Today we welcome a guest blog post from Todd Hecht, a Recruiter at Orion International and Navy veteran.
![]() |
Years ago, one of the
best things I learned in Navy Recruiting School was the meaning of empathy (not
to be confused with sympathy). Empathy is the ability to put yourself in
someone else’s shoes without getting emotionally involved. Empathy in your job
search can be a great asset. I call gearing your presentation of skills,
whether on a resume or in an interview, toward the specific job you are seeking The
Empathy Test. So as you read this, try to utilize The Empathy Test and think like the people responsible for hiring
you.
One thing job applicants
often don't consider is that hiring you is a BUSINESS DECISION and not a
personal one. To most people a corporate recruiter may seem like the gate
keeper, but to their company they are cost savers. Their job is to find the
type of people that can do the job, are going to be a cultural fit,
and have the longevity to grow and prosper with the company. To give you some
insight into why this is important to a business, look at it this way:
On average the Society of Human Resource Management reports
it cost a company $4,800 to hire one person
factoring in recruitment cost (sourcing/ advertising, etc.). To replace an
employee that leaves a company, it costs 120% of that person’s yearly salary to
recruit, train, and get a new hire up-to-speed factoring in lost productivity.
Nothing is 100%, but,
for the most part, a good recruiter can profile an applicant based off a resume
and be pretty close to 80% correct on whether or not that applicant is going to
cost either time (which is money) or if they have a
high probability of making it through the interview process. Let’s
call this the round hole part of the funnel. Square pegs don’t fit round holes,
right?
Each individual, each
job, each company, and each recruiter is different, but the common denominator
is that everyone is looking to fit a round peg in the round hole. The best
recruiters know how to make the best matches from the very first contact, which
is often your resume. So, let's focus on the psychology behind this
profiling process and what you can do to make the cut. This
is helpful not only when you submit your resume, but also when you
interview.
As a job seeker, it is
your responsibility to make your resume attractive enough to become that
recruiter’s (or company’s) round peg. Easier said than done, right? Well, it
becomes a little easier if you approach the application process with that
specific companies perspective in mind using The Empathy Test. The most effective way (besides insider
information) is to decode the company’s job description for the position for
which you are applying. This description can give you valuable information on
ways to make yourself more of a round peg. As an example, here is an actual
company description I took off of a job posting I found online:
“ABC
company is a passionate and dedicated team that prides ourselves on meeting the
needs of our customers through technology based solutions and a dedicated focus
on providing the highest quality service. We are currently interviewing local
candidates for the position of Maintenance Technician. The Maintenance
Technician is responsible for troubleshooting and repair of our clients’
equipment onsite at their facilities”.
The average job seeker
will take this at face value and focus on the fact that this basic description
says maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair. However, decoded to a recruiter
this says: We need a good maintenance person, but, equally as important,
we need a sharp individual that carries themselves well that can work at our
customers' facilities. They must present a solid and professional type image,
because they are representing our company. This person should have great
customer service skills and a sales type personality. And oh by the way,
since you will most likely have to drive a company vehicle, a clean driving
record is a must.
So how does this apply
to your resume or introduction at the interview? Some job seekers might only focus on the tangible skill set required for the job, like maintenance and repair experience. However, the better candidate will
additionally focus on the intangible skills like customer service, sales,
professional demeanor, and may even list things like held a Top Secret Security
Clearance (good indicator of credit worthiness and responsibility).
One way to go about The Empathy Test with your resume is to
print out four things: your resume, the company job description, the company
mission statement, and the About Us page from the company website. Now set all
four things next to each other and read them carefully, as you never know what
information you will be able to pull out of them.
Draw a line from
important items in the company's information to areas of your resume you feel
match up or lend themselves to what the company would be looking for. Circle
every keyword you can find on the job description and draw a line to the word
or phrase on your resume. And count keywords that are listed multiple times in
the job description, as the ones listed most are the most important to the
hiring company. List these as close to the top of your resume as possible and
make them as prevalent as possible. Be careful here, though, not to appear to
have simply rewritten their job description as your resume. Be honest with yourself
about your skills and any correlations to the description.
Now let’s talk briefly
about The Empathy Test on your interview preparation.
Hopefully, you have read and retained the information from the items you
printed out for the resume test. Now it is time for you to do your due
diligence on the interviewer. Most recruiters will tell you with whom you will be interviewing. Research them and find out what
information you can use to prepare yourself. Find out things like
where they went to school, where they are from, how long they have been with
the company, their career path within the company, and if they
are a veteran.
As I mentioned above,
cultural fit should be foremost in your mind. Most interviewers subconsciously
hire people who are most like them. Doing your due diligence can help you build a rapport with the interviewer
(Rapport + Personality + Likeability = Cultural Fit).
Utilizing The Empathy Test will help eliminate the
emotion of a job search and help you to see it more as the business decision it is
for hiring companies. Taking this objective view of can help turn a square peg
into a round one!
No comments:
Post a Comment