Over fifty percent of candidates looking for a job doubt whether their CV shows them in a favorable light, and about the same proportion of candidates are not confident in their ability to produce a positive impression on a prospective employer during a face-to-face interview, says a report produced by Kelly Services.

The company conducted a survey in which more than 115,000 people from 33 countries (including 4,000 people from Russia) were asked about their concerns and expectations regarding the recruitment procedure. Kelly Services discovered that 52 percent of candidates doubt the adequacy of their CV, while 47 percent feel unsure of their interview skills.

“Your chances of getting a job often depend on your ability to “sell yourself” to the employer. You never get a second chance to make a first impression — candidates should do their very best at the first meeting,” says Yekaterina Gorokhova, general director and vice president of Kelly Services CIS.

Lacking in self-confidence, candidates often resort to tricks. Around 30 percent of candidates confided that some of the facts on their CV and some statements they made during interview were not entirely true.

The most frequent embellishment made by people was overstating their current salary (15.2 percent of cases), while some candidates (6.2 percent) deceive their potential employers about the range of responsibilities they had at their previous jobs.

Candidates also conceal negative information about their previous work (5.2 percent), pretend that they have experience which in fact they do not (4.9 percent), list nonexistent skills and knowledge (2.5 percent) and lie about their real age (two percent).

“Unfortunately, the subject of self-presentation is very seldom taught, if at all, except that there are specific training courses one can attend to learn or enhance one’s presentation skills,” says Yury Mikhailov, Managing Partner at Consort Petersburg recruiting agency.

“Passing an interview with flying colors takes a lot of audacity and nerve and requires a certain amount of adventurism and bravery. Candidates must be aware that they can never have the perfect resume, as every employer or recruiter will see this resume from a different point of view,” Mikhailov says.

He suggested that candidates should “put themselves in the employer’s shoes” to predict how best to approach their presentation and be ready to adjust it during the interview.

“Interviewees must be tuned in to all the nuances of the interview, listen closely to how questions are phrased and provide short but meaningful and appropriate answers with plenty of reasoning and logic,” Mikhailov advises.

Irina Babenko, consultant at Consort Petersburg, named some common mistakes that candidates make. “Candidates who misunderstand their role as interviewee sometimes keep silent, and the interviewer has to pump information out of them,” Babenko said.

Some candidates, on the contrary, talk too much. They overload their prospective employer with irrelevant facts, turning the interview into a monologue. “Do not begin lengthy speculations when you are asked a specific question,” Babenko warns.

When candidates suspect that a job offer may not turn out to be particularly attractive, they behave half-heartedly during interview, which is also a mistake. “A successful candidate always looks like a winner,” Babenko says.

Most candidates feel anxious about interviews, but only seven percent believe that interview skills would be of any help to them, according to Kelly Services. An even smaller proportion of candidates (three percent) expect potential employers to make use of psychological tests.

More frequently, candidates consider work experience to be the most important factor (46 percent) along with proactive behavior and appropriate personal qualities (31 percent). Around 10 percent of candidates expect recruiters to take recommendations from former employers into consideration.

Only four percent of Russians believe that education is a crucial factor in the selection of candidates, while recruiters do not entirely agree with such a view.

“Three times out of four an employer will look at candidates who meet the educational requirements for the job and forego those who don’t,” Mikhailov said.

“At the same time, those 25 percent stand a good chance of landing a job if they succeed in getting across the idea that their lack of the specified educational qualifications are in no way an obstacle to being considered for the position, and that other major qualities like work experience and proven track record greatly outweigh a seeming lack of a certain degree,” he said.

In the Kelly Services poll, about half of the respondents indicated waiting for a response from a potential employer after interview as the worst part of the recruitment procedure.

Among other unpleasant aspects, candidates listed searching for a vacancy (25 percent), attending interviews (20 percent), writing a CV (six percent) and filling in questionnaires (three percent).

Mikhailov indicated that unsuccessful candidates can expect feedback from an interviewer if the latter respects their efforts to come and present themselves and wants to project a good corporate image.

“If you are given a business card during the interview, you can always email or phone your interviewer to ask for feedback. You must be aware though that the interviewer could be quite busy at that moment and may not be prepared to provide feedback immediately,” Mikhailov said.

“Even if you are not successful in your application for one particular job, you should set yourself the goal of obtaining an honest assessment of what led to that outcome in order to improve your self-presentation and performance at future interviews,” he added.

By Yekaterina Dranitsyna

Staff Writer