5 Tips on How to Make an Impression on a Recruiter

By Iain Mc Loughlin, Director of Career Services at ESADE

Making a lasting impression is critical at all stages of the recruitment process, from application through selection. Beyond this, Michael Watkins, author of The First 90 Days, Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders, has written about the need to make an impression in a new role. Here are 5 tips on how to impress a recruiter in the early stages of your job search.

1. Understand the organisation and the job

Research what the employer does, what they offer and what competencies they are looking for. This involves more than simply visiting the organisation’s website. Think about the organisation’s structure and culture, current projects, campaigns, products and clients, as well as their long-term strategies.

A job description will give you a basic outline of the tasks you will be expected to undertake. Some organisations will also provide a person specification to explicitly identify the skills you will need to complete these tasks. Use both documents to check that you meet the employer’s essential criteria for qualifications and experience. These documents are also useful as checklists to self-assess your application. For example: Have you provided good examples that demonstrate that you have all the relevant competencies mentioned in the job description/person specification?

2. Know your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)

You need to be clear about the competencies you have to offer. Successfully completing an application requires more than simply listing your achievements. Persuade an employer that you are the ideal candidate, and then prove it!

Conduct a skills audit. Try not to rely too heavily on examples from a single area of activity. It’s far better to identify transferable skills, i.e. skills that can be taken from one job, activity or sector to another. Think about all the skills you have developed through, for example, academic study, a practicum, volunteering opportunities, student clubs and societies. Which examples are the most relevant and illustrative of your abilities for that particular employer?

3. Review your answers

Think about the content, language (spelling and grammar) and structure of a successful answer. Employers look for competencies across all areas of selection and will assess your application against their own competency framework. You may not know what that framework is, but one approach to answering competency questions is to use the STAR method.

4. Strenght- based questions

Employers are increasingly looking to assess candidates through strength-based questions. These can be used to assess whether you have the energy, drive and enthusiasm for the role. With a question such as "Are you true to yourself?" the recruiter will be looking to see how secure or insecure candidates are, how confident they are, and whether they remain authentic when talking to different people. Strength-based questions may sound strange, but the recruiter is looking for answers that demonstrate levels of energy, commitment and motivation.

5. Promote your brand

To impress a recruiter, you’ll ned to include a personal "pitch" – something that makes an impression on the recruiter.

Think about your relevant experience or knowledge of the sector/role that you are targeting. Demonstrate your passion and your knowledge of the employer’s needs. Your pitch should not be too long or too short (one to two minutes is usually best). Show genuine interest and passion.

Blogging and tweeting are good ways to promote yourself and share your professional interest and knowledge. Both are ways of expressing opinions and opening up new networks to people who can promote your brand. Make sure the recruiter sees a 100% complete LinkedIn profile, a professional-looking photo (not a holiday snap), and a link to your personal website, blog or business school website.

Decide what your strategy is on Facebook. Is it only for friends and family, or is it part of your overall professional image? Who will see it, and how much do you want others to see? The wrong pictures or posts can create impressions that may have serious consequences with future recruiters. By setting appropriate permissions, you can decide how much or how little others see and learn about you.

In today’s networked environment, recruiters will use social media alongside your application to assess what you say about yourself. If you have not yet considered how you appear online, now is the time. This online personal brand calculator from PwC can help you understand and improve your online presence:
http://www.pwc.com/ca/en/campus-recruiting/programs-and-events/personal-brand-calculator.jhtml

The Association of Graduate Recruiters in the UK said recently: "Employers are struggling to fill graduate positions because of a lack of ‘quality’ job submissions and 67 per cent of employers have received applications of "insufficient quality" in the last year."

To make an impression with a recruiter, every interaction is critical, from the moment you start your application to the minute you finish the interview. Recruiters would prefer to hire nobody than to hire the wrong person.