11 Job Interview Secrets Recruiters Won't Tell You - Interviewing Tips!

Key Points:

• Discover 11 job interview secrets that recruiters won’t share.
• Your resume is your first impression; make it count.
• Networking and LinkedIn can be game-changers in your job search.
• Understanding hiring processes will give you an advantage.
• A strong candidate can negotiate better offers.

I'm going to spill the beans behind the scenes because in this video I'm going to share with you 11 job interview secrets that recruiters won't tell you, but I will. Hey everybody, it's Brian from A Life after Layoff. And today I want to peel the curtain back behind the scenes and share with you some stuff that you're not going to hear anywhere else.

These are job interview secrets that only a recruiter knows, and I'm going to tell you from their perspective what exactly the deal is. But before we get too far into it, if you're interested in more insider career-related content just like this one, make sure to hit that subscribe button.

You might also want to hit that notification bell so you don't miss any future content. This is especially important now if you're in an active job search so that you get all these insider tips and you have a leg up on the competition.

Alright, so let's talk about the shady underbelly of recruiting and stuff that is actually going on behind the scenes that nobody's gonna tell you except right here on this channel.

The first dirty job secret that I'm going to share with you is that most applications we get are really kind of total garbage. And I hate to say it that way, but it is the truth. When a recruiter publishes a job, oftentimes you'll see hundreds of candidates coming in pretty quickly. But you can rest assured that not many of them are going to be very well qualified for the role. In fact, very few of them will actually get a phone call for a first-round interview.

The reason being is that people tend to apply for jobs that they're hopelessly underqualified for. A vast majority of these inbound applications just are a waste of time. So if you actually have a good resume that's a close fit, it’s actually a pleasant surprise for the recruiter because we don't generally expect that we're gonna hire somebody based on an application.

We're usually going out and finding that candidate. I would estimate maybe only 5% of inbound applications are actually qualified and would get a recruiter excited to speak with them. So the good news is that you can use that to your advantage.

If you are a good fit for a job and you put together a really solid resume, you'll actually have a higher chance of getting noticed in cutting through all that chatter. But you have to have that good resume. And if you don't know how to write a resume that is going to give you the best chance of getting noticed by that recruiter, check out my resume rock, because that's exactly what it teaches you to do.

The next job interview secret that a recruiter won't tell you is that your resume is your best and probably your only first impression. If you don't have a good resume right out of the gate, you're gonna be screened pretty quickly. And I will say you probably only have about five seconds to catch a recruiter's attention before you're dispositioned into either the yes pile or the no pile.

Once that first impression is made, you're generally not gonna change their mind. Going in and revising an application after it's been dispositioned is not gonna move the needle. You're not going to suddenly get a phone call, so again, make sure you got that really solid resume and make your first impression count.

The next job interview secret that a recruiter won't tell you is that the best person doesn't always get hired for the role. I'm talking about the best person on paper. You may look at the person who actually got hired and you scratch your head saying, "But I was actually more qualified than them."

Why didn't I get a chance to interview for the role? It really boils down to who best sells themselves. So, the gift of gab is your friend. If you actually have interview skills, you can convince a hiring team that you're the better fit, even though on paper someone else might be.

It pays literally to have finely tuned interviewing skills. What you need to interview for changes depending on the round. When you talk to a recruiter, you're gonna sell one thing, and then when you get to the hiring manager, it's another. The panel interview will have other stipulations that they'll assess.

It's important to point out that if you're good at building rapport and getting the interview teams to like you, it's gonna give you a higher chance of getting through that interview process and getting that offer than if you are really well qualified but just unable to sell yourself. You're stiff, and you really can't establish good rapport back and forth with the interview team.

So, make sure you know how to sell yourself at each round in order to get to the end, and you don't have to be the best fit to do that. Here's another job interview secret that recruiters won't tell you: generally speaking, we know within the first 10 minutes whether or not you're going to be a good fit for the role. We can move you on to the next round.

If you do the math on it, it’s usually by the second or third question that we ask you, and we have a pretty good gut feeling of whether or not you're going to get through the rest of our interview and check all the boxes that we need. So, it's crucial very early in your interview process to make a great first impression because a favorable first impression is going to help us put you into the yes pile with more authority.

Unfortunately, if you flounder through the beginning part of your interview, it's generally harder to play catch up at the end, although it’s not impossible. Still, it’s always better to make a great first impression out of the gate. So know what you're doing, come prepared for the interview, and really wow that recruiter if you want to move on to the next round.

The next secret that recruiters won't tell you is that when you get to the end of the interview and you start to ask your questions, generally speaking, the recruiter has already made their mind up, so it’s a little too late. If you're asking questions to try to clarify something on whether or not you want to make a decision on the company, then it’s a different story.

But if you're using these questions to impress the interview team to get you into the yes pile, it’s a little late for that, because again, we generally know in the first 10 minutes whether you're a good fit for the role. So, ask great questions.

If you need help on what questions to ask, I'll leave a link for a video that I made that breaks down 10 questions to ask during your interview. More importantly, try to ask those questions earlier in your interview process to position yourself to be the best possible fit, instead of waiting until the end.

Let’s also talk about the salary expectation question, because that will inevitably come up in your interview. When we ask you what your salary expectations are, I want you to understand that it is not a trick. We’re literally just trying to understand what your salary expectation is.

Do your due diligence and know how to answer this question before you go into the interview. Don't think of it as a trick that you're going to lock yourself into a low salary; you will leave a lot of money on the table, leading to a bad outcome for you. If you know how to approach this question with confidence, you should do just fine.

If you need more help on this, I actually made a video on how I would answer it to the recruiter. You can find that through my channel too. Here’s another job secret that a recruiter won't tell you: many times we like you as a candidate and think you check all the boxes. We will go and advocate for you to the hiring manager.

We'll present your information and give them a rundown of why we want to submit you. The hiring manager, however, may look at your resume and interview notes and have questions or concerns, ultimately eliminating you at that stage before you even get a chance to speak with them.

It's frustrating for the recruiter in these cases because it’s often hard to convince a hiring manager who has certain biases or has made up their mind based on something arbitrary we can't control. So just because you get rejected, it doesn't mean the recruiter didn’t submit you for consideration.

Taking it a step further, a lot of times the long delays in getting back to you are not the recruiter's fault; it's actually due to unresponsive hiring managers. Unfortunately, that's usually the main delay we experience, and recruiters are just as frustrated as you are.

We want feedback, and we want to fill positions quickly because we’re graded on how fast we fill them. When you have a hiring manager that is not responsive and doesn’t provide timely feedback, the recruiter becomes frustrated, and there’s not much they can do but continually bug the hiring manager for a decision.

If there's a long delay after your interviews, it’s generally not a great sign. This usually means they are interviewing other people or are undecided. Sometimes they might be busy and can't get to it right away, but almost always, it's because they have other candidates they want to evaluate first. If you haven’t convinced the hiring manager and the interview panel that you’re the best fit, it’s not a great sign at that stage.

If you’re a home run hire, you’re likely to knock it out of the park. The hiring manager won’t want to risk losing you to another employer; they will make an offer happen very quickly. I’ve seen candidates interview for the first round and receive an offer on the very same day because they were that strong.

The next secret is that if you're that home run hire, they will find a way to make the salary expectation work. I’ve seen candidates come in with salary expectations way above the range we could afford, but they were such strong candidates that the hiring manager went to bat for them and figured out a way to get it done.

Sometimes they combine multiple jobs into one headcount, or they may increase equity stakes. If you’re a strong enough candidate, a hiring manager will find a way to get the deal done with you, so it's up to you to convince them that you're an absolute grand slam hire.

What does this all tell us? There are many things going on behind the scenes that you might not have been aware of. This video aims to illuminate some of that for you. The important thing is, if you're in a job search and not experiencing things moving as quickly as you want, ensure your resume is solid.

If you're still struggling through the interviews, that's where my course, The Ultimate Job Seeker Bootcamp, comes in. It will guide you through each round of the interview process and provide tips and techniques to ace it and ultimately land the offer—and negotiate it.

If you want to skip the recruiter altogether and head right to the front line, you really need to ensure that your networking and LinkedIn skills are on point. That’s where Unlocking LinkedIn comes in because it will teach you how to get the recruiter to come to you. If you’re not getting recruiters to reach out, check out Unlocking LinkedIn, as it might help you.

It also teaches you how to access the hidden job market, which is a real thing, and some of the best jobs are listed there. Hopefully, this look behind the scenes at major corporations' hiring processes, particularly how recruiters perceive you, is helpful, and you can use this to your advantage in your own job search.

I appreciate you watching, and as always, we'll see you on the next one.