I had a great interview today with the Director of Strategic Sourcing of a Fortune 500 financial services organization. He remains anonymous, so that he can give the inside scoop.
This is the first of a series of interviews I’ll be doing with decision makers on how they make the call on who gets the offer. Get the real story behind the hiring decisions!
Position: Senior Strategic Sourcing Manager at Fortune 500 financial services organization
Advertised through: Monster, CareerBuilder, Company web site, Institute of Supply Management web site and word of mouth
Likes to see: people skills, enthusiasm, leadership potential, can-do attitude, street smarts
The director told me the response he got was mixed: lots of barely qualified candidates – they lacked appropriate functional skills or an MBA (the stated preferred education level). He also received a few applications from very qualified candidates.
The first round of cuts were made by the HR recruiter, who partnered closely with the director. She conducted screening interviews – which included a question on previous compensation. He interviewed somewhere between 20-25 people for the job! He explained to me that the job could have been located in two different cities, so they interviewed candidates for each location. Aside from sounding exhausting for him, this really shows that a job seeker needs to prepare to stand out from the pack!
A few candidates were helped by networking – he made sure he reviewed their resume personally and gave them serious consideration. He also thought their networking efforts demonstrated real interest in the position.
Ultimately, the director chose the “dark horse” candidate. Although the candidate was switching careers, he had all the functional and analytical skills to do the job and drive results. The director was really impressed with his track record, people skills, and entrepreneurial attitude.
There was another candidate who was well qualified, but “blew it” early in the game when he brought hard salary requirements to the table. He was trying to switch from consulting to a corporate job for a better lifestyle, but had unrealistic (and apparently not well-researched) salary expectations for the position. His enthusiasm was low and his entitlement was high – so he was cut.
Great qualifications + great attitude went a long way in this one.
So that’s the scoop. Please post your comments so I can be sure to ask your most burning questions in future interviews!
I absolutely agree. As an employer hiring both professional and clerical/administrative staff, I sometimes have to make a decision between equally qualified candidates. A great attitude can really give a potential employee the edge she/he needs to land the job!
That is interesting. I have always had a hard time specifying salary requirements. Even after researching typical salaries in the field, I feel intimidated by the whole process. I don’t want to go too high and risk what happened to guy who “blew it” in your post above, but I don’t want to go too low either.
In my company, attitude generally is the deciding factor. We have qualified candidates who meet our criteria, especially today, so those qualifications are gatekeepers. Assuming all else is generally equal, our internal discussion about the job candidate centers around the phrase, “Will he/she dive for the ball?” – meaning will the job candidate do what is necessary to get the job done well and timely for our clients, without worrying about whether or not the task fits within the person’s job description, and will the candidate jump in and help another employee to accomplish the work needed for the client. If the answer is yes, we might even consider a higher salary if that becomes necessary to hire the candidate. If the answer is that we are uncertain, that candidate goes to the bottom of the list. If the answer is “no,” then that person will not be hired.
I’m not a big fan of popping the salary question too early or coming at it with a fixed figure in mind. In today’s economy, even companies that are hiring are looking to cut costs, so picking an arbitrary figure – especially not a well-researched one – is just asking for trouble.
In my experience, the old rule of the thumb – that being, getting the interviewer to name the figure first, no matter how hard they try to get you to do the same – is still as true as ever.