“When looking through the jobs section, and seeing jobs similar in content, role, location and salary, what motivates candidates to submit their application to one company and not to another?”

It almost goes without saying, but a very important factor is image, and how a company is perceived by the people outside of it.

In an age where access to information is more freely available than it has ever been and the medium that people choose to access that information is the Internet, it is important to realize that by being proactive and getting your message out, it is possible to effectively control the information candidates are likely to base their opinions on.

Looking specifically at how an Internet-based job site such as GaijinPot can help here; branding, credibility and a recognizable corporate personality are all vital in attracting great personnel. A recent study indicates that people need at least 27 instances of visual perspective to remember something.

“To successfully seize the attention of a wide range of candidates and obtain the ones you really want, you need to focus your web presence.”

A banner on GaijinPot will help maximize awareness of your corporate brand; increasing visibility and generating even more exposure for your job offers.

A Company Spotlight gives job-seekers detailed information about your company, giving candidates a taste of what you’re all about, pointing them to your available positions, and providing a link back to your website.

A Company Presentation generates a branded presence for your organization and gets more exposure for your job offer and gives candidates a more in-depth portrait of your business, thus helping candidates to self-select, which benefits everyone involved.

Contact us today to learn more about how a GaijinPot Custom-Tailored Package can help you hire the staff your company needs.

From talking to industry professionals in Japan and throughout the world we have compiled a list of FIVE areas that both they and we believe will be important in 2009; and why wait until then, as 2008 begins to slowly wind its way down when better to start planning for next year and maybe even steal a march on your competitors.

Business Model.

Budgets are tightening, economic growth moves forward at a snails’ pace and corporations are forced under; what better time to start crying into bonenkai beers our and sentimentalizing about the good old times before recruiting budgets came under the sharp constraints they are currently experiencing.

But now is not the time for whining, take the opportunity to look again at the costs and benefits of your organization’s recruiting efforts; think in money terms of the expected return on investment for each type of employee you are looking to hire. In putting a tangible price on hiring to fill vacancies and leaving them open, you’ll be talking the language that CFOs and risk managers understand in demonstrating the importance of recruiting even during times of reduced hiring volume.

Employment Branding.

If your organization is really serious about wanting to attract and retain top talent, you simply cannot afford to ignore just how the organization is perceived by both current employees and key stakeholders in the external market.

You don’t need to be a multi-million dollar organization to effectively communicate just what a great company you are and what a wonderful place it is to work at, focus on growing your online presence, develop your ‘CSR’ brand identity and take steps to counter the negatives associated with your employment brand.

Social Networking.

With understanding of how best to analyze the strength of relationships existing between users of online social networks improving significantly, recruiting professionals are better able to picture the ‘degrees of separation’ lying between them and the candidates they’d like to hire.

At the same time, as internet-based social networking sites continuing to grow and develop they now more accurately reflect the needs of their users; better connecting people and jobs by more effectively adding the power of technology to the concept of “it’s not what you know but who you know” recruiting on social networks is becoming more and more of a mainstream concept.

Employee Blogs.

Build on the the power of your organization’s employment branding by using employee blogs to support recruiting programmes. A good business blog, however, should not simply highlight your company and products it should also answer questions and serve to make your company appear less mysterious and distant..

There are many parts of your business with stories to tell and an audience of employees and stakeholders who will are interested in finding out more, employee blogs as part your online corporate presence will help you recruit talented people but it is vitally important that guidelines are put in place.

Corporate Website.

Dull, dated and static websites serve the opposite effect they are intended for, and help convince potential candidates to stay away from your organization as opposed to driving great candidates towards you.

Revisit the job section of your corporate website and look at it again objectively, through fresh eyes and think carefully about the impression it leaves you with. Information should be fresh, relevant and up to date; and the experience of visiting the site should be positive and rewarding – just don’t overcompensate and create a page that is gimmicky, slow to load and leaves visitors frustrated, keep things simple and let the message speak for itself.

In order to standardize the interview procedure, I always like to ask candidates a selection of questions that includes a standard five. Also, try not to forget that you really don’t need to be hard-nosed about the entire process and just rattling off questions is not going to result in a good interview or a favorable impression being created. Let the candidate relax and ask some questions that will allow them to open up.

Now, some of the questions I am going to recommend here are far from being ground-breaking stuff, but what I do want to do is offer some insight into just why they are good questions to ask at an interview.

1. Tell me about yourself

I like to ask this question with a twist; explaining that of course I have read their resume but would really like to hear a summary covering their skills, qualifications and experiences. I tell the candidates I am giving them about 2 minutes to do this, to prevent the answer just being a regurgitation of the resume I already have.

What you are looking for here is a clearer idea of just how the candidates view themselves and how they prioritize the different aspects of their background in relation to the role they are interviewing for.

2. What do you know about us?

It is very useful to get an insight into just how seriously the candidate is taking the interview process and find out if they have done their homework and actually researched the interviewing company. For more senior positions, I don’t just want to see evidence that they’ve checked out a company website; they should be able to put forth a good analysis on just how the company places itself in the market relative to its competitors in terms of segmentation, strategy and potential.

Frankly, if a candidate approaches an interview too casually, they either don’t care about getting the job or it’s a good reflection on how loosely they approach work-related issues in general.

3. Why should we hire you over other candidates?

This is an opportunity for a candidate to place themselves within your company; their understanding of the organization is further revealed along with their self-insight into their strengths and how they distinguish themselves from the other candidates. Their vision can be easily matched with just what you are looking for in a new hire and how they would fit within the organization.

Bear in mind that if the candidates can’t answer the question directly, succinctly and without boasting, they are very unlikely to make a good hire.

4. What is your dream job?

Ignoring the fact that it is very unlikely that anyone is ever going to find their dream job within an existing organization, there will always inevitably have to be compromise – this is still a great question and can provide real insight into just what motivates the candidate, where they are planning on getting to in their career and just how much they have thought it through.

Don’t let the candidate fob you off by saying that the job they are interviewing for is their dream job. Push a little harder to find out what job would be their perfect fit and why – and by implication whether the job they are interviewing for really is going to be right for them.

Obviously these four questions alone are not going to unlock the hiring process for you, but using them and being more aware of what you are looking for when you do ask them will allow you to gain valuable insight into the candidate sitting opposite you and whether or not it is worthwhile giving further consideration to their candidacy.

On top of these questions, I like to go into interviews with a clipboard affixed to a page of general questions and another page listing questions more specific to the role I am looking to fill.

Here is the list of General Questions I like to have at my disposal when interviewing candidates.

・Explain the organizational structure of your last company and how you fitted into it.

・What did you do on a day to day basis?

・What skills and qualifications do you regard as essential for success in the position you have applied for?

・What can you contribute?

・Why are you interested in this position?

・What functions and tasks of the position do you feel most/least comfortable with?

・For which parts of this position would you need training?

・What are your strong points? What are your weaknesses?

・What motivates you? (What demotivates you?)

・How do you handle criticism?

・Can you work well under pressure?

・Do you prefer working alone or as part of a team?

・What management style gets the best out of you?

・How long do you think it will take before you start making a significant contribution to the company?

・What interests do you have outside of work?

・What are your five most significant accomplishments in your career so far?

・How did you achieve them?

・What was your biggest failure?

・How could you improve yourself?

・What do you know about our organization?

・What interests you about our products/services?

・What can we offer you that your previous/current company could/does not?

・Do you feel you progressed satisfactorily in your last job?

・What problems did you encounter in your last job?

・What was good/bad about your last job?

・Describe a time you had to work with someone you didn’t like.

・What annoyed you about your last job?

・What do you dislike doing?

・What would you like to avoid in your next job?

・Tell me about a situation when you saw room for improvement in a task you were required to complete?

・What did you do?

・How did you present your idea?

・Why did you choose a career in ….? (Why are you changing careers?)

・What are your career goals?

・Are you prepared to relocate?

・Are you willing to travel?

・What level of salary are you looking for now?

・Is there anything else that we should know about you that you haven’t shared with us?

Too often the recruiting process has not been adequately thought through; resulting in bad hires, disruptions, upheavals and the wasting of time, money and other valuable resources.

By optimizing the recruitment process, you will be better able to find the standard of candidate you would be more than happy to offer a job to; the kind of person your organization needs, people who are going to make positive contributions to your company.

Dividing the recruiting process into 5 stages:

- Develop a Job Profile
- Post the Advertisement
- Shortlist the Candidates
- Hold Interviews
- Interpret the Results

allows important points at each stage, that contribute to optimization of the recruiting process, to be highlighted.

1.Develop a Job Profile

Define a clear profile of the type of person and kind of attributes you are looking for.

Incorporate these criteria in your job advertisement; simply and accurately portraying the type of person and set of skills required.

2.Post the Advertisement

Confusing or misleading job advertisements will not generate a pool of applicants of the highest quality or numbers available.

The advertisement must be precise; to help create an accurate profile, an effective advertisement will answer these questions:

・What qualifications and level of experience are required (mid-career, entry level, etc.)?
・Is the salary appropriate to the position?
・What does your organization do?
・Where is it?
・What are the work conditions and hours (FT, PT, contract, etc.)?
・What makes working for your company so appealing?
・When is the application deadline?
・When does the position commence?
・What is the position title?
・How important is language ability?

3.Shortlist the Candidates

Once the deadline has passed, work through the applications and discount all candidates that don’t have the required qualifications and experience.

Draw up a shortlist of candidates from the remainder.

Choose the applications that stand out.

Be cautious (but not needlessly suspicious) about candidates who seem to be too good to be true.

Look for relevant experience; for factors that indicate how the candidate will fit into the role to be filled, look for round pegs for round holes.

4.Hold Interviews

Structure the interview; allow the candidate to relax; see how they operate in normal circumstances.

Ask open-ended questions to give the candidate scope: how, what, why?

Field some questions that probe their professional competence.

Ask questions to reveal how they would handle difficult situations.

Don’t forget to ascertain whether they would accept the job if offered it, but don’t show your hand.

Draw up a checklist to allow you to remember how each candidate performed and enable you to better determine their suitability for the position.

5.Interpret the Results

Look at the person as a whole:

・How did they come across?
・Did they have the set of skills necessary to do the job?
・Did they have the body of knowledge needed for the job?
・Were the genuinely motivated to do the job?
・How would they fit into the existing corporate culture?

If you find have any nagging doubts about somebody, don’t take the risk.

Don’t set your sights too high. Perfect workers don’t exist; but personable, competent and eager candidates who will fit well into your organization and make significant and valuable contributions to your company’s success do.

Having ranked the candidates, you are now ready to offer the position to the best and most suitable candidate; get the contract signed, get them trained, and get them onboard as part of the team.

This is also true for online job advertisements; with the need to successfully grab the attention of a wide range of candidates and thereby reach the very best, it is important to think about placing your advertisement in a place where it will get noticed by the largest number of potential candidates possible.

…the New York Times shows that Spotlight Job Postings receive 500% more views than a standard job posting…

A Spotlight Job Posting on GaijinPot.com allows advertisers to ensure the highest visibility possible for your Job Posting by strategically placing it in the topmost section of both the complete job listings and in its specific category for the month long duration of its online presence.

The value of a Spotlight Job Posting is further enhanced by the fact that the number available each month is strictly limited, ensuring that jobs stay visible throughout the duration of their posting. Recent research by the New York Times shows that Spotlight Job Postings receive 500% more views than a standard job posting.

Spotlight Jobs also generate high click-through rates and drive targeted traffic to your listing; thereby helping to create a much increased response from job seekers, generating larger numbers of applications received and a greater number from the high-quality candidates companies are looking to hire.

GaijinPot.com also offers a limited number of Premium Job Postings which increase the visibility of Job Postings, by ensuring that they are always positioned above all the Basic Job Postings.

Whilst studies have shown that for that people need over 20 instances of visual perspective to actually remember something and although branding, credibility and a recognizable corporate personality are all vital in attracting great personnel these factors can only begin to make a difference once candidates eyes have been drawn to your job posting.

To hire the staff you really want you will need to successfully seize the attention of a wide range of candidates, a Spotlight Job Posting is a proven tool in enabling companies to achieve their hiring goals.

To learn more about Spotlight Postings on GaijinPot, please contact customer support online or by telephone at (03)5403-7785.