where hospitality people meet
A recruiter's dream
Having spent the last 8 years of my life in Human Resources (and the 6 before that as an operational HOD), I have seen rather a lot of CVs, candidates and witnessed the most bizarre of situations involving both the above, a couple of chairs and an interviewer.
Every so often I come out of the interview room and say to myself: "Oh my! I have seen it all now". And then, just a few days later something else comes up that manages to up the ante. And I am left wondering: "is it really so difficult to come across as a professional during the recruitment process?" "Do we, recruiters, have unrealistic spectations?"
I honestly don't think we do, but judging by the quality of CVs that land on my inbox on a daily basis and by the way a large proportion of the candidates I have interviewed over the years, something needs to be done. And this is it!
Over the next few weeks, I will be giving anyone who cares to read an insight on the mind of a recruiter (mine). Of course, my fellow HR colleagues may disagree with what I am about to share with you and I do not pretend to speak on behalf of the HR community. This is my personal take on recruitment based on my experience and I hope that someone, somewhere will read this and get some ideas from it that will improve their chances of getting that elusive "dream job".
One word of caution: A lot of what you are about to read may be common sense to you. If this is the case, I hope you don't feel that I am patronising anyone. In my experience (see above) there are a lot of candidates out there for whom it is not. This articles are for them. Enjoy!
PART 1: BEFORE YOU START
You have had enough of your job or simply do not have one. Maybe you are about to start your career? Whatever your circumstances may be, this is my advice: keep away from your PC, hide your writing instruments. You will not be doing any writing yet. Forget about your CV and cover letters and anything else that compels you to get writing. Just stop!
Ask yourself one simple question: WHAT DO I WANT TO DO?
Once you have the answer to this, ask yourself: WHAT DO I REALLY WANT TO DO?
If your answer to question 1 is to take part in Britain Got Talent or the X factor and to question 2 is to actually win, then my suggestion is to stop reading this, cancel your hotcatUK membership and reconsider your life. Nothing for you here.
If on the other hand you are serious about a career in hospitality you should be able to give yourself a reasonable answer to the above. And if you keep your answer a bit realistic ("I have a degree so my first job will be General Manager" does not fall under this category) all the better.
How many times have I heard on the phone or in person, or read on a cover letter or CV: "I just want a job". Well, here is a newsflash for you: you may want just a job, but I don't want just any candidate. Surely you want a good job and, trust me, I want a good candidate. So "that will do, just won't do".
So, this is my first tip: Do some long, hard thinking before you put pen to paper and start sending out your CV to everyone like it's going out of fashion.
If you have read this far you either have nothing better to do or, hopefully, are interested in the topic under discussion. Either way, I would appreciate if you could share your thoughts and comment on the above. Only then I will know whether this is helpful, the style is appropriate and the content is interesting. Please share your thoughts and thank you.
Next week: I know what, now I need to know where
Every so often I come out of the interview room and say to myself: "Oh my! I have seen it all now". And then, just a few days later something else comes up that manages to up the ante. And I am left wondering: "is it really so difficult to come across as a professional during the recruitment process?" "Do we, recruiters, have unrealistic spectations?"
I honestly don't think we do, but judging by the quality of CVs that land on my inbox on a daily basis and by the way a large proportion of the candidates I have interviewed over the years, something needs to be done. And this is it!
Over the next few weeks, I will be giving anyone who cares to read an insight on the mind of a recruiter (mine). Of course, my fellow HR colleagues may disagree with what I am about to share with you and I do not pretend to speak on behalf of the HR community. This is my personal take on recruitment based on my experience and I hope that someone, somewhere will read this and get some ideas from it that will improve their chances of getting that elusive "dream job".
One word of caution: A lot of what you are about to read may be common sense to you. If this is the case, I hope you don't feel that I am patronising anyone. In my experience (see above) there are a lot of candidates out there for whom it is not. This articles are for them. Enjoy!
PART 1: BEFORE YOU START
You have had enough of your job or simply do not have one. Maybe you are about to start your career? Whatever your circumstances may be, this is my advice: keep away from your PC, hide your writing instruments. You will not be doing any writing yet. Forget about your CV and cover letters and anything else that compels you to get writing. Just stop!
Ask yourself one simple question: WHAT DO I WANT TO DO?
Once you have the answer to this, ask yourself: WHAT DO I REALLY WANT TO DO?
If your answer to question 1 is to take part in Britain Got Talent or the X factor and to question 2 is to actually win, then my suggestion is to stop reading this, cancel your hotcatUK membership and reconsider your life. Nothing for you here.
If on the other hand you are serious about a career in hospitality you should be able to give yourself a reasonable answer to the above. And if you keep your answer a bit realistic ("I have a degree so my first job will be General Manager" does not fall under this category) all the better.
How many times have I heard on the phone or in person, or read on a cover letter or CV: "I just want a job". Well, here is a newsflash for you: you may want just a job, but I don't want just any candidate. Surely you want a good job and, trust me, I want a good candidate. So "that will do, just won't do".
So, this is my first tip: Do some long, hard thinking before you put pen to paper and start sending out your CV to everyone like it's going out of fashion.
If you have read this far you either have nothing better to do or, hopefully, are interested in the topic under discussion. Either way, I would appreciate if you could share your thoughts and comment on the above. Only then I will know whether this is helpful, the style is appropriate and the content is interesting. Please share your thoughts and thank you.
Next week: I know what, now I need to know where
Tags: interview, job, recruitment, search
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Ben McEwen on -
This is brilliant - very articulate and I'm already awaiting part 2!!! Feel free to throw in some of your real life experiences (with changed names of course!) - excellent stuff!
-
Permalink Reply by Tom Shorney on -
I think that this is crucial, from my experiences thus far of working in HR so many people come in to the hotel just floating their CV about to anyone that would even give it a sniff. A clear indication of this was a folder with about 20 other copies in which were clearly destined for another HR department and no doubt many more after that - they didnt know what was coming! Eager;y awaiting week 2!!
-
Permalink Reply by Marcus Weedon on -
Jose - Sentiments exactly to your article, great topic.
You really have hit the nail on the head with this one, as it is so frustrating especially in the tough times that we are in at the moment, where everyone is trying to get a job and for some any job.
I dont think we can blame people for trying and they do not necessarily read job ads, they just see the title and salary and think yep - i can do that rather than like you say sit back and think about what you really want to do.
As an agency when first speaking to the candidate this is one on the first questions that we ask them, ultimately working out if the person is going to be suitable for any of the jobs placed with us by our clients and eliminating the possibilty of wasting our clinets time
But, yes its extremely true that there are some shocking people and i have been extremely amazed and gob smacked over the years when meeting candidates that come to see me.
I think we do have high expectations and why shouldnt we, after all we want to find the right fit and we have standards to keep
Looking forward to the next article also!!!
-
Permalink Reply by Sonya Lipczynska on -
This is excellent Jose, and really useful to see things from the recruiters' perspective. As Ben said it would be interesting to hear about some of your recruitment stories over the years to illustrate your points.
Regarding the above article, I agree completely. I've interviewed myself over the years and scoured through teetering piles of applications and the first filter I used was always the personal statement. Anything vague or generic which looked as though it was copied and pasted is an automatic no because I want to know that the candidate is interested enough to research our institution and present themselves in the context of the job skills and career on offer.
Looking forward to part 2.
-
Permalink Reply by Harriet Witchell on -
Jose, this is great. I'm going to start taking notes! Am eagerly awaiting the next installment.
-
Permalink Reply by Max Barber on -
Jose, great article.....fantastic and very helpful comments....it looks like Im going to have to do some hard thinking before I start applying.....eagerly awaiting part two!
Its really nice to have the opinion of someone doing the interviewing.......other than a rather generic "interview tips" that we all tend to get from the internet or some handout which lets be honest are not always that helpful.
-
Permalink Reply by Jose Ruiz on -
Thank you for the replies and encouragement. I hope that part 2 lives up to expectations.
-
Permalink Reply by Phil Street on -
Excellent article Jose, as always.
To add to it I would totally agree that it is absolutely essesntial to get the foundations set before you embark on your next career role. You have to ask yourself if this truly is what you want or is it a means to pay the bills until your big chance comes in? Chances are if it is a means to a very different end then you will be looking for your next role within the year, and this is never good!
But the flip side to this as well is that I believe that recruiters are also far too quick to pigeon hole people into one category and not another. What I mean by this is that for some people what motivates them in work can be across a multitude of different things. For example, there was a time in my career when I was interested in HR, Recruitment or training but also still had a big passion for Operations and having worked in 4 and 5 star environments was happy with any of these things. This is of course the short version but when sat in front of a recruiter at the time I was cast off as not knowing what I want and to come back when I do. Very disheartening and yet I was very clear in what I wanted in my own mind and had done exactly as Jose had said above, lots of long hard thinking. I applied directly to companies and followed up with a phone call and the interviews followed shortly. I wondered how many people were being handled in the same way.
I have heard this all too often from candidates I have spoken with that they have not been given the time of day because they are not clear on what they want yet I have sat with them and I can visualise a number of avenues to pursue with them. I agree there are some people out there who need the benefit of some serious help, there always will be, all I am saying is that the recruiters whether internal or external also have a due diligence to ensure they are not jumping to the wrong conclusions too quickly.
We must also remember that when you have been in the industry for a while such as myself and many others posting comments here it becomes easy with hindsight to see where people are going wrong. We are all duty bound to impart our knowledge to people and give full and frank feedback on an application. People will always make mistakes at whatever stage they are at in their career, we should not pounce on them, but coach them so they do not make the same mistakes again. This is also true of the application stage or course. We all know to be truly rounded you have to live through your own mistakes.
Anyway, I have rambled on for long enough and I hope what I say makes sense and as my first time posting a comment here I would welcome feedback and thank you for listening (If I did not lose you at "Excellent Article Jose" that is).
-
Permalink Reply by Jose Ruiz on
-
New Year, New Job!?
With a large student community here on hotcatUK, many of who will be looking for their first employment or a placement within the first few months of the new year, we though that retrieving the "recruiter's dream series" may be helpful. Share your ideas.
-
Permalink Reply by Shannon Ewart on -
Many thanks for these recruitment articles, I am indeed finding them quite helpful.
I would be most interested in a Recruiter's dream: Part V about Career Changes. I am currently looking to make a complete change into catering (pastry to be precise) from university administration, and as in times of recession it is common for people to re-evaluate their career paths so I am likely not alone.
I would find it most helpful to get some "foot in the door" information in particular, as it seems that even the "lowest" jobs need "experience in a similar role", so how do we break through this catch 22 situation. What part does passion and drive play in finding a job if you do not actually have the professional experience requested in an advert- especially when you say that you receive hundreds of CVs for each job you post.
I am curious to hear from Hotcat members if hey have successfully changed careers in a completely new direction or if they know people who have.
Many thanks
-
Permalink Reply by Jose Ruiz on
-
thanks for your comments Shannon. Maybe I should write that next chapter, particularly as I have changed my career direction 3 times in the last 14 years.
Let us know how you get on, it would be very useful to many of us to hear about your "journey".
-
Permalink Reply by sandrine urvois on -
great article.
thank you
Poll
follow us...
Latest Activity
hotcatUK Live (London) at The Paramount Club
July 29, 2010 from 6:45pm to 9:30pm
hotcatUK Live are monthly networking events for members of hotcatUK. They are the perfect time to catch up with fellow hotel and catering professionals, make new contacts and discuss the hottest topics affecting hospitality in a relaxed atmosphere.…
p.s. Richard, be careful of your probing tongue now after a few glasses of wine ;-)
Hi All
Just spoken with Bronen Vienna regards the social network recruitment presentation today and it sounds like it was very informative, shame I couldn't make it!
Alas tonight I will not be able to attend as it is our Off to Work annual meeting…
© 2010 hotcatUK Ltd Registered in England and Wales No 6504003 - 45 Spenser Road London SE24 0NS
