It’s really exciting to see a number of new HR initiatives being offered online. In our last blog we talked about employees being able to rate employers. You can check it out HERE:

This week I was intrigued to read about a new site where you can use quizzes as part of your selection process to narrow down applicants by asking them a series of relevant questions to ensure they will fit at your company.
This site is called wierdlyhub.com

Read a bit about what they do from this Stuff article:

With the use of Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media sites as well as more traditional methods to advertise your role – Trademe, Seek and the newspaper - you can have candidates coming in from many places.

This is when your selection criteria and processes kicks in.

Traditional Selection processes include:

• Phone screening
• Interviews – Including competency, skills and organisation fit based questions
• Psych testing
• Role plays
• Presentations
• “Meet the team”

Weirdly offers another string to your selection bow. Especially in the cultural fit side of things which we all know is critical.
Some initial thoughts on using this new tool includes:

• They can be really helpful as part of an overall planned selection process
• Always weigh up the cost/benefit analysis – does the result justify the cost?
• Older generations may not be so comfortable with new processes (this can be both positive and negative).
• Are they targeted at younger more internet savvy candidates
• Who do you actually want to reach?
• What are the questions that you ask that defines your culture? Are they correct?
• How easy is it to answer how you “think” they want the answers

Nothing is more powerful than a properly run interview with follow up in-depth reference checking.

But if you can use this tool to whittle down your shortlist at minimal cost – I say give it a try…

And if you do – drop us a line and let us know if it worked for you or not – our community of readers would love to hear the feedback.

by Emma Worseldine

Have you ever wondered how Recruiters decide which CV’s to take through to Interview stage?

Is it as simple as and Yes, No and MAYBE?

No – it’s not - before they review every CV they gather a set of selection criteria that may make the decision at the Yes, No, maybe stage that much easier– this may include:

• Experience Required
• Education Required
• Skill levels
• Competencies

Recruiters will already have sat down and talked with the hiring Manager and got a whole lot of back ground information about the vacancy and what type of skills and experience are needed.

The other big piece of the puzzle is called organisational fit – this means that the recruiter is often looking for someone with similar values and attitude that will fit in the current team.

When screening CV’s the organisational fit is looked for by seeing where you have worked in the past and who you have worked for.

Your education levels can show recruiters your ability and passion for learning.

Selection is also helped by having the following:

• NO spelling mistakes
• A CV that is easy to read
• A CV that makes sense

All these factors and many more go through a recruiters head as they filter the pile of CV’s and yes it can be quite a subjective process at times. Some recruiters are better than others at seeing in between the lines and are more open to going outside the square with putting applicants through.

If you really feel passionately about a job then make sure you ring the recruiter to ensure they have your CV and have had a look at it. They should then be able to give you some feedback on why you are going through or not.

by Emma Worseldine