Namrata Gill 10 lessons from hiring over 5000 people

Over Namrata Gill almost two decades of career, she have been hiring at all levels from fresher’s to very senior leaders. It is very interesting to see what candidate think and how the hiring organizations perceives. As she was researching for writing this, she saw loads of articles saying that what candidate should do, there was little to say this from the hiring organisation / manager perspective

1.      Please don’t say “I am not looking out “. It sounds inauthentic and fake. Every time a candidate says I chuckle inside. Yes of course you are not looking out, that is the reason you are sitting in front of me.
2.      Please don’t say “money is not important”. Then in next breath ask for 40% hike. Decide if it is important, if it does not matter- why not join at exact salary that you are drawing or what organization chooses to pay you.
3.      Please do research and come about the organization and come. Please know what its balance-sheet is, what is employee count, product. Go to website, LinkedIn and whatever you can lay your hands on. I hate when I must answer basic questions like where are you based?
4.      Please prepare basic questions in advance, why do you want to leave/ join us. What are you good at etc.? It is important to be very specific with examples. I have mentally yawned when people say “I am committed”/ “I want to grow”/ “I love working hard”/” I am organized”
5.      Know how to showcase your work in elevator pitch with specifics. I have sometimes had to dig very deep to know that this candidate has done great work. Talk about impact rather than how you got appreciated and recognized.
6.      Show humility while showing off your work. This one is tough to do. Personally, I think it really helps to showcase their work and achievements rather than “I am over achiever “
7.      Read the job description word by word and not just title and headline. I have seen very senior people assuming the role to what it is rather than what is written. Especially on stakeholders, team and impact. Also please don’t ask questions that are already written
8.      Brevity is preferred. I recently made the mistake of asking someone to describe their profile. What could have been 5 minutes maximum turned out to about 18 minutes. Well you just can assume the result.
9.      Focusing on job title rather than what job entails. Titles come free, it does not cost the organization to call “Vice-president” or “Senior Manager”. Sticking to content of role is the key
10.  Don’t drop names. No one wants to know who you know and who you worked with. It is important who you are and what you do. Try to have the conversation around it.

Re-reported from the story originally published in Linked In