May
20
Over at the Ask A Manager blog there there is a great post about paying attention to the very first interaction with an organisation when you are keen to apply for a job there. Follow the link right through to the US News website for the whole article but the gist of it is that the very first contact you will make with that organisation is really the start of the interview process. So how you write your e-mail requesting information, how you are on the phone when you ask for a recruitment pack etc may well count to how your application is perceived.
There are of course many routes to finding a new job. If an agency is handling the initial interactions it might be a good idea to practice your techniques on them before you get to the potential employer - but I guess really if they are doing their job well if they are not impressed with you you won’t even get that far.
That’s the thing about first impressions - no second chances.
But it works both ways!
Personally I have had pretty ropey first interactions with organisations when I was applying for jobs in the past. Examples amongst those were not being called back, promised timings for getting information to me missed, and - horror of horrors - being kept waiting for half an hour for my interview because something else had come up and taken the interviewer away.
I hear similar stories from clients when we are working together coaching for interviews. One told me that her application form had been “lost” and she was asked to remember what she had writted - in the interview, when she was already stressed, as well as the interview questions. Arrggh. And there are so many stories about being told that the organisation would get back to a candidate by a certain time and that deadline was missed . This sort of thing should be informing you of what it might be like to work there!
An interview process is a 2 way thing - both parties would do well to remember that!
