Land that job interview within 8 seconds or you drop to the bottom of the pile. I know it can feel extreme but – yes, 8 seconds is the average attention span of a person.
Imagine this. You are excited. Your recruiter has already identified you for the job role. You interview with the recruiter, share your story and polish up your resume after studying up on the company. The recruiter writes a killer bio about you and is able to b-line your “portfolio” directly to the hiring manager’s inbox. You are feeling optimistic. You start envisioning what it would be like to drive to the office, work at that desk and be part of a fresh new team.
But boom…..no call back. Not a peep. No interview. You start to feel nervous…Was my resume not clear? Was my objective not explicit? Did they get scared because I took off some time to travel?
The questions pour out.
9 times out of 10, it’s not that at all.
Jump in the shoes of the hiring managers. They are dying to make the right hire as an empty seat is costly to the company and inhibits their departments growth. To set a typical scene, they are working with 3 staffing agencies sending 2-5 candidates each, getting 100’s of resumes off their internal job ad and 5+ internal referrals for the role.
Recruiters have the direct communication channel to the hiring manager. They have their ear, they have their eye, they have trust. Your recruiter wants you to win that interview slot. And despite all that, there is still lots of “other candidate” competition.
What is the solution to get to the top of the pile and beat out the other candidates, to get you that interview fast?
Submit your references at Stage 1 of the process. According to a recent 2019 case study by Terefic, (a reference checking app for staffing and recruitment firms), sending over your checked references responses in the beginning vs. later, will increase your chances of landing an interview anywhere between 40%-100% depending on the industry.
Let’s break this paradigm that references are for the end. Get to the top of the pile and get that interview fast.
Author – Written by Miya Mee-Lee Dias, Former Account Executive and Full desk Recruiter for close to 10 years working at a variety of fast-paced Staffing Agencies.
Info: www.Terefic.com, a reference checking app for staffing and recruitment firms.
