What recruiters look for in a candidate during an interview

Congratulation if you’re reading this because you got called for an interview or you’re reading this piece to prepare yourself for what’s ahead, you have done well. The interview is the second stage and most often the final stage of a recruitment process.
Many have tried to reach this stage but for one thing or the other they could not – once again, I say congratulation. But take heed! This stage had been the doom of many naïve job seekers. To write and submit a CV is never a problem; you can hire an expert to do that but the next stage demands your totality and one mistake can prove fatal.
Recruiters are dynamically conscious of everything around them during mining.
 
Now read carefully, this information is something you won’t get to read every day. In the world of recruiting, there is something called Mining; no recruiter or hiring managers will tell you about this. Once you are called for an interview, the recruiter wants to mine you for necessary information. What recruiters look for in a candidate during an interview can be gotten through three mining phases;

• Internal Mining
• External Mining
• Social Media Mining

An interview can be defined as the process of mining a candidate for necessary data to ascertain job compatibility. There are so many things a recruiter would want from a candidate and this can only be achieved through mining.

External Mining: This mining phase extract necessary data from applicant through observation with or without interviewer contributory factors.

• Punctuality Mining: Time is everything. The fact that you’ve been called up for an interview, means the time has been created out of a busy schedule for you – and you dare not be late. If they are not watching your arrival through a camera, front desk officer, then, you should expect to fill a logbook which indicates the time of arrival. You’d be lucky if punctuality mining is not available. Lateness is no excuse. Recruiters want a candidate who keeps to time.

• Appearance Mining:  There are no rich kid, poor kid appearance during an interview. You ought to look good – good enough for work. During this mining phase, there is a period called Quick Scan. A period you may never notice and with just a blink, this phase is over. Even if you do not have a suit or nice outfit, go borrow or buy one. First appearance impression is a hard knot.

• Mining for Boldness: Eye contact is the key to conquer the mining phase. An experienced recruiter can tell between timidly and boldness. Throughout the interview process, recruiters expect boldness from candidates.

• Communication Mining: A third party may have been involved when you were preparing your CV but during an interview, you are on your own. Communication plays a vital role in the survival of any industry and recruiters would not bend to any qualification coercion if you fail in this mining phase. Communication mining runs deep. Your grammatical and facial expression, body movement synchronization are monitored. Recruiters expect a candidate to be able to communicate in the required language.

Now you know what recruiters expect from a candidate/applicant through External mining

Internal Mining: This mining phase extract necessary data from candidate/applicant through questioning.
Mine by Probe: You will not be called for an interview except your data meet the required qualification for a job position but those data can be manipulated or faked. The essence of interview questions is to;

• Compare you with other qualified candidates
• Extract abstract information from the candidates in relation to the job offer

 
16 common interview questions all job seekers should know

• Can you tell us about yourself
• Why are you here
• How did you hear about us
• What do you know about the company
• Why do you want this job
• Tell us about your previous experience in relation to this offer
• Tell us about a challenge you’ve faced at work and how you dealt with it
• What do you consider to be your weakness
• How do you deal with pressure
• Why are you leaving your current job
• Where do you see yourself in 10 years
• What do you like to do outside the work environment
• Why should we hire you
• Would you accept relocation
• What are your salary requirements
• Do you have any questions

Take your time when answering these questions and maintain eye contact… Don’t forget to switch off your phone and do not interrupt the interviewer for any good reason.

Interexter mining – With the advent of technology, internet and the social media, candidate social life and thought-life can be looked into for any discrepancy. It is expected that graduate whether employed or unemployed would have some form of social media presence on Facebook or Linkedin, Twitter, GitHub, Google plus and the likes…
Any Recruiters having hard times in making a decision especially when two candidates weight the same. That is, their qualifications meet the job requirement may result in investigating the life of the candidates through their online social life and contributions. Recruiters hiring for the position of a programmer or other computer-related jobs, often visit Github, stack flow etc to see relevant contribution candidates had made.
Interexter mining can also make use of the reference you provided. Recruiters do all the background profiling by asking your reference series of questions in relation to the job offer. In conclusion, recruiters needs may differ, but they all use the same process of mining to get what they want from candidates.