Featured Article: Guiding Young Minds through Their Job Quest
- By Vikram Anand, Head Marketing at Cargill Foods India.
My palms became moist with sweat, my throat dry and my pulse quickened, as I came to know that my name had been shortlisted for interview with the recruiting manager of a well-known company. The recruiting manager had come to hire wet behind the ears freshers for management trainee roles. Every year, the recruiting circus used to descend upon every campus during spring time. That was in 1992. Yes, I am ancient as my children don't hesitate to point out at every opportunity.
The present times are so different, thanks to the spread of information. Compared to their peers in the nineties, today's candidates are much more confident, well composed, and well prepared - much prepared than I ever was! Google and the Internet, in general, can be credited with largely contributing to this wide spread availability of information. However, I think the credit should also go to the students who put the extra effort to make themselves more aware and better informed.
Certainly, these are welcome signs. The expectation of the industry has gone up and so has the urge among students to equip themselves better. These, in turn, have given new twists to the hiring process. I've noticed three major trends that I would like to quickly touch upon:
- I sense a sense of quiet desperation amongst students and young managers today when it comes to job hunting, and with good reason. With the economy going into a sluggish mode, most companies have also gone slow in terms of entry-level hiring. Short sighted, but there it is.
- Senior HR directors across the country are eager to coach students on how to put their best foot forward while hunting for jobs, but are only constrained by time and the lack of a platform to engage with the audience in a meaningful manner.
- The Internet has loads of information on job hunting, interviews, resumes, cover letters, etc., but most of it is meant for western audiences, and written in dull boring text and much of it by people who haven't faced an interview in ages.
Running through the complex ecosystem of recruitment and talent search, one wonders whether there could be a single platform that can provide quality and credible guidance to young minds in their job quest. This is especially difficult as one is mired by the presence of a host of online/offline sources that promise to lead candidates to their dream career. My quest for a credible solution brought me to 'Hired Tonight'. It is the first of its kind collaborative effort from senior HR directors across the country to guide, coach and counsel you, on:
- How long should a good resume be?
- What are the top three mistakes inexperienced candidates make during an interview?
- How do you network effectively?
- How do you find a good mentor?
... and much more. The guiding platform is graced by directors from leading companies like Microsoft, GE, Ericsson, Coke, Philips, Johnson & Johnson and other stellar brands. There are plenty of interviews in video mode in an easy Q & A format. Each one can be viewed in one sitting. In addition, 'Hired Tonight' features mini-videos which encapsulate answers from multiple directors to a single question in approximately five minutes. Besides, the site also provides a collaborative platform called 'Circles'. This feature comes handy for students and their friends to watch a video as well as share their experiences online to learn from each other.
For its quality guidance, rich learning features and instruction tools, 'Hired Tonight' has been endorsed by faculty at INSEAD France, and Cornell University USA and appreciated by faculty at Harvard Business School.
'Hired Tonight' is free and can be expected to remain so. It will evolve with time and as it evolves will feature new interviews each month, from national and international HR directors. Coming days will see interviews with CXOs of major companies in India and worldwide to enable candidates to get an insight into what it is like to be a Marketing Head of a famous brand, or CFO of a financial services company, or an IT Head of a technology major.
To get a direct feel, you can visit the site at www.hiredtonight.com. There you can view the welcome video from me, and proceed to watch any video of your choice on the site. If you want to be notified on new videos as and when they are uploaded and on special offers, then subscribe to the notification service on the homepage. Your email is safe with the site - It hates spammers!
Looking forward to welcome you on 'Hired Tonight'.
