PROJECT PREPARE

Dated 28/06/03

Kartavya
Abhi
Inder
Vicky

Project PREPARE

We are in the business of solving (providing solutions) – recruitment-related problems, whether such problems are faced by recruiters or by jobseekers.

One such problem – and a quite CRITICAL too – faced by jobseekers is to prepare themselves well for an interview. Everything hinges around their “preparedness.” If they are well-prepared, they will be able to impress the recruiters and their probability of landing the job goes up.

Jobseekers need to prepare (before the interview) in the following areas:

• A deep/current knowledge about the company (where they are appearing for interview).
• A reasonable knowledge of the “industry” in which that company is operating. (This knowledge/preparedness is crucial for senior positions).

• Knowledge/skills of “how to behave” during the interview, how to speak/sit/listen/ask/dress/answer etc. in front of recruitment-panel.
• “Subject/Topic/Function” knowledge.
• How much do you know of the “function” in which you claim to be a specialist/expert?

This last one is very vast and most difficult to impart to a candidate, and we will keep out of this for next 2/3 years. Of course, we can always tie-up with a number of websites/webservices, which offer ONLINE coaching, learning/testing to jobseekers. We do not need to reinvent the wheel! Nothing that we may try to develop in-house can come anywhere close to what experts in the respective fields have already developed.

Similarly, there are dozens of (HR-related) websites offering all kinds of “tips/advice” on how candidates should conduct themselves during an interview. Once again, in this area too, we should stop at providing “links” to appropriate websites/webservices.

But it is item #1 (Company-related info/data), where jobseekers have none/hardly any web-based resources to refer to.

Organizations like CMIE / IndiaInfoline / Matrix etc. do have very valuable info on large no. of companies. But this is only available to registered (corporate?) subscribers, who have to shell out Rs. 50K – 100K per year to “access” this data – and of course, download, if desired.

No individual jobseeker can afford this price.

But RecruitGum can!

We can subscribe to these “services” & download “DATA-SHEETS” for thousands of companies on our local server. We can do this (downloading) on a continuous basis, so that no “Company Datasheet” is more than 6 months old.

Now, how to “leverage” this investment/this subscription to our advantage – and to jobseekers’ advantage?

As follows:

Everytime a recruiter uses “Interactive Response Page” to communicate to a jobseeker, we get to know:

• Who (which jobseeker) is going to be interviewed,
• By whom (which company), and
• When (date/time), and for
• What (position/vacancy).

·         Now all we need to do is to pick up from our “CORPORATE DATABASE” the “DATA-SHEET” of that company and email it to the concerned candidate, along with a covering letter, wishing him/her “Good Luck” in the interview!
This process MUST be AUTOMATED (no human intervention at all).

·         If a recruiter calls 10 candidates (using our Interactive Response page) for same vacancy/position (even on different dates), we should confine ourselves to sending “COMPANY DATA-SHEET” to only the top/best 3 candidates (as per their percentile score).

·         We want to “coach/prepare” top 3 candidates only – much like coaching classes, not admitting students who have scored less than 60% in SSC/12th Std!! Because such “admission rule” improves the chances of students of that coaching class scoring 90%–95% and thereby increasing the “Reputation” of that coaching class!

·         It is no different with us!

·         We want to ensure that at least one/two (out of the three) of OUR candidates are able to impress the recruitment-panel, so much with their “deep/current” knowledge of the company that they are bound to get “shortlisted.” Eventually, one of these 3 will get appointed.

(or even get shortlisted), becomes our greatest salesman! From that point onwards, he would “market” RecruitGum / ImageBuilder to his friends/colleagues. Remember Tom Peters’ advice on “Word-of-Mouth” marketing? Not only is it the cheapest but it is most “trusted/credible” (because the praise comes from a friend/colleague) and, therefore, most “lasting.”

Every shortlisted/appointed candidate would credit our “Company Datasheet” with his success and become our Brand Ambassador! And when we get thousands of Brand Ambassadors, we don’t need to advertise RecruitGum / ImageBuilder.

From my 44 years of experience, I can tell you that nothing impresses a recruiter more than the dazzling display of his own company’s knowledge by a candidate! Imagine a candidate telling you all about your company’s:

• Products / Services / Market Share
• Factories / Branches
• Sales Turnover / Financial Ratios / EPS / Mkt. Cap / Dividends / P:E
• Technical Collaborations / Joint Ventures
• Names of Directors
• Cost of Production / Inventory Turnover ratios / Royalty payments
• Exports / Imports
• Manpower costs & their 5 year trends / Interest costs of L&T etc. etc.

CMIE’s datasheet (downloadable under PROWESS for Rs. 50k/yr) runs into 30 pages! Can you think of any other marketing initiative that is so cheap – and so CERTAIN TO SUCCEED?

(Signed/dated 28/06/03)

Attached Article Note

Project PREPARE
(Names listed: Inder – Abhi – Kartavya – Vicky)

Newspaper Clipping – “Looking for a job? It’s all in the books” (ET, 01-07)
By David Gregorio – New York, 30 June

JOB hunters with fingers sore from phoning contacts and heartburn from fruitless networking breakfasts are often relieved when career counsellor Robert Pannone suggests a more relaxing strategy for finding work. His advice: Spend some time in the local library.

The article emphasizes:

• Networking is less tolerated nowadays.
• Instead, candidates should research reference books and databases to profile target companies and learn about their problems/issues.
• Employers get impressed by candidates who show deep preparation.

Handwritten Note:

My note re: Project PREPARE is in line with this approach recommended by Robert Pannone.
Robert suggests that, before appearing for an interview, a candidate should learn all about the company (where he is about to appear for an interview) and prepare (one page) written “proposal/suggestions” on how to solve company’s problems (of course, from his library research, he must first conclude as to what, according to him, are that company’s problems).

No interviewer can fail to get highly impressed with the studiousness and the analytical ability of such a candidate!

But, in our country, there are very few sources of info on companies’ profiles. Online sources, such as CMIE’s Prowess/Capex, are too expensive for an individual to subscribe to. This unavailability would put off even the most research-minded candidate!

To compound this problem, this is an age of “Instant Coffee!” Nobody has patience. Everyone wants everything “instant” – like fast food, ready to gulp down! Who has time to do “research”?

However, I do feel strongly that, if 2/3 of the bright ones (high percentile score-wallas) amongst the candidates were given a readymade dossier/document on the company interviewing them, there is a pretty good chance that they would spend time studying this document & preparing themselves thoroughly.

Who does not want to impress the interviewers? And should it so turn out that the candidate seems to know far more about the company than the interview-panel “experts”, then the chances of getting selected are pretty good!

It is in our interest to ensure that the candidates go well-prepared for the interview.

(Signed & dated – 02/07/03)