What Employers Want

Understanding what employers want will help you approach your job search with the potential employer's perspective in mind.

The importance of achieving this shift in perspective can't be over stressed.

The employer's perspective comes from both the Human Resources department and the hiring manager. These entities have compatible but different goals.

What the Hiring Manager Wants

There is also pressure coming from the hole in production this opening represents. As lean as companies run these days, that pressure compounds quickly and it comes from all directions including existing team members and the person she's accountable to.

She needs to hire as soon as she can and she must hire smart. The manager must also handle the other equally important objectives on her to-do list.

What employers want from the hiring manager's perspective is an employee who knows what she wants, is capable of and dedicated to achieving the goals of the position. Clearly showing how you can do this will make it easy for her to hire you.

What the Human Resources Department Wants

This filtering will be governed by the screener's understanding of the position requirements and what the hiring manager wants. Regardless of company size the ultimate goal of these functions is to refer a few qualified applicants to the hiring authority for a final decision.

Some companies will have metrics surrounding these functions by which Human Resources will be measured. Those metrics include things like: time to hire, retention and turn-over. Chances are you already know this.

Well here's something that may surprise you. From the Human Resources perspective, when it comes to screening, there is one overriding factor to consider when it comes to what employers want and that factor does not depend upon the candidate's qualifications.

This factor is a concern for every company representative involved in the hiring process but Human Resources is charged with the responsibility of insuring this concern is addressed. Here's the concern...

Does this candidate have the potential to hurt the company?

Yes. You read that correctly. Human Resources is in charge of protecting the company from it's employees (or potential employees). When it comes to hiring, anything a candidate says or does that indicates she might not support the company's best interests will cause her expulsion.

The vast majority of the time, at the first sign of a red flag your candidacy will be eliminated, no second chances. It's not fair, it's not politically correct and this truth won't be publicly admitted by any HR Rep you meet, but you can count on the accuracy of this information.

If you've sued a former employer, filed a sexual harassment complaint, been a whistle blower, been fired, have health issues, collected on workers compensation, are going through a divorce, have a handicapped dependent or have any personal situation that may pull your focus from work... keep it to yourself!

Does the company have the potential to find out anyway? Depending upon what it is, maybe so. Even if they do it's not a certainty that you'll be eliminated. That will depend upon the company culture. But a prudent job seeker will keep this type of information to himself.

You must neutralize any negatives. If you've had bad experiences in past work situations you must find a way to put a positive spin on things. To that end here's the primary rule of thumb:

Do not volunteer any negative information.
Express yourself in constructive positive ways throughout the hiring process.
No negativity allowed. Period.

What employers want from a human resources perspective is not only employees well matched to their functional role, but also employees (both potential and existing) who don't (or won't) cost the company excessive amounts of time or money.

If you allow this knowledge to inform your every interaction with company representatives (including the hiring manager) you will have a definite edge in winning the job.

Bottom Line