LATEST MOAN FROM YOU AND ME 2017 a

Some of them know about that and work hard at not to show it but there are quite a few other indications.

Also, if an interviewer doesn't follow a script they can quite often get more out of the interview. Going completely off topic when interviewing is a good ploy as the prospective employee has usually primed themselves for all the expected questions. Nowadays there are questions you're not allowed to ask them but most of those should never have been asked in the past, anyway. A good interviewer should not only have read the CV properly but done a bit of research into what the interviewee says are their hobbies and pastimes. All this is apart from 'body language' reading.

Not many interviewees are trying to con their way into jobs and the skill of the interviewer is to try and put all candidates at their ease as soon as possible. Be relaxed, empathetic and above all, listen more and talk less when you are interviewing someone. It's them you want to know about! The hardest thing is to be able to spot uniqueness in a candidate that would be good for the company.

 

I partially agree with this.

(Official figures up to 2017):- Small businesses accounted for 99.3% of all private sector businesses at the start of 2017. A quarter of these don't employ anyone apart from the people who own the businesses.

1.3 million private small businesses employ people and they, of course, want people that 'fit in'. Lack of skill in interviewing (not unusual or unexpected as small businesses don't have skilled interviewers and it's usually the boss doing the interviews) means that, often, they don't get the right person.

Advancement of career depends on point of view. As most interviewers in small businesses are the owner(s) they just want to try and make sure that the person is right for the job. This should help the business and so enhance the career of all the employees.

In large businesses and the public sector I think that the interviewer would, naturally, be thinking of their career and advancement.

 

Don't worry, I believe you!

 

They were when I was doing them!

Extracts of info from a couple of very big employment agencies:-

"The section of a CV that seems to cause a lot of confusion is hobbies and interests, and naturally many people tend to neglect it. However, this section is actually very useful to employers.

Here are our tips on how to make this section more effective."

"Why include hobbies and interests?
To put it simply, hiring managers are nosy.

While your CV tells the story of your qualifications and your career, the hobbies and interest section reveals a little more of your personality.

Benefits of including hobbies on your CV include:

• Demonstrating your relevant skills for the role
• Helps your CV stand out from the crowd
• Makes your CV more individual
• Allows you to show voluntary and community-focused projects
• Gives you something to talk about during your interview"

 

Actually, not quite true. Many Businesses will include and ask those questions in an interview casually and in a Bonhomie way as it still gives an insight into an interviewee's skills etc. McCann Erickson [a Global Advertising Firm] still does as do recruiters for, would you believe, major Insurance Companies and Car Manufacturers.

 

Not any more, pete, since the PC people moved in. It's got to the stage where a past employer goes by the thought "if you can't say anything good, then say nothing". So employers now end up with "bland" references given by past employers which defeats the object of the exercise.

 

I, once, refused to give someone a reference (not allowed to make unproven comments about someone ). She had been employed by one of my managers when I was away on holiday and, when I returned I found that her work was good, she was always at work early and was good with customers.

After she had been with us for six months the manager said that there was a problem. Money had been disappearing from staff purses in the staff room and two of the staff had seen her putting a purse back into someone else's bag and were threatening to beat her up! I suggested to the that it may be better to have a quiet word with her and say that she would rather not report her to me as I would have no choice but to call the police, but it would be better if she handed in her resignation - which she did.

Two weeks later I received a letter from her prospective new employer with a reference form. I didn't fill in the form or send it back and a week later received a phone call from the HR manager asking about her. I said that she could ask me questions if she liked so she asked the usual questions such as 'was she good at her job', 'was she punctual' etc. She didn't ask whether she was honest or trustworthy and when she asked if I would like to say anything else I said 'No but you haven't asked me the right questions!' She then caught on and asked me if she was trustworthy, and I said that I wasn't prepared to answer that question. I was thanked for my answers.

It is very difficult to give references to people if there has been something wrong because unless you have solid proof you have to be very careful. That's why a lot of employers don't give references.