strange and seem like they have nothing to do with your work experience. The more conscious, aware, and prepared you are for these questions, the more likely you are to get a job offer from the interview.Myth 5. The phone screen is a "nothing" interviewThe phone screen is actually the most challenging of all interviews because the employer is actively using the call to remove candidates. You as the candidate have to perform well and be excited about a job that you know little or nothing about, and you typically are forced to perform these interviews in a distracted state - while driving, working, during childcare, or even when resting. An unprepared, distracted, or uncertain job candidate does not move forward.Myth 6. The recruiter has been trained how to interview.Even though there are books and consultancies dedicated to helping hiring managers to overcome making decisions based on their unconscious emotional reactions to candidates, in most cases, the interviewer will have had little formal training. This module teaches you how to control the interviewer’s unconscious reactions to give them what they need to choose you!Myth 7. If I am applying for the job, then it is obvious that I will stay in it.No, your application does not mean you will stay. Your job transitions tell the employer how likely it is that you will stay on the job. No matter what you actually say, they will use your transition history as the “truth.”Early in your career it is acceptable to have two up to even five two-year positions. However, by the time you are in your thirties, you are expected to have “found” yourself. The employer will rely on your job transition history to predict the length of time you will stay in the job unless you make an exceptional effort to explain why this job will be different. That is why job transitions are silent job killers, and why we see questions about your reason for leaving during the applications, phone screens, and interviews. It is a never-ending process to explain yourself.The resume already presents a story to the recruiter. If a candidate switches jobs frequently, or even at regular intervals, this indicates to the recruiter that the candidate will leave in a similar timeframe. If this is a step down, meaning the candidate appears overqualified for the job, the recruiter is almost always worried about the candidate leaving when they find a job of greater responsibility or pay. If the career change is completely different, the recruiter may feel they have no evidence at all that the candidate will remain in the position. The more work you do to create a storyline that explains your job transitions in a way that supports the position you are interviewing for, the better the job hunt will be.Myth 8. Work happiness and joyful happiness are the same thing.This is definitely not true. The recruiter is concerned about whether the candidate will be happy on the job. Being happy does not mean being joyful. In this case, it means being a consistent producer that does not make trouble for the managers or team members. If the job candidate states that their most difficult person or challenge is similar to the current team environment, this may indicate that the employee will not be happy. If the candidate is accustomed to working for a large organization and is applying at a small one, this may cause the employee unhappiness. Any answer or previous background that does not match the new job can be a signal to the employer that the candidate will be unhappy, unproductive, and disruptive. To diffuse this issue, your answers should indicate how you solved problems and worked with a wide range of people. In addition, it is important to not become rattled or upset during the interview.Myth 9: The in-person interview will focus on technical questions related to the job.Yes, but technical questions tend to come after the common interview questions. There is a portion of the interview that will focus on all the reasons not to hire you. These are the three silent job killers: job transitions, goals, and salary. All of the common interview questions are designed to determine what is “wrong” with the candidate. The other portion will examine your technical abilities (which can include a review of work history) and increasingly also behavioral questions.Behavioral questions are a psychological blend of interview methodologies to uncover if you are capable but also indicate if you will stay and be a happy employee. Instead of asking, "Tell me about a time you did (technical ability)", the interviewer will ask you something like, "Tell me about a time you had to solve a problem related to (technical ability)."These questions tend to put the candidate in a defensive position and often leave a great, qualified candidate stumped. This should not be the goal of an employer who is seeking top talent, but this trend is not going to change any time soon. The key to successful behavioral interviews is to take the line items of the job ad and plug them right into the behavioral questions to come up with great work samples. These robust and targeted work examples win jobs. Even if behavioral interview questions are not asked, this preparation will give you the type of content employers love.Myth 10. I only need to prepare and practice my answers.There are two aspects of interview preparation: 1) content for answers and 2) performance related to appearance, speech, and physical mannerisms. Every case is highly individualized, but the best advice is to “look” like the job you are going for, even if that means sitting outside the offices before your interview to see what people wear to work. A good program to search and sign up for is Carol Tuttle’s free “Dressing Your Truth” which teaches you your power colors, clothes, and more.Myth 11: I can wear the same clothes to an interview that I typically wear to work.This is often not true. Once we have been at an employer for a long time our image tends to decline. It is the same thing as when we go to sell a house - it often looks cleaner and better decorated the day we put it on the market than any day that we lived in it.Wear a suit that is reflective of the professional environment. Dress better, but not too much better, than the people coming out of the office. If the organization is casual, wear a casual suit anyway, just to be safe.Tip: Buy new clothes to interview in, visit the salon or barber, and make sure you look almost as good as you would on your wedding day.The interview is like dating for a work marriage. Make sure you look better than you normally would for a day at the office. If you are not feeling good about yourself, then you will need to "fake it 'til you make it."Myth 12. I can be honest about the negative things that happened at my previous job. The interviewer asked me, so I need to be honest.Candidates want to be able to reveal all the bad things that have happened to them and still get hired. Companies want to eliminate candidates with “bad things” in their background. What is ironic about the “honesty” issue is that employers are afraid of being lied to, and in most cases, candidates tend to be ultra-honest and discuss things that have no place in the interview.The interview is a not a “tell-all” session; it is a performance. Know that you cannot be angry or say negative things in an interview and get an offer for a job.Even though you will be asked about having a difficult time with a coworker, supervisor, or with work performance, it is important to create and practice specific answers that are true but may not be the first ones you would like to talk about with the prospective employer. Focus on great work examples that show problem solving based on the recommendations in the following lessons.Myth 13. Practicing and memorizing interview answers sounds robotic.Conventional wisdom might say that practicing interview answers sounds robotic, however Human Resource and hiring managers often share that if candidates take time to prepare for their interviews it translates to being interested in the position. Just as you would prepare for a presentation at school or work, so must you prepare for this important one-time performance. Record yourself on a webcam and practice with a friend or college career office. Practice, practice, practice!Myth 15. I can prepare for every single possible interview question.Unfortunately, this is impossible. This interview preparation course is not designed to include a comprehensive listing of every interview situation. If you pick up an interview book, you will find hundreds of questions listed. The goal of preparation is to have a strategy for the biggest problem areas candidates experience and the most challenging questions, in order to be prepared for surprise questions with grace and ease.Myth 16. The interview is a 2-way evaluation where the candidate also assesses the company, the position, the salary, and the benefits package.No, the interview is not a 2-way evaluation. It is a sales pitch by the candidate about how they match what the company wants so they can get the offer. Only when the candidate achieves the offer does this turn into a 2-way discussion.Myth 17. I am my own worst enemy in my interview.Yes, this one is unfortunately true. It is not just in the interview - job candidates sabotage their own job search progress every day in the following ways:1.Pre-deciding whether a role is good or bad before applying.2.Pitting one job offer against another to appear more attractive.3.Taking the stance that “you are interviewing the employer as much as they are interviewing you.”4.Not preparing for job interviews using the strategies I will teach you.5.Think about your job search as if it were online dating.These tactics do not result in a great dating relationship and they will not get you hired either.·Will you meet someone if you sit in your home and not reach out to anyone?·Can you tell if someone is great just by looking at their picture or reading a brief profile?·Once you do reach out, would you tell a prospective date that you are playing the field?·Would you tell a good prospect that you might have a better option waiting in the wings if they make you a better offer?·Would you tell your current spouse (i.e. your current employer) that someone is more interesting to you and they need to come up with reasons for you to stay?Apply, be open, tell each employer they are your “preferred option,” and remain enthusiastic until they propose (make an offer). Then, and only then, can you evaluate the option based on everything you have seen and heard.Phone Screen InterviewHave you ever had a phone interview that seemed to go so well you were a shoe-in for the position, and then you never got a call back? We are about to explore the human psychology around interviewing and how to turn a lackluster performance into an interview performance that lights up the recruiter’s mind so that they are silently saying “yes, yes, yes.”If you knew how many unprepared, nonresponsive candidates a recruiter talks to every day, it would be easy to see that it is very exciting to talk to a professional that ticks all their boxes, that is enthusiastic, that absolutely wants the experience. Before we get into what works, we need to look at the contributing factor in phone screen failures on both the candidate and the recruiter side.Candidate Side of Phone Screen Failures:Job candidates fail at phone screens all of the time because:1.They are not able to create winning answers for a job they knew nothing about 5 seconds ago.2.They are not sure what to quote for pay, what the job actually pays, what they are willing to accept, or how the job could be leveraged for long-term salary growth.3.They are not sure they even want the job or will stay with it since they just got the call.Most candidates either think these phone screens are not important, or they start to hate them because they are not moving forward for jobs they are qualified for and, upon reflection, that they would want to consider if given more time to evaluate the option.Recruiter Side of Phone Screen Failures:Recruiters fail to find the best candidates for their jobs because:1.They expect busy job candidates to do well on these interviews, even though they did not know a single thing about the job 5 seconds before the call came in.2.They assume the candidate has one salary figure they will work for and if it fits, great; if not they boot the candidate.3.They assume the candidate can determine, in a very short span of time, if they will be happy and stay.Recruiters love phone screens because they can really boil the pool of applicants down quickly but they dislike them because they inherently know there are great candidates that they are rejecting quickly. They just don’t have time to think about that.To be successful a recruiter must call many candidates in a short period of time, and they tend to be sourcing for many positions at one time, not just the one job. To maximize their time, they want to talk to you right then and not schedule into the future.Phone screens tend to be a only a scheduled part of an internal recruiter’s day, while this is literally the job of third party recruiters. If a recruiter has to schedule a call, especially an internal recruiter, they will often miss the call because they get sidetracked by other priorities. This upsets candidates and creates a feeling that the recruiter is unprofessional. This is an unfortunate part of the process but keep in mind that one missed phone screen does not necessarily reflect poorly on the company. Two or three misses and you may want to move on.Remember that the goal of the recruiter is to find a qualified match for their position who will also be happy with the job, the pay, the location, and the work. The recruiter needs to hear one word – “yes.” When they hear a lot of “yes” and “I have that experience” responses from the candidate, it creates a “yes” reaction in their mind. When a candidate says “no” or “I do not have that experience,” or “I am not sure I want to do that,” it creates a “rejection” reaction in their mind.A candidate needs to say “yes” as much as possible and use a deflection technique for a “no” response.Winning Phone Screen ResponsesThere are three ways to improve your phone screen and interview performance:1.Say “Yes!” to all non-skill based questions,2.Take a message, ask for the job ad, schedule for a later date, and prepare,3.And learn how to deflect, substitute, and re-direct a “no” or “I do not have it” for skill-based questions.Remember, you can always cancel an in-person interview later if it really is not something you want, assuming you, like many candidates, want to keep your choices open and allow yourself time to consider the option.Create the Yes Reaction to Non-Skill Based QuestionsNon-skill based conditional response examples that kill jobs.Recruiter Question: I have a job that is a lower title than your current position - would you be interested?ØJob Candidate Response: I am not sure but I would like to hear more.Recruiter Question: I have a “road warrior” job that requires 90% travel - would you be able to do that?ØJob Candidate Response: Hmmm, I don’t think all that travel fits into my lifestyle but for the right opportunity I would consider it.Recruiter Question: I have a job that is a 3-month contract - would you be willing to leave your full-time job to consider it?ØJob Candidate Response: Why would I ever leave a full-time job for a 3-month contract? No, but keep me in mind for full-time work.Recruiter Question: I have a job that would require relocation to a city that you could not even place on a map - do you want it?ØJob Candidate Response: I might consider moving but only to “x” city.Non-skill based examples that get an internal ‘yes’ response inside the recruiter’s brain.Recruiter Question: I have a job that is a lower title than your current position - would you be interested?ØJob Candidate Response: Yes! (no, matter what.)Recruiter Question: I have a “road warrior” job that requires 90% travel - would you be able to do that?ØJob Candidate Response: Yes! (no, matter what.)Recruiter Question: I have a job that is a 3-month contract - would you be willing to leave your full-time job to consider it?ØJob Candidate Response: Yes! (no, matter what.)Recruiter Question: I have a job that would require relocation to a city that you could not even place on a map - do you want it?ØJob Candidate Response: Yes! (no, matter what.)The goal in the phone screen is to keep the “ball in the air” so you can actually compete for the job. If you offer conditional responses, you are eliminating yourself from the pool of candidates. Your second option is to take a message and prepare your answers.Matching-answer preparation for schedule phone screensThe following set of lessons will explain how to build matching answers that get results. Controlling the time and place of the phone screen increases your success rate, therefore it is recommended that the first few phone screens be scheduled. Take a message, get the job advertisement, prepare the matching answers, and schedule the screen.Managing a true “no” about a skill-based questionSometimes you will be asked if you have a skill and it will be impossible to say yes. We now know in hiring psychology if you say “no” or “I do not have it,” a disqualification response is created in the mind of the interviewer. So what is the option if you truly do not have experience with something? Deflection, substitution, and re-direction. I will use the role of an accountant to demonstrate.Recruiter Question: Do you have a Certified Public Accounting (CPA) license?ØJob Candidate Response: In my current and past accounting roles I have performed audits and worked with public accounting firms as required for this position. I can also study and sit for my certification over the next two years.Recruiter Question: We are seeking an Accountant with experience with the Big 4 Accounting firms; I do not see that on your resume.ØJob Candidate Response: I have 20 years of experience working on audits as required for this role.Recruiter Question: This position requires a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting but I see you only have an Associate’s.ØJob Candidate Response: I have an Associate’s and five years of experience directly matching the requirements of this role. I can also study and complete my Bachelor’s in Accounting.Recruiter Question: We are looking for direct experience with the SAP ERP.ØJob Candidate Response: I have 10 years of experience and have worked on the large accounting software suites.The answers deflect, substitute, and re-direct the interviewers towards your matching qualifications. This avoids the silent disqualification process and forces the recruiter’s mind into a “yes” position.3 Common Phone Screen & Interview QuestionsAs stated earlier, phone screen questions are designed to eliminate candidates. The following questions will pop up throughout the interview process but they are very common for the phone screen. First, I will present the question and explain the reason for it, and then will provide a strategy.Common Phone Screen Questions List1. So tell me about yourself.2. Why this job?3. Why did you transition from one job to another or why do you want to leave where you are?4. What are your greatest strengths and what makes you a good fit for this role specifically?5. What are your weaknesses?6. What is your greatest accomplishment?7. What are your 1-, 2- and 5-year goals?8. Are you thinking about pursuing additional education?9. What would be your dream job?10.What are your salary expectations?If you took a message and scheduled the phone screen, you can prepare matching answers to each one of these. Use the next lesson to understand the psychology behind each question and the strategy to respond to each.Reason for Each Question and StrategyThe goal of each answer is to trip the internal “yes” response in the recruiter’s mind. We want them “firing on all cylinders.” If there are obvious “no” issues like a missing skill, certification, non-matching industry, or seemingly illogical job transition, this is an opportunity to turn that “no” into a “yes.” The way to do this is to reiterate over and over that you are a match for the job, that you want the job, that this job matches your goals - yes, yes, yes! Each question below has a tip that works in most scenarios.Q#1: So tell me about yourself.This is an open-ended question that many candidates do not know how to answer. You may ask yourself “Should I talk about my family, my personal health regimen, my last job, my current employer, my life story, or what?” The answer to this question is easier than you might think.Tip: The Summary of Skills portion of the resume is the primary answer to this question, with a few added touches.In one to three sentences, describe how you have the required skills and background of the job advertisement. Select additional positive personal and family information that demonstrates your stability as a candidate and as a person. End the answer with the reason you are leaving, or left, your most recent employer.This open-ended question is the first great opportunity to send the message: “I am qualified, I will be happy, and I will stay in this job.”Q#2: Why this job?The employer looks at the position they are offering as their priceless gift. Even though a job candidate is exchanging their time for that position, the employer does not quite view it that way. Like a gift giver, the employer wants to hear that this gift of a job will be appreciated, that you will use it well, and that it is the most important thing that could happen to you. Employers do not want to give their gift to anyone that does not want the present.Tip: Say “This job is a perfect blend of skills and experience that I have and enjoy using the most.”When we tell the employer why we want this job we have to express three things: 1) that this is the next logical step in our career progression and 2) that we can do the job (matching strengths and qualifications), and 3) a unique list of items that employers like to hear about their company (listed below).·Growth (if there is growth)·It is an industry leader·New developments in ____ (state new developments in the organization, industry, or field)·The work environment·Better hours and schedule·It is closer to home·Larger or growing organization that has greater long term opportunity·Smaller organization that is more to my style·Stability·Better overall package (versus just more money)·New industry that offers a new trajectory for my skills.Be careful using the following:·More money (they will be concerned that you will leave when you find more)·Less stress or better work-life balance (suggests you are having psycho-emotional issues)·Getting back into the work force (in most cases you don’t want to shift the focus of the interview to current unemployment)Q#3: Why did you transition from one job to another and why are you looking to leave where you are?Other than title and industry, one of the primary items recruiters use to evaluate a good candidate is their “reason for leaving” answer. This can first appear on the job application, phone screen, or in-person interview. This is the #1 silent job killer. The interviewer is really attempting to predict whether you will stay and be happy based on your previous behavior.Tip: The top four most acceptable answers for reason for leaving are the following words:1) promotion, 2) relocation, 3) back-to-school, and 4) reorganization/shift in company priorities.Why you move from one job to the next and how long you stay in a job is one of the most important and overlooked aspects of a good interview strategy. The solution is to make each transition appear like a positive cohesive career strategy that has led up to the next job interview.Promotion does not necessarily mean more money or a higher title. This catch-all word can be used to leverage anything that meant a step in a better direction.Relocation is a great option if a person moved to another city, but only use it once or twice as the reason for leaving or you may appear “lost.”Reorganization as a reason for leaving can work even when there was not a huge layoff; if the employer decided you were not worth retaining, they “reorganized.” It is important not to reveal negative information related to a previous employer, become emotional, or to appear as if you are wandering aimlessly through your career.Q#4: What are your greatest strengths?Candidates often state qualities that are difficult to prove and sound relatively meaningless like “I am a hard worker, dedicated, and experienced.” Instead, use the list of matching skills from the job advertisement that you used to build the Market-Based Resume©.Tip: Your greatest strengths are everything in the job advertisement that you have.Choose accomplishments that demonstrate your related skills. Reiterate that you are a match for this job.Q#5: What are your weaknesses?This question seems like a no-win situation for job candidates. To manage the potential negative impact of this question, job candidates will often give an answer like “I am intense, a perfectionist, or a workaholic.” Those answers are better than a truly negative answer like “I am frequently late for work,” but that is still not good enough.Tip: If the industry is different for you, state “I have not worked in this industry but I have done all of the tasks and do not feel it will be an issue.” If there are mandatory requirements from the job ad that you do not have, tell the employer that you have other skills that balance any missing items. Do not say you are a quick learner! Instead, give an example of how you picked up a skill or industry quickly.Only give the recruiter more than one weakness if they ask for it. The most common weakness is a lack of industry experience. Select missing line items versus mandatory requirements for this answer unless the missing item is very obvious. It is better to manage these issues head on and turn a silent “no” into a “yes.”Q#6: What is your greatest accomplishment?This question is critical because you want your accomplishment to match the job’s need and be a powerful statement of your qualifications. Unfortunately, many people do not believe they have a greatest accomplishment.Tip: Find a work example (or school example if you really do not have one with work) that supports your candidacy for that particular job.If you have done the work to build a strong accomplishment inventory and that matches the position, then this question will be easy to answer.Q#7: What are your 1-, 2- and 5-year goals?The correct answer to this question is surprisingly not creative. Remember, the recruiter wants to know that you want the job you are applying for, that you will be happy in the position, and that you will stay in it for a period of time, usually at least two years. However, there are some cases in which a job requires ambitious candidates that want fast movement. In other positions there is no growth and the recruiter is seeking a candidate that wants no or limited advancement. For the first one to two years, “the job you want” needs to be this job, not one higher, lower, or different. An employer is not going to hire you for a job if you tell them you really want a different position.Commons reasons candidates do not get an offer is by stating a desire for growth when there is none, or stating the desire to stay at a certain level when the recruiter is looking for someone who wants to grow.Tip: Use the formula below 99.9% of the time.The majority of the time this is the answer:1-year goal: Get this job.2-year goal: Excel in this job.5-year goal: Grow as the organization needs my skills.The five-year answer can be a little more complicated. If this is a high growth organization, say you would like to grow and let the organization use your skills as needed. Be careful of sending the message that you want your boss’s job. If the organization is small or there is no room for movement, then state that you are happy to stay in the position. Even if you do not actually want to work at that level for the rest of your career, it is important to state that you will be happy if you want the job offer. Then you will need to move on once you get experience.Q#8: Are you thinking about pursuing additional education and certificates?Sometimes an employer will find a candidate they are excited about that is missing important qualifications for the job. Many candidates may be tired of studying or amassing more skills and want to just “learn on the job.”Tip: Always answer “yes” to re-education.This question is an excellent signal that the employer is interested in the candidate. If a candidate answers no, they are essentially telling the employer that they are not interested in doing what is necessary to succeed in the role.Q#9: What would be your dream job?In most cases, the job you are interviewing for has to be your dream job. There are some exceptions where the employer understands you will be moving on but is willing to hire you. For instance, if you just graduated and are working at a job unrelated to your degree, your employer may say, “I know you are just with us until you find a professional-level job.”Tip: Every job is your dream job to continue interviewing and get a job offer.With few exceptions there is only one answer to this question. You need to tell the employer, “This job is my dream job because it leverages my skills and abilities and (the other benefits it offers).”Q#10: What are your salary expectations?There is an entire lesson in the book and online program dedicated to salary negotiations. It is important to reiterate that a candidate must match what the employer is willing to pay to get a job offer.Tip: This salary quote is the amount needed to “keep the ball in the air.” It is not necessarily your overall salary goal; it is the amount assigned to the position by the company. Learn how to guess what that is based on title and job description.We all want the most money we can get but we may be happy with what the employer is offering, if we only knew what that was. The first part of the salary negotiation module teaches you how to predict what a job pays so that you can quote “desired salary.” If the employer stated a salary range in the job advertisement, then that is what they are willing to pay. If they have not, then you need to perform a salary survey either through knowing someone inside of the organization or through the internet. In addition, you need to understand the value the employer has placed on the job based on the written job requirements. Common advice in salary negotiations is to have the employer name the first figure, but sometimes that is just not possible or likely. It is best to be armed with a strategy and to be prepared to negotiate.

This is my first answer on quora and It's because I am just paying it forward !I must admit that I have been hugely benefited by the answers at quora to this questions in past, which I had read before my interview. (Hence I am just paying it forward :) ) I understand that the answer is long but I decided to write in detail because I loved such details before my interview. Of course, It took me a day to write such a long answer (I am lazy, and not a professional writer) , but for a lifetime's experience, it's okay!IIM Ahmedabad Interview Experience.Date 25th March'16, 2pm, Taj Bengal, Kolkata.WAT topic: It was a case study on “School children in the Indian education system are overburdened with home-works”. We were asked to analyse the pros and cons of current system and conclude accordingly. I believe I wrote a pretty decent one! Many of you may find it strange that I actually supported the present situation of assigning home-works to children and explained how this is, in fact, beneficial in the Indian context and how liberalization of homework, although desirable in an ideal situation, may work negatively in the Indian scenario (thankfully, I remembered the data of teacher recruitment and school performances across Jharkhand as my elder brother happens to be a government teacher). However, I took precautions to conclude it diplomatically, stating that the overall growth of kids OR in other words, imbibing discipline and improving the thought-process of kids should be the first priority over simply assigning repetitive and mundane home-works. Reason: I have a belief that when an examiner has to check so many papers, writing in a slightly different perspective than what he is normally expecting, is more appealing and impressive. However, your ideas should have a strong logical foundation and there should be sufficient clarity to separate your ideas from the rest. Remember, having a mere opinion with baseless arguments or a fantasy wish-list without stating practical approaches for the achieving the same, could backfire! On the other hand, If you like to remain in a defensive mode (especially when you have a sky-scrapping CAT score so that you don’t have an extra pressure of doing significantly well in WAT and PI), just write down on the basis of the first opinion that comes to your mind as a layman, plainly, but keep your ideas flowing clearly till the final rational conclusion.Interview Duration: aprox.30 minutes.There were two profs, one aged early 40s (P1), another early 50s (P2).P1 seemed little intimidating!I was the 3rd guy to go in my panel. 1st guy to go inside the panel room was a talented friend of mine, a guy from IIT kgp, one year junior to me at TATA Steel Jamshedpur. I generally do not take feedback from those who come out of the interview room, but because he was my friend I asked him. He told that the interviewers are grilling a bit (it was a stress interview for him)and in some questions they will keep asking you back to back questions and won’t let you move on. (BTW even he has made it to IIMA now and we are going to be batch mates :p ).The 2nd guy to go inside must have had some serious problem, as to much of a shock for many of us sitting outside our respective panels, when the interview room door opened after some 15 minutes, it was the interviewer P1 himself who came out while the candidate followed him and they walked together out of the hall. P1 had a robotic expression while the candidate was anxious (sweating profusely). People started guessing and whispering about what could have been the issue with him. Such things happen almost never during an IIM interview, I should tell you. After another 15 minutes of wait, P1 returned alone and went inside the interview room. Since I was the next guy to be called, I was little nervous for a moment, partially because of the unusual scene that happened and partially because it was an IIM Ahmedabad interview, my best shot! In my nervousness I said to myself- only good will happen to me because that is what I always wish for others too, Karma will save me :p !! I was confident again; started walking to and fro gently outside the door and in 2 minutes P1 peeped outside and called me in.I went inside empty handed without any stuff (that was the instruction given to us after our WAT), had an exchange of smiles with P2, greeted them both a good afternoon and non-verbally sought permission to sit. P2 smiled again and loudly said “Mr. Mandal, Plz take your seat !!”There was a silence in the room for 10 seconds as P1 looked at my application form and P2 was looking at some other paper (possibly the academic documents list).P1: (without even looking at me) so do you have any paper, folder or mobile phones with you?Me *I wasn’t expecting this to be my first question. Had a wrinkled forehead initially, but then grinned and said*: “No sir, nothing !!”P2:(looking at P1 with a crooked smile) He is having everything inside his brain may be, he used to be a ten pointer in B.Tech !!I was happy that they noticed it, so my confidence was boosted a bit now. As soon as P2 finished his sentence I started grinning. P1 silently smiled (somewhat superciliously) while P2 grinned.Me: Hmm, also, we were told to leave all our stuffs outside, sir!!P1: (looking at my form)Even you are from tata steel !! Why man? Why this mass exodus of tata steel guys? * Then they look at each other and P2 starts laughing, P1 again kept reading the form sincerely! *P1 continues: (looking at me for a second then at P2) the first guy to be interviewed was from tata steel, and I guess there was one in the morning also and one yesterday, all coming to us!! Is tata steel becoming so repulsive? (And P2 starts laughing while P1 again starts looking into the form seriously)I was already tired of replying this question in my earlier interviews, specially IIM Bangalore interview, but this time I chose to remain quite rather than answering anything because I noticed that this actually was not a question put directly on my face, but they were just amused noticing this coincidence. I kept smiling with them. (In my IIMB interview, where coincidentally 6 out of 8 people in my panel were from tata steel and I was the 3rd one to go, I had said that I did not know the reasons for others leaving the company but mine. And when they asked mine,I just gave my well framed “Why MBA?” answer!!After this initial vortex of irregularity, my actual interview started-(Hmmm = thinking, For information)P1: so Gautam, if I phone Mr. XYZ Singh (my boss), what do you think he will say about you? I have his number written in your form.Me : Hmm.. I guess he will say something good only, he should say good about me sir! He always has !! (FYI My boss is amazing !!)P1: Should I call him now, he knows that you are here for an interview right?Me: Yes sir, he knows it very well.. and sir, of course you can call him, I guess he shouldn’t be busy.P1: Well, so first tell me what will he say if I ask about you?Me: I can’t actually comment on that sir, how do I know…but you could certainly try asking!P1: Still tell us what would he think your strengths are, your good qualities? Tell me three !Me: hmm… as per him!! ok let me think… (I think for awhile).. sir I guess he would say my commitment towards work is my biggest strength as I have never failed him in any target (I could have replied this immediately, but I took time to think because I genuinely wanted to answer his question from my boss’s perspective) and I think this has helped him and my department achieve…P1 (interrupts in between) : Ok forget about strengths, tell me what WEAKNESSES he would say about you?Me: Can’t really say sir ! How do I know if he even knows what my weaknesses are…( I think for a moment.. can’t figure out what to reply…actually I had not prepared very much for the interview in a stereotypical manner)Immediately something comes to my mind and I ask them back loudly.Me: Should I say something that he used to scold me for? I mean in my initial days… later I improved those habits, of course.P1 is very happy (as if he has got the right trap for me now) : ya ya, say that!!Me: Sir, in my initial days at work he used to say that I miss the big picture at the shop, for example I would be too much involved in the discharge area jobs for prolonged times, doing so much research on the health and behaviour of each small machine while in upstream there would be other major problems hampering the production… steel plant is a cluster of numerous large sized heavy duty machines, and as manager caster operations, u can’t really keep your focus confined on a single area or process even if that work has been specifically assigned to you…!!Of late, however, I never received such feedback from him, possibly because I had learnt the way to work in operations, and moreover when I realised his feedback about myself missing the big picture in the business was kind of true, it served as one of the initial catalyst prompting me to go for a formal management course, which is exactly why I am here today!P1: I see, what were the other problems in the upstream as you mentioned.Me: * started telling how there were increased number of breakdowns in slab solidification(breakouts), trials of different casting powder..blah blahP2: Ok gautam, That’s too specific to a steel plant, Can u first explain what your responsibilities were as Manager Casting operations?Me: *Expalined, e.g. man management, inventory management (we call it as ‘consumables management’ in our shop), process improvement so & so..blah blahP1: what kind of inventory management do you do?Me: Sir, basically we look after the stock of those materials which get consumed as we cast solid slabs from liquid steel, for example, there is a buffer container called as TUNDISH which serves for 15-20 hours of continuous casting, receiving liquid metal from steel ladle and transferring it to the mold; In case of tundish, we keep the reserve TUNDISH ready for change after the running tundish expires, also we need to take care of any unplanned changes due to failures. Similarly for, casting powder (lubricant for casting), Tundish covering husk etc.P2: How do you plan the safety stock?Me: As in the stock of consumables?P1 (becomes stern): Do you even know what safety stock is?Me: Sir, we don’t really use that term at our shop, we use inventory and consumables management?P1: I am not interested in knowing your process gautam ! Do you have a reply for how to decide the safety stock?Me: Yes sir, I believe safety stock should be decided based on two factors- one is the rate of consumption, which we generally average out based on previous data available and the kind of production load we have, and then we assign a safety factor over and above it. Secondly, we take into account the time required to transport the materials from our vendors outlet to our shop, which in some case is pretty significant?P1: Any other consideration to decide the safety stock? Have you done anything to control the time of transportation?Me: Hmm.. No sir, as per my experience, I believe these two considerations are sufficient. Lead time is a fair indicator. And yes, for controlling the transportation time, we are shifting from international to local vendors for most of our consumables, it has other benefits as well.P1: But shifting to local vendors will have an adverse effect on your quality?Me: Not necessarily sir, we carry out sufficient number of trials before finalising a local vendor. In fact, The casting powder local vendor is more quick in action to our grievances, with few persons permanently assigned for our shop, and we have been able to develop some "low viscosity powders" which has increased our casting speed, and production.P2: So, finally you mean only these 2 factors are sufficient to decide the safety stock?Me:*thinking for a long time* I cannot think of anything else as of now. I guess these two should sufficiently do !P1: Are you sure you don’t have to make any other consideration?Me: *think* I am not sure sir ! But I cannot think of any other solid steps as of now.( I immediately realised that he was probably willing to listen a factor about any mishap in transportation e.g.strike, government declared bandh, public holiday, road blocks and all- thought of saying it out immediately, but stopped myself as I saw P2 was already speaking something)P2 : So the low viscosity powder from a local vendor increased the production, what did YOU do in that?Me: *excited tone* Sir, this is just one supporting factor, there were other factors as well. Moreover, finalising the right viscosity, or any other property for that matter, needed repeated trials, we took those trials !! Monitored the behaviour at our own risk. We studied the heat transfer characteristics in case of those powders and compared with earlier powders. This heat transfer characteristics was independently studied apart from the study of indirect cooling water supply, our agent of heat extraction.. blah blah.. of course, the continual support from the vendor side was one big help, and any big achievement needs such support, and by the way , we are paying them for that. It’s a win win.P1: *calmly* So you did a comparison of heat transfer rates!! Well Gautam, you sound good in technical, even your co-curricular says you have some research papers and conferences, why do you even want to get into management?This was a question put very articulately, and I did not have an answer for a moment. But then I replied philosophically.Me: *confident tone* Sir, I want to go for mba, not because for something I am good at, but because of something that I lack ! The reason for mba is not my past, but my future !<Thank god I had a similar conversation with one of the career launcher faculties few days back !! People criticize so much about the interview preparation coaching centres being so vague and useless, but who knows, sometimes some shit from there may help you!! My ideology- respect for all xD >Then came the best part !! I will never forget this for my entire life !P2: So Gautam, what do u do in your spare time?Me: Sir I like doing poetry, actually I observe nature and human behaviour and like doing poetry on the same when I am alone. It acts as a stress buster and gives me a sense of satisfaction. I also feel accomplished by exercising. I have a home gym and I used to run as an athlete under Jharkhand Athletics association in my teenage. But mostly I like doing poetry ! *stopped for one second* Hindi Poetry (loudly)!(I mentioned poetry again because I did not want to end with athletics, I wanted them to ask about poetry, also I put emphasis on Hindi Poetry because I know shit about English poetry)P1: Hindi Poetry?? (surprised*) Why not Bengali poetry?P2: He is not a Bengali. (in hindi) Ye Bihar waala “Mandal” hai !!P1: So you are not a Bengali? You are a “Mandal” from Bihar?Me: Ha ha, yes sir, I am not a Bengali.. I am from Jharkhand sir, specifically.P2: But you would have migrated from Bihar only no?Me: No sir, our family lived in Jharkhand only, from always.P2: Ya but then Jharkhand itself was a part of Bihar right?Me: *laughing* that way.. yes sir, it was a part of bihar !P1: When was Jharkhand separated?Me: Sir 15th Novemeber, 2000… 15th Nov is Birsa Jayanti in fact.P2: Okay, So u like doing poetry? Can u do some poetry on the present situation, as in you sitting in this room being interviewed by us... something like this.. impromptu poetry ? Will you be able to do?I was just surprised at the smartness of the interviewer !!I mean, I was expecting a question on poetry, but not this ! I had googled the names of some famous hindi poets just before my interview. Also, I had well-rehearsed some of my good poems, and I was expecting they would like to hear one of them, but impromptu poetry !! *what should I say, should I say yes or should I offer something else*Me: Hmmm.. yes sir, that’s difficult, but I can try.P2: Don’t worry, take this paper and pen, write down and recite it to us, take ur time.P2 slid a paper towards me.Me:*wrote one line on the sheet, took 30 seconds then stopped* Sir, I am not writing, I will just speak, and think and then again speak , plz forgive me if I am not able to come out with a good one that way, but I will certainly try…!P2: yes, yes fine, do it.Then I must thank my lord, I was able to frame some good lines, 4 lines I framed quickly, then struggled for another three lines and finally declared period.P2: (requesting) I just need one more line. I just want your poem to end smoothly.Me:* could produce one line. I was so happy I did it. *P1 & P2 both complimented me by saying it was a great job!!Me: thank you so much sir * I was super duper happy now*Here are few lines of the poem that I extempored that day. It’s written cleanly here, but remember that in reality I stammered and got stucked up a lot, as I was thinking and speaking.करने चिर प्रतिक्षित स्वपन को साकारदेने आया हूँ हृदय से साक्षात्कार !इस आयाम को तराश लूँ मैं, हैं और महफिलें आने को.इस भय से उबर लूँ ज़रा, हैं और मंजीलें पाने को.हैं विजय गीत गुनगुनाने को, शंकाओं को देना है नकारअवसर है सतरंगा आया आज, देने आया हूँ हृदय से साक्षात्कार …P1: So Gautam ! why do you think Jharkhand was separated from Bihar?Me: There were governance issues sir. The living condition of native tribes was getting worse and the feeling of resentment among the “Jharkhand Mukti Morcha” was growing strong. Minerals and coal deposits, industries and education institutions were all present in Jharkhand but people were deprived of the benefits. Southern areas were being neglected by the Patna centre...P1: do you think separation provided a solution?Me: Well, things have improved a bit.P1: But Jharkhand is still lagging behind.Me: yes sir, but that has its own reasons.P1: what reasons? Governance? Bad politics? So how do you justify the separation then ?Me: Sir, I am not justifying separation of states. I am just saying proper governance is a must for the growth of a state. And if a government has been formed by the votes of both the northern and southern chunks of bihar, the southern chunk cannot face a selective bias.P2: But everyone supports ones native place and doesn’t bother about far off places. Isn’t it?Me: yes sir, I understand that, even I do that. But as a leader of the whole state one cannot do that. You have taken a pledge after victory to serve the whole of state, and you must abide by that.P1: But after separation also poor governance remains an issue.Me: sir it’s difficult to connect dots looking forward. During separation, the only feasible solution seemed to be the division of state. We cannot just declare that there is a danger of a plan to fail, hence do not execute the plan itself. That way any change won't ever be possible.P1: So do you support the formation of Telangana also then?Me: Sorry sir, I don’t really have much knowledge about how and in what situation Telangana was formed.P1 seemed satisfied now !!P2: How many districts do you think are there in India?Me: Districts?? I am afraid I have no idea sir.P2: You can make a guess !Me: I think it should be around 500 sir, or 600. I will go with 600 !P2: And how do you say so?Me: Sir approximately 24 or 20 districts per state, as in Jharkhand , multiplied by the number of states i.e. 29, should give around 600 !!P1: But do you know, Tripura has only 4 districts?P1 is so smart !! Always !Me: Sir, that way Rajasthan and Bihar have more than 35 districts each, so it’s all balanced out. *smile* And anyway, my 600 is just a guess sir *I grinned*P1: *starts laughing aloud* Gautam do you have any questions for us?Me: hmm... No sir.. thank you.P2 and P1 look at each other.P2: It was nice talking to you gautam !As I get up, P1 asks me to pick one toffee !!I am all smile :)Verdict : CONVERTED !!!and now I am going to study at the hallowed campus of IIM Ahmedabad !I know the answer is long but couldn’t resist explaining the feel. Kindly forgive me for the errors if any. Hope it helps someone which is why I have tried my best to describe it as it actually happened!My advice to candidates : Just keep calm. Believe in yourself. Even if it's a stress interview keep taking things positively. Smile. And try to treat the interview as a conversation rather than a question- answer round. All the best !!

For every job-hunter out there, there is but one sworn enemy. The thorn in your side, your nemesis who stands between you and that dream job. The devil incarnate who stands between you and the salary you deserve, the designation you are suited for and the wonderful perks that come with it.Yes, it’s your not-so-friendly neighborhood recruiter from the organization you’re trying to join, also known‘that HR person’, ‘hiring manager’ and ‘talent acquisition fellow’ amongst others. The Kancha Cheema to your honest Vijay Dinanath Chauhanor the Joker to your Batman depending on how you like your movies. But there is no escaping the recruiter and dealing with them is a crucial step in succeeding in your quest, so let us take a look at the other side of the fence!The Hiring ProcessStage 1: Open Position!Typically, on any working morning (and on many non-working mornings as well), a recruiter at any organization will be pulled in whenever there is a ‘manpower requirement’. This is HR jargon 101 for what the rest of the world terms as a ‘vacancy’ or an open position. This may arise due to multiple reasons such as:The previous employee finally cracking his dream job at the bigger, fancier office down the street and exiting.The job incumbent being given, what HR teams after watching too many Hollywood movies like to call, the ‘Pink Slip’ – even though there’s no concept like this in India! Essentially terminated or asked to leave.Someone getting promoted, moving internally to a new location or role or just finally giving up and retiring.A geographical or business expansion where even by organizational standards, it is not possible to give the existing employees any more ‘additional challenging work’ and more people or people with a very specific skill set need to be hired.The rules of this piece do not apply for walk-ins, job fairs and campus hiring, which are separate ball games in themselves to be played another day!Stage 2: Need IdentificationIn an ideal world, the recruiter’s first step will be to understand as much as he/she can about the position that is to be filled up. This involves getting expectations from managers and leaders about the kind of work which is to be done, the skills & experience the role-holder must possess and the qualifications and the background candidate should ideally have.Also the all-important input on how quickly they need the replacement or new hire to be on board.Now this may not seem very difficult. However if you have any experience in a corporate environment you will know every manager worth his salt will claim that almost every position is extremely critical and urgent and as important to the success of the organization as Tendulkar once was to India’s cricket fortunes!Of course, every replacement must be a ‘potential future leader’, with every skill from the ability to crunch numbers on excel sheets to picking out the perfect set of flowers when the boss forgets his anniversary. Such is the expectation from the modern worker.Scene 3: SourcingArmed with these inputs, the Recruiter now moves to what is commonly known as Sourcing. As the name may suggest, sourcing is identifying the right channels to procure the profiles of candidates with relevant skills and backgrounds.Typical sourcing channels today include:Recruitment ConsultantsThese are independent third party organizations who work with multiple organizations – and will if one were to put it crudely – sell the candidate to the highest bidder. They maintain databases of job-seekers and when contacted by any organization, supply a pool of candidates who may have even remotely have similar profiles.Earn revenue from organizations on a commission basis – either a fixed amount basis the level of the candidate or as a percentage of the offered CTC. This is therefore expensive, however recruiters always resort to consultants because they hope to get a shorter and more relevant list of candidates, since they have a reputation to uphold.Their real advantage is that over the years, they have built their databases and hence also have links to passive candidates who may not otherwise be in the job market.Official websitesMost organizations have a dedicated careers section on their website where they put up open positions which are in public knowledge (sometimes hiring happens on a hush-hush basis due to which openings can’t be shared openly).Interested candidates can directly apply here with the other couple of thousand candidates who think their profile is a perfect fit for the role!Along with filling up the CV there is also a complicated form which needs to be filled which will make you respect the entire IT returns process and the tatkal railway booking process amongst others.This is generally linked to an even more complex recruitment system, known as Applicant Tracking Systems which thankfully as a job seeker you probably don’t have to see.Social MediaToday, whether they use it effectively or not, every organization will have a careers page on social media. By social media of course, we refer to the Holy Trinity or Big 3 of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter.Recruiters believe this is an excellent way to communicate or spread the word free of cost using crowd-sourcing and appear hep and new age at the same time.It has the advantage of going beyond the active jobseekers to the passive ones as well since people can share this, tag relevant potential candidates and basically bring to use a phrase – Muhammed to the Mountain.It also however brings everyone else from Ali to Zaheer to the mountain as well, so doesn’t solve anything for the recruiter.Job PortalsThis is the modern equivalent of advertisements in newspapers from a generation ago. Today portals such as Naukri, Monster, BabaJobs are the first place recruiters run towards to put in a job-posting.These have the advantage of a huge pool of potential candidates, and the equivalent disadvantage of allowing anyone to apply to anything they want to.Just like matrimonial websites, these are now diversifying into more niche target audiences from iimjobs to iipmjobs, however the anyone-can-apply-for-anything rule still remains!ReferralsOrganizations look at employee referrals as a way of leveraging their existing employee base to get a pool of vetted candidates, without a significant expense.Employees however look at this as an opportunity to finally send the CV of their neighbor’s son and that annoying second cousin who keep hounding you to help in their job hunt.Stage 4 : ScreeningFrom sourcing we move to screening. For reasons which may now be obvious, sourcing does not always provide a quick list of suitable candidates. Whatever the requirements are, a job-hunters always have the nothing-to-lose or let-me-at-least-apply tendency which leads to a huge number of original applications anyways.Most job portals and applicant tracking systems shortlist or suggest relevant profiles on the basis of certain keywords, which an experienced candidate has ways of including in his CV whether relevant or not.The end result is more often than not a mountain of 50 ‘excellent’ candidates from the consultants, around 200 notifications on Facebook and maybe even a 1000 applications on Naukri – a good deal of which are unsuitable.Thus despite technology, most recruiters eventually fold up their sleeves and end up screening candidate applications manually.The first stage is to weed out the extremely irrelevant applications based on their profiles and CVs. This pruned list would then be screened by quick telephone calls to establish genuine interest and broad compatibility with the location, salary and designation offered.The end result of this is a finally a short-list or a shorter long-list from the original set of profiles.Stage 5: EvaluatingFor most recruiters, scheduling an interview is often more difficult than conducting the interview! Organizations use multiple modes along with interviews such case-studies, psychometric or aptitude tests or other activities in the hope that candidates either do something exceptionally good or exceptionally bad to help them narrow down the pool.These may or may not be elimination rounds depending upon the nature of the role as well as the level the candidate is applying to.Interviews however (when they are finally scheduled at the convenience of both the interviewer and the candidate!) remain the most common method of doing so.As a rule most organizations will look to check your technical skills or suitability for a job through a Functional Interview and then evaluate how well you will fit into the role and the organization through a competency based or behavioral interview (also known as an HR interview for the rest of the world’s population).Interviews come in many forms and sizes – so these may be combined or scheduled independently, conducted by individuals or panels, all scheduled in a day or spread out over weeks, be telephonic, over web-cam or in person. There is only one rule for interviews – Murphy’s Law will prove its existence.Stage 6: ClosingOnce a candidate is deemed suitable, clears all the basic requirements and receives a go-ahead from all the stakeholders starts the process of offer-negotiation. Sometimes, organizations prefer to do this stage as part of the HR interview itself to save time.They don’t really, but that’s another story.This is essentially where the candidate and the recruiter channelize their internal bargaining skills honed over the years in the bazaars and fish-markets. They go back and forth on the exact salary which will be offered, various bonuses, allowances and benefits which can be squeezed in, the exact role title and level and the all-important question of ‘how quickly can you join?’.The process of arriving at a salary figure to be offered is more a science than an art taking in inputs from external market benchmarks, salary structures of internal employees etc.Most recruiters expect candidates to negotiate and hence there is every chance the original offer would be 5-10% below what is the maximum that can be offered, however there is not much of a bank to pay with.Organizations try to therefore throw in sweeteners such as joining bonuses and buy-outs of notice period which are one time payments without a long term impact!Stage 7: Pre-joiningOnce the offer is closed, the next stage of the recruitment process typically involves the recruiter waiting with a bated breath, chewing on finger-nails and hoping that the candidate actually does join on the agreed upon date!A fun fact: most recruiters are more worried than candidates in the lead up to the date of joining.Candidates do not join due to 2 major reasons – either they are retained by their current employers (many employees use an external offer as a bargaining chip internally) or by using the interim time and available job offer they look for a new better one.Also most such candidates will not inform the recruiter of the decision either so it is only when they refuse to take any phone calls or respond to emails on the day of joining that the penny finally drops.This illustrates where the power centers in these relationships, which is a good opportunity to segue into the nature of the Job Market.The Job MarketCandidates typically look as the organization (and therefore, the recruiters) as always having the upper hand in a hiring relationship. However this is generally not true. Let us equate the job market to a marketplace, once again considering campus hiring and walk-ins as different markets in every way.The recruiter is equivalent to the ‘seller’ selling a job while a job-applicant is the ‘buyer’ who is looking for a job. Every day a position is vacant is a set-back to the seller, it is a product or inventory which remains unsold and is not earning a profit.Consider, yourself to be a job-seeker. Depending on your situation – you may be a very active or a passive one. And whichever end of the continuum you are at – with a few exceptional situations such as where you are out of a job because your previous company closed down, or you just happened to get the boot – you will definitely have a set series of expectations before you accept any new job-offer.These may typically be the role offered, the organization brand, the salary, benefits, team, office location, feedback about culture etc. and how all of these things compare to your current job offer. The list may vary for every Amar, Akbar and Anthony -however there will be that minimum threshold expectation for each one of them before they accept an offer.We all know of friends and colleagues who crib and complain around the clock on how bad their job is. Yet don’t take up any of the million referrals and opportunities which are passed on to them. In most of these cases, it is because they cannot say with certainty that the opportunity is meeting their expectations or is better than where they currently are placed.The recruiter at any organization rarely has that luxury. He/she has a position which is open and for which someone needs to be hired. And whatever the reason for this may be, there is an urgency or definite need which cannot be postponed indefinitely.Hence contrary to the popular perception of cowboy recruiters who throw their weight around with a swagger to boot, it will very rarely happen that a recruiter will reject a candidate because his he didn’t like the shirt he wore or she didn’t like the perfume she used. It’s too much of a risk to take. What if they couldn’t find another candidate?Most existing candidates will serve a notice period (which may vary from 1 month to 3 months) before moving on. In an ideal situation, the New Hire should thus join before the existing candidate exits, and even that with a good buffer to get the all-important ‘handover’.No pressure, especially when this is happening for multiple candidates with multiple open positions. So job-seekers be aware that you share the driving seat just as much as the recruiter. Now go get that job opportunity which is knocking on the door!