Recently, a number of circumstances led to me seeking new professional opportunities. As I went through various processes and had multiple discussions with hiring managers, talent acquisitions professionals, and various individuals tasked with evaluating incoming talent, I made a number of observations that I believe there is value in sharing.

  1. Watch For Consistency

    One of the most interesting things I observed is that, at times, different conversations led to different interpretations of what a role was, or what the expectations of a hire might include. Although it’s certainly understandable that folks in different roles may have different ideas of how a role might impact the company, vastly different answers may indicate that there is some internal confusion on the purpose of the role… and more importantly what success in the role may look like.

  2. Be Prepared

    Whether you’re job seeking or a hiring manager, it’s important to be ready.

    • Interviewers:
      • Be sure that you’ve prepared the right materials for the right role. Now is a busy time for hiring - a lot of people are applying for new opportunities. If you’re asking them questions about a role that isn’t aligned with your posting, they will notice.
      • Be sure the questions you’re asking are aligned with the role. Specific contributor-level experience is less important the higher level a role is placed within the organization. For management, seek answers to the strategic processes. For contributors, seek answers to tactics and problem-solving processes. Tools can be learned. Processes are more embedded and more challenging to alter.
    • Interviewees:
      • Have the job posting ready for reference during any interview.
      • Take notes - and use your notes to ask clarifying questions about what you are hearing against what is on the posting.
      • Test your technology (if any) before an interview is scheduled. Even though you may have a lot of opportunities that you’re pursuing, you don’t want to miss out on any of them just because you were five minutes late to a Teams or Zoom call.

  3. Follow Through

    This is more for the hiring side than for the interviewer side - but just barely. It’s important to say what you mean, and mean what you say! If you promise a candidate they will have something by a certain time, you need to deliver - either that thing or a reason why the thing couldn’t be done.

    Don’t assume that interviewers are just waiting for your response. Job seekers have a lot of choices at the moment, and presumably they have selected your company for a reason. It’s important not to give them a reason to de-select you.

I might have more thoughts at a later time - and will update the page accordingly.

This is all also to say that I do have an exciting new opportunity in my near future - more on that to come in a later post.

Agree? Disagree? I’d love you hear from you - send me your thoughts on Twitter.