1. What is recruitment?

The overall process of sourcing, short listing, interviewing, selecting, and appointing the
right candidate is known as recruitment. Recruitment is an activity that comes under
Human resource management.  

2. What are the responsibilities and duties of an IT recruiter?

The technical recruiter needs to identify, screen, review and qualify candidates for the
technical positions. Here are some of the duties and responsibilities of the technical
recruiter:

i.) Understand the job requirement.

ii.) Create detailed job description.
iii.) Source the candidates from different job portals and social media platforms.
iv.) Review and evaluate the candidates.
v.) Review applicants to verify if the position requirements are met.
vi.) Format resumes as per clients expectations.
vii.) Research and understand the technology to source right kind of candidates
viii.) Follow up with the clients and candidates.
ix.) Conduct interviews.
x.) Coordinate between the clients and the candidates.
xi.) Build long-term relationship with the candidates.

3. What is the difference between IT and Non-IT recruitment?

IT Recruitment - As the name suggests, IT recruitment is where the recruiter deals with
different IT requirements.  He/she looks focuses on hiring IT talent from domains such as
Java, Oracle, SAP, HTML, HTML5, Angular JS, Linux, C++, etc.

Non-IT Recruitment - This refers to recruitment in the non-technical sectors such as

Banking, Management, Retail, Aviation, Manufacturing, Construction, Mass communication,
etc.

4. What are the skills required to be a technical recruiter?

A technical recruiter needs the following skills:

i.) Ability to understand technology.

ii.) Strong relationship building ability.
iii.) Excellent communication skills.
iv.) Ability to learn and use office automation tools.
v.) Ability to identify right kind of candidates.
vi.) Quick thinking ability.
vii.) Well organized.

They should be confident and motivated to perform.

5. What is attrition?  How do you calculate the attrition rate?

The term attrition in human resource refers to the reduction of the strength of the
workforce or decrease in the size of the workforce when the employees leave the company.

Attrition rate is also known as churn rate or turnover. It is the rate at which the employees
leave the organization.  

Attrition rate (%) = (No of attrition/ No of employees) * 100

6. What are the major reasons for attrition?

There are many reasons because of which the employees leave the organization. Some of
them are as follows:

i.) Better job opportunity outside the organization.

ii.) Lack of employee recognition.
iii.) No growth opportunities in the present role.
iv.) Inadequate working condition.
v.) The inappropriate or impolite behavior of managers and peers.
vi.) The stagnant job role of the employee.
vii.) No proper work-life balance

7. As an HR professional, what steps would you recommend to control attrition?

Some of the steps to reduce attrition can be:

i.) Prepare a growth plan to motivate the employees.

ii.) Take feedback from the employees who are not satisfied.
iii.) Recognize employees' hard work through recognition and rewards.
iv.) Recognize irrelevant job positions to reduce misfit recruitment.
v.) Help employees build their career through new roles within the company.
8. What is job description and job specification?

Job description is a statement describing the job role. It gives general information about
the job.

Job specification describes specific qualities, qualification, skills, and level of experience,

etc required for the job. It describes any specific requirement needed for the job.

9. What is contract recruiting and permanent recruiting?

Contract recruitment focuses to bring employees for a short assignment for a certain
period of time whereas permanent recruitment focuses to bring employees that are
expected to work and grow with the company.

10. Who is a passive candidate?

A passive candidate is a person who is currently employed and is not actively looking for a
job opportunity. However, most of the passive candidates are happy to hear about the new
job opportunities.

11. How do you source for entry-level candidates?

To source for entry-level candidates I take the following steps:

i.) Implement internship program: Internships help to collaborate with the candidate

and help to evaluate their skills on the job. The most qualified intern may later be able to be
offered the job.

ii.) Campus Recruitment: Hire the candidates directly from the college before they pass
out.

iii.) Attend career events: These events specially cater to students who are just passed out
of college. Hosting an event helps to get candidates from diverse backgrounds.

iv.) Social media & Online job portals: Usually candidates share their portfolios on social
media as they do not have a lot of work experience. You can use these platforms to get
these candidates.

v.) Make job focused ads: Focus the job ad with the skills required for the job and not on
experience.

12. According to you, what are the best methods for sourcing a candidate?
A combination of methods helps you to source good candidates. Some of the best ways are
as follows:

i.) Social media platforms: Most of the people use social media platforms to highlight their
professional achievements and share their work samples. You can use these platforms to
identify these talents. You can join professional groups on LinkedIn, post your job openings
on Facebook and may follow industry-related hashtags on Twitter.

ii.) Boolean search: Boolean search helps you to target relevant result for your searches.
You can look for candidate by specific criteria such as location, qualification, etc.

iii.) Referrals: You can ask your past candidates if they have any friends or colleagues who
are looking for a job change. Employee referrals help to reduce the hiring time.

iv.) Build your talent database: Candidates who are not interested now may be interested
in future openings. Use your database to stay in touch with them and keep your database
updated.

v.) Host job fairs and events: These events help you to meet the candidates in person.
Invite people to your office so that they can know your team closely.

vi.) Ask your clients to improve their employer brand: A good employer brand attracts
a candidate to join the company. They should be able to offer meaningful perks, and need to
update their career page.

vii.) Join different platforms: There are a few platforms that are not for recruiting but
encourage communication with people having common interest. Join these groups and
engage in conversation to identify passive candidates.  You may post your job ad to attract
passive candidates.

13. How do you prepare yourself for conducting a technical interview?

To answer this question you can say something like: "I make sure that I understand the
requirement well.I read about the technical requirements and frame related questions to
understand what kind of work the candidate has actually done using that particular
technology. I also try to understand what level of practical knowledge they possess.

I prepare a set of questions to understand the person's interest. If I am looking for someone
with programming experience, I would ask a candidate his/her favorite programming
language and see if it matches the client's requirement. These questions help me to
understand the candidate's motivation and what are they passionate about".

14. How will you avoid and reduce candidate backing out?
Here are a few steps that can help you avoid and reduce candidates backing out:

i.) Try to meet the candidate in person if you are in the same area.

ii.) Always insist on getting a verbal and written reply on the commitment to the job offer.

iii.) Try and get more information about the candidate. Know what motivates him/her for a
job change, what are the expectations in terms of money and role, etc. Try to understand
their aspirations.

iv.) Constantly update the candidate about the process and try to keep in touch on a
frequent basis.

v.) Pay attention when the candidate is talking to you. Sometimes the words give you a hint
that they may drop out later.

vi.) Ask questions to check on his sincerity and seriousness for a job change.

vii.) Check with them if their family members are okay if the job requires relocation

15. How do you prepare for an expectation meeting?

Whenever there is a new requirement to fulfill you need to conduct an expectation meeting
with the hiring managers. This meeting helps to clear communication gaps between all the
clients, staffing team, delivery team, etc. It helps to have a proper hiring strategy and also
helps inthe delegation of responsibilities.

In order to initiate, the meeting the recruiter needs to prepare him/herself. Here are few
things he/she needs to check before going to the meeting:

i.) Know the hiring trends for the same profile. How much time does it take to fulfill such a
request?

ii.) Know which other company is recruiting for the same position.

iii.) Know the skills required for the job.

iv.) Have a few samples of resume available to set realistic expectations.

v.) Prepare a set of questions to understand the job role better, know the skills that are
good to have and must have, experience, qualification required, etc.
16. Describe a time when you had a difficulty to work with the hiring manager?

A technical recruiter needs to work in collaboration with the hiring managers. The
interviewer would ask you this question to understand if you are a team player and how
well do you get along with your colleagues.

To answer this question you can say something like: "When I had started working I had a
difficult time with one of the hiring managers as we had different expectations of the
workflow. We talked about it and realized we have very compatible goals. After that we had
a great work relationship and were able to work together successfully".  

17. Tell us about a time when you were able to fill in an urgent position.

With this question, the interviewer would like to know how you handle pressure situation
and how you handle priorities. They would like to know if you can prioritize a task in a
confident manner and if you are able to understand the situation and act quickly to get
results.

To answer this question you can say something like: "One of our clients was looking for a
graphic designer who could join the company immediately. I had a look at my database and
contacted a few potential candidates to check if they would be interested in the job.

I also posted a job ad on my Facebook page and asked for referrals from my previous
candidate whom I had placed in the same company. By putting in all the efforts I could get
two very good candidates for the client."

18. Do you use tech forums to source candidate?

A tech forum is not a recruitment platform but it is a very good platform to get in touch
with a potential candidate who might not be actively looking for a job but might be
interested in the opportunity.

You can say something like: "Yes, I use tech forums to source candidates. It is a place where
you are able to know and gauge the potential candidate's knowledge of the technology, you
are recruiting for. It helps you to develop communication with them and it makes it easy to
approach them. You may send them a private message informing them about the job
opening and check with them if they are interested."

19. What are you looking for in this position?

The interviewer would asked you this question to understand if you are looking forward to
a certain job spec in this role? Do you want to develop new skills? With this question, the
interviewer would also want to understand the goals of the candidate. His/ her goal should
be in line with company's goal.

To answer this question you can say something like: "I am keen to work in the domain of
web development. I have an experience of working in this domain but the technological
evolution always gets some new technologies in the market. Working in this position will
get me a lot more exposure in this domain.  

With this job, I would also get an opportunity to handle more responsibilities and take
more challenges which will help me shape my career in the long run. Also, I would get an
opportunity to interact with the clients directly which I am looking forward to. It will help
me boost my overall personality."a