Interviewers need to sell!

“I’m a CFO, and I don’t need to sell”

WRONG!

Scripted robotic interviewers, that read from a list of standard questions have less of a competitive edge in attracting and recruiting talent. Optimising the company value proposition and knowing how to ‘sell’ this back to what is important to the job seeker is an imperative interviewing skill required to win the war for talent in this increasingly competitive market.

Tables have turned and at every part of the recruitment process, hiring managers, and companies are being judged, critiqued, and reviewed by the job seeker. This process is not as straight forward as it used to be and in this current buoyant market it can be challenging for the job seeker when considering multiple job opportunities. In many cases, it is not the hiring manager but in fact the job seeker who is making the ultimate final decision.

Of course, its every company’s goal is to secure the best talent and below are a few tips on how you as an interviewer can convince a job seeker that your company is the best choice for them?

Build rapport
Smile, be welcoming, and use the job seekers name. Using someone’s name is one of the most simple but powerful ways to build rapport.  

Motivators
It is essential to know exactly what the candidate is looking for in a job or career and how your company can fulfill their needs. Knowing if they are interviewing elsewhere and with what companies will serve in your favour and help you understand what kind of competition you are up against.  Understanding the candidates’ motivations and what the individual reasons of why they might want to join your company is a crucial part of the interview process. Knowing what matters most to them is the single most effective way to tailor your brand message, emphasize your companies value proposition / offerings and how they will benefit the job seeker individual needs. Once known you can ‘sell’ back to the candidate why your company and role can fulfill their career goals and of course without knowing these it is impossible to do so.

Know your brand, perks and company culture
Perks are those extra incentives or benefits your business offer employees. They’re beneficial as they will give the job seekers an insight into your company’s culture and values. Discussing the company culture is important part of the interview to see understand if the job seeker and company complement each other.

Be flexible
Amongst employee benefits in 2022, work flexibility is considered to the most valuable. Only 55% of job seekers would consider a job that doesn’t offer flexibility working options, 29% said they would not and 16% said only if it was a dreamjob*. Best practice would be to have an individual flexibility agreement that is tailored exactly to the job seekers needs. 

*Source p2p Post 2022 – Market report covering employment and salary trends. If you would like a free copy of this report, please click to link The impact of COVID-19 on Australia · people2people to request a copy