High Level Standard Recruiting Process (Step-by-Step)
- Candidate applies for a job on a career site.
- The resume gets scanned by the ATS for any keywords and provides a rank so the recruiters can review.
- Resumes that recruiters are interested in getting shortlisted.
- Recruiter contracts candidates for a 15-30 minute phone interview asking specific questions (see interview section).
- The recruiter will take applicant responses, present them to the hiring manager, and provide their recommendation.
- The hiring Manager will decide which candidate to interview and ask the recruiter to schedule the calls on their behalf.
- A hiring manager will interview candidates to assess fit.
- The hiring manager will decide who they want to hire, but if there is an additional round, the Hiring Manager will get the candidate to talk to their boss, i.e., Director.
- The director will interview the candidate recommended by the hiring manager.
- Hiring manager, director, and recruiter to deliberate on who to hire.
- The recruiter will present the offer to the successful candidate.
Job Description and Posting
A detailed job description outlines the responsibilities, qualifications, experience required, and any specific skills or attributes desired by candidates. The job is then posted on various platforms, including company websites, job boards, social media, and sometimes in print media.
It is highly recommended that if you find a job you are interested in, from any various platforms, it will be good to also apply directly on the company website to ensure the company has your application, which will contain all your information as companies use other platforms to get more candidates to apply.
However, there are many times when there are many applications, so your application at a different job site may not be looked at. Researching the company's values, what it does, any recent important news it has shared, and industry trends will be essential.
Prepping your Resume
To prepare your resume for your desired job, thoroughly research the company and the specific internship role to understand what skills and experiences they value most. Tailor your resume to highlight your relevant academic achievements, coursework, and extracurricular activities that align with the internship's requirements.
Use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, and Result) method to craft your bullets to showcase the impact you had in your previous experiences. Use CraftResume to help you create and tailor your bullets to help you best pass through the ATS (Applicant Tracking System).
Additionally, ensure your resume is well-organized and easy to read, with a professional layout and no typos or grammatical errors. Finally, seek feedback from mentors, career advisors, or peers to refine your resume before submitting your application.
Interviewing - How to Prepare
One of the essential elements of the interview is the first question they ask you, "Tell me About Yourself." This question indirectly answers what the interviewers are thinking in their heads, which is, "Why should we hire you?"
Structuring this question involves highlighting your current situation and tailoring your answer to the type of candidate the interviewer is looking for (you'll understand more about what they are looking for by doing research and networking within the company). Once you master your "Tell me About Yourself" answer, practice the behavioral questions by answering them with STAR. Some examples of behavioral questions are listed below:
- Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership.
- Tell me about a time when you managed conflict.
- Tell me about a time you had to manage multiple responsibilities. How did you organize and prioritize your tasks?
- Tell me about a time you made a mistake. How did you handle it?
Interviewing - Different Styles
Situational-Judgement Interview/Questions:
A situational judgment interview (SJI) is a type of interview technique used by employers to assess how candidates might handle specific work-related situations. This approach is based on the premise that the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior in similar situations. However, instead of focusing solely on past experiences, SJIs present hypothetical scenarios to candidates and ask them to explain how they would respond. This method helps employers gauge a candidate's problem-solving skills, decision-making abilities, interpersonal skills, and suitability for the role and the organization's culture. These types of questions are typically uncommon.
Customer Service Scenario:
"Imagine a customer approaching you with a complaint about a failed product just outside the warranty period. How would you handle this situation?"
Options might include Offering a full refund, proposing a discount on future purchases, apologizing and explaining the warranty policy, or escalating the issue to a manager.
Team Conflict Scenario: "Suppose you're working on a team project, and two team members disagree over the project's direction. What steps would you take to resolve the conflict?"
Options might include: Facilitating a meeting to discuss the disagreement, suggesting a compromise, involving a supervisor, or letting the team members resolve it on their own.
Behavioural Interviews
This style of interviewing is the most common and is almost guaranteed to be asked by a recruiter or Hiring Manager. Employers ask specific questions that require candidates to share examples of past experiences, focusing on how they handled various work-related situations. This method helps interviewers assess a candidate's skills, competencies, and suitability.
The best way to prepare is to have a scenario ready for a bunch of behavioral questions leveraging the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, and Result).
Examples include: Tell me about a time you demonstrated teamwork? How do you overcome customer conflicts?
Case Interviews
Case interviews are highly dependent on the job/industry. Cases are designed to help an employer assess your critical thinking skills by giving you a made-up scenario and asking you specific questions about it, which you have to answer. These interviews are less about getting the correct answers and more about your thought process.
Examples include: How would you increase revenue in one of our categories? Would you launch a new product or service or seek opportunities to drive revenue for our current offerings?
Brain Teasers
Like the case interviews, these questions are designed to evaluate how you would address an ambiguous situation and how you can improvise on your feet and walk the interviewer through your train of thought. This type of questioning is very uncommon.
Examples include: How many golf balls can you fit into a Boeing 747? How many lightbulbs are there in Ontario?
Interviewing - Conversation Style
A typical interview style is a conversation, as it's less structured but more casual, and the hiring manager wants to know if you are a cultural fit or not. In this setting, the interviewer will ask you to run you through your resume, ask general questions about what you did in your previous experiences, and ask follow-up questions on top of whatever answer you have provided.
This will be a two-way conversation. Once the interviewer has concluded their line of questioning, they will tell you it's your turn to ask questions and essentially guide the rest of the conversation.
Interviewing - How to ask insightful questions
Leverage the insightful question formula: I knew about X and wanted to learn more about Y. This demonstrates to the interviewer that you've done your research and are looking for an answer to something you cannot find online.
Instead of asking how the company's culture is, you can ask: I understand that Company A has a culture that fosters collaboration. Can you tell me a little bit about how this value translates into this team's day-to-day work?
You don't have to use this style of questioning for all of your questions, but you should use it for some questions to help set you apart from the rest of the competition.
Background and Reference Checks
Once you secure the offer, employers conduct background checks and contact references to verify the candidates' information and gain additional insights into their work ethic and performance.