Consultant V/S Employees

The one things that you might find most peculiar is the ‘kudos’ that the word consultant can give to a person. Added to that they get paid exorbitantly for their services. But the common notion that is associated with consultants is that they charge for what you already know. So then why is it that we value them more over our employees. What are the differences in these two forms of engagement that make one more appropriate than the other for a given role?

Whether or not it’s desirable, an employee is to some degree “owned” by their employer.  They usually have an agreement that includes not working for competitors (often even covering some period after termination) while consultants enjoy freedom as they aren’t legally owned by their client companies as former are.

What are Professional Conversations?

A professional conversation is a relaxed discussion between the hiring manager and a candidate that is designed to make both the parties comfortable. It enables an equitable, substantive and professional conversation to take place.

A professional conversation has its origins from social science methodologies like discourse analysis and behavioural analysis. A professional conversation essentially centers around what the candidate wants to say about his/her learning experiences in the previous job roles. The candidate also tries to explain how his/her past experiences meets some or all of the assessment requirements for the job that he/she is applying for.

Telephone Interviews – The Preferred Choice

A telephone interview is an interview which uses the telephone as a communication medium.Telephone interviewing is generally not a substitute for a face-to-face interview and is rarely used in isolation.

The type of telephone interviewing used depends both on the nature of the vacancy and on the organization. They can also be used as a way to minimize the expenses involved in interviewing out-of-town candidates. The main objective of this interview is to get invited to an in-person interview.This interview is usually to determine the person’s personality and team work. They are especially undertaken for job profiles  where it is important for the staff to be able to deal well with difficult customers over the telephone (e.g. customer service in call centres or selling technique in a sales department).

Things you need to know before interviewing candidates. – Presentation

What should Interviews be all about?

If all of you think back you will realize how difficult it was to go for an interview, much less conduct one. The whole idea of formal interviews is a tried and tested one and hence has never been improved upon. We shall discuss a somewhat more improved method for conducting interviews that should increase optimum candidates yield.

During the Interview

Stop Interviewing!
Why? You ask! Going to an interview is a daunting task. Often it is viewed by candidates as being equivalent to “going to the dentist”, so it’s not surprising that many firms experience high “no show” rate for their interviews.  HR needs to lead the way in increasing the emphasis on the often under-emphasized goal of selling the candidate.  In order to do this, they need to make the interview into more of a Professional Conversation between two equals. Traditional Interviews are horrible sales Tools. You need to re-think your interview process.  You must begin to treat them in a more “user friendly” way if you expect them to leave their current job.  One of the best ways is to shift away from unexciting formal interviews, and instead hold “Professional Conversations” with the passive candidates!

5 Common Mistakes You Should Avoid While Hiring Consultants

Making the right decisions at work has always been an important part of our lives, but sometimes even that can prove difficult..  Take hiring for instance; it can be a tricky task. Interviewing is an important element of hiring that can either keep you ahead or keep you busy managing the amount of criteria required to assess a consultant. Here are a  few common mistakes made when hiring consultants -

Asking the wrong questions
Usually managers ask common questions like ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” or “What are your strengths and weaknesses?”. These questions are listed as the most likely questions asked at an interview. Interviewees anticipating such questions come prepared with rote learned answers. This won’t allow you to gauge the real potential of a consultant.

6 Steps To Better Recruitment

We know how difficult is to locate, select and hire qualified candidates. This presentation will show you how ConsultGenie’s assessments deliver 30% – 75% selection rates using 6 steps to better recruitment menthod.