How to prepare for a recruitment interview

Ashdown People
How to prepare for a recruitment interview
 Primary questions you may be asked:

What is your understanding of the role of a recruitment consultant?

A mixture of cold calling sales, customer service, and consultation. A recruitment consultant would have to generate their own client lists to pitch for business. Once they have a role to work they would seek the best candidates in the market via advert response, job boards search / LinkedIn, manage client and candidate expectations and guide the candidate through the interview process until an offer is made.

 Why do you want to work in recruitment?

The role has a lot of variety and holds decent earning potential – anything to do with career progression or being money motivated etc.DO NOT say “because I like to help and speak to different people”.

What skills do you have that will make you a good recruitment consultant?

Professional telephone manner, resilient and can deal with rejection. Desire to succeed. Persuasive and importantly: have the ability to listen.

What experience do you have that is relevant to a recruitment role?

Try to focus on anything sales/customer service related. Any experience based around speaking over the phone will also be relevant.

Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?

When interviewers ask where you see yourself in five years, they are trying to figure out your career goals as well as how the job works with your overall plan. The interviewer wants to know your career goals as a way of ensuring you are proactive, motivated, hard-working, and will stay with the company.

What motivates you?

Career progression and earning potential.

 When have you shown a competitive nature?

Any sports examples would be suitable.

Other general questions you may be asked:

What are your unique selling points?

What do you know about our company?

Why do you want to work for us?

What achievements are you most proud of?

What have you done in your career that demonstrates initiative?

What are your strengths/weaknesses?

How would your manager/previous employer describe you?

What aspects of your job do you find easiest/hardest?

Where would you rank yourself in your current team?

What qualities can you bring to a business?

How would you prepare to win new business?

What do you know about the recruitment marketplace?

When have you worked to targets? & How have you faired against those targets?

When have you demonstrated resilience?

When have you demonstrated persuasive skills?

When have you had to deal with a difficult situation? & How did you overcome that situation?

What else have you done with regards to securing a position within recruitment?

What are your professional and educational qualifications to date?

You’ve made it to the end of your interview, and the employer has asked if you have any questions for them. Don’t reply with “No, I think you’ve covered everything”. This is your opportunity to find out if the company will give you the opportunity for the growth and development that you want. Interviewers want to hear thoughtful questions about the work, the culture, and the organization - questions that show that you're really trying to figure out if this is the right fit for you.

Questions you may wish to ask:
Company

Why is the position available?

What is the company turnover?

What plans for future growth does the company have?

Who are your competitors in the market?

Are you candidate or client led i.e. do they have more jobs or more candidates?

What is the company culture?

How is the company structured?

Which is the most successful consultant/team and why?

How many candidates do you interview per week and how? i.e. face to face/by telephone

What is the ratio of candidates interviewed to placed?

Role

What training will I receive?

What are the long-term opportunities for progression?

What % of my role will be candidate generation and business development?

When are trainees generally promoted to consultants?

What commission can I earn as a trainee and then as a consultant?

What expectations will you have of me in the first three months/six months?

How soon will I be interviewing, going on client visits and making placements?

How will my performance be measured?

Team

What size is the team in which I would be working?

How are the teams structured?

Which is the most successful team and why?

How competitive are the teams?

Organisations look to hire people with similar values to those of the company culture. Researching the company before an interview will give you an insight into the organisation's future goals and plans and being able to discuss these points will make you seem like a long-term investment to your future employer.
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