What do employers look for when hiring a candidate?
Last week, we hosted STEP Six Future Work Expo to equip students with the necessary skills to look for jobs in the future. We have invited Ruby Lin, Country HR Manager, Hong Kong & Taiwan of Hyphen Group to share about “How to stand out when looking for an opportunity.”
During the workshop, we have collected participant’s questions, and here are some of the feedback from Ruby:
1. Academic or Interview Performance is more important?
It really depends on the role they are applying for. For people facing roles, a candidate’s performance during the interview might weigh more than the academic background, since the ability to react to different stakeholders’ sentiments and needs in person is harder to train than hard knowledge like product information (although it still depends on whether there is a certain specific qualification required for the job).
Another way to think about this, though, is that candidates’ academic background is likely to have been used as a filter to pre-screen candidates. Therefore, if you got offered an opportunity to attend an interview, I suggest you focus on engaging your interviewer(s) and reflecting on questions they are asking you to respond in the moment, rather than worrying about what the interviewer thinks of your academic background.
2. What are your criteria when hiring a candidate?
Again, this depends on the role I’m hiring for. Obviously, there are some generally desirable attributes, such as good listening/self-expression skills, proactivity in communicating with others, curiosity, drive to help other people…
Sometimes it might not be the most intelligent candidate that gets hired, but the candidate with the most relevant attributes to the role…so again, RELATE to the opportunity you’re applying to, and consider whether it’s a good fit with yourself. If it’s a good fit, it should feel natural and easy to pitch yourself for it.
3. What is the major difference between Hong Kong interviewees and interviewees around the world?
I might not have enough experience to make a very conclusive statement regarding this, since I’ve only worked with candidates from first-tier cities in Asia. Based on my own experiences, though, candidates from outside of Hong Kong often appear to have a stronger sense of purpose and tangible goals in terms of what type of positions they would like to place themselves in the business community. Also, they show more interest in the mission and bigger business picture of the companies they are applying to, and the impact of the person who is hired for the opening can make. They also seem less influenced about monetary returns, although money is also important in the cities they live in.
4. Is there anything you could do to enhance your resume knowing that you are less competitive than others? (other than relating the experience)
At the end of the day, the recruiters are looking for candidates with the most suitable attributes for the role. It should be good enough if you precisely list out the most relevant attributes in the top half of your 1-page resume (e.g. put “level x Korean speaker” right under your name for a role requiring fluency in Korean). If you feel that you were “less competitive”, maybe it’s because it’s not a job relevant enough to you?
If you would like to know more about how can you equip yourself for job readiness skill, please check out the link here: https://cocoon-foundation.teachable.com/p/b1657a
