“It Takes 5 Minutes to Personalize a Cover Letter.” – Interview with Recruiter
When businesses are hiring, they want to make sure they find the right person for a job. Last week, we took the time and interviewed Lucie Elšíková from Prague’s employment agency Dorset Recruitment. We talked about managing a successful job interview and a role of professional recruiters in hiring the right candidate.
The job interview can be a nerve-wracking experience, but good news is that there are always ways to react effectively to the recruiters’ questions. What are the small details recruiters notice that can make a candidate stand out?
Every time I look forward to the first conversation with the candidate, whose interest in the position is serious. A well written cover letter is the best first step for candidates to stand out. The good news is, that it usually takes around 5 minutes to personalize a cover letter.
From a candidate’s viewpoint, what are the most common questions for recruiters?
It depends on which field – accountants are usually curious about the financial situation of the company, IT people about future development, technical equipment and logstics. But in general, the questions are about the job description or company’s culture. What candidates really want to know, are of course details about the salary, benefits and working hours, but candidates are usually restrained and don’t ask them on the first contact.
Lucie, you work at a recruitment agency. What kind of support can you offer to candidates as an agency they wouldn’t have when looking for a job by their own?
A good recruitment agency should be able to prepare the candidate for an interview and highlight the attributes, that are most important to the employer. Communication with the recruitment agency is usually more open and relaxed, so it´s easier to find out, what is most important for the candidate. The agency is also able to provide relocation assistance and is an important support during the candidates first weeks before and after starting work.
What is your take on social media in recruiting? How Facebook or LinkedIn are useful in finding right candidates?
Social networks actually work very well in finding suitable candidates. Recruiters just need to know how to use them properly. E. g. using the most suitable search criteria.
Let’s focus on expats here in Prague and Brno. What fields of market are in demand of foreigners in the Czech Republic?
Most commonly positions in shared service centers, IT and language teaching. Read more about shared service centers in our article SSCs in Prague and Brno Hire Foreigners and Czech Millennials.
What is the most exciting part of working as a recruiter?
Working for a recruitment company gives you a greater overview of the labor market, than working for an internal HR department. I enjoy learning about the clients projects, strong requirements and which candidates would be most suitable. The finding and the contacting suitable candidate is of course very interesting too, because every person is unique and has something different to offer. When the recruitment process is successful, work offer accepted, the client as well as the candidate are very happy, this is the most rewarding part.
How did you start your career as a recruiter?
My brother introduced me to a company seeking someone without experience as support for its HR department. I am grateful, that my brother directed my career toward recruitment and I am very happy. It is more fun, than I expected.
Would you tell us, what your favorite job interview question is?
I am always happy, when I can find out more about the candidate as a person than as a professional. I am curious, what hobbies candidates have or where they last went on holiday. It’s nice to able to call and candidate and say “Hi, how is your dog doing today?” :)
Lucie Elšíková
Lucie is a Junior Recruiter at Dorset Recruitment. She focuses on Finance, Logistics, and IT Recruiting. Lucie graduated at Mendelova univerzita v Brně. Previously, she worked as a Recruiter at Mountfield a.s. She is currently living in the Czech capital Prague.
Dorset Recruitment is your partner to solve your staffing needs in the Czech Republic. Now in our seventh year, we have been successfully placing talented employees into our client’s companies across a wide range of different businesses and industries, both large and small. Find more information and up to date job vacancies here.
Title picture: HSGTalents (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.
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