What Recruiters Look For
A few weeks back, we needed someone to come in as a social media intern for Fittobeemployed Africa, so the vacancy was shared on Twitter as you can see in the screenshot below.
Truthfully, we got about 11 applications. Kindly note that the ad was only posted on Twitter via my personal account. I wanted to reduce the burden of interviewing all 11 people because of my schedule, so I created a Google form and sent it to all of them to indicate their interest and answer basic questions.
6 of the applicants filled out the Google form. Some of them had scanty answers, some had comprehensive answers. I also added a deadline to the form even though I did not close the form. Based on their responses, I sent them a calendly link to book their preferred time for the interview
4 of the 6 applicants booked using the calendly link I shared.
Now to the 4 applicants;
Applicant 1 was a teenager who barely had any work experience. No offence, but it would have been nice if he had taken a course or something.
Applicant 2 was a post-graduate student who had already tried her hands at social media management and claimed to have enough time for another hustle. Fair enough.
Applicant 3 obviously had the most solid responses, but I’m tempted to believe she used chatgpt because her presentation at the interview was a direct contrast to what she filled in the form. Plus she wasn’t properly dressed, and my friend/partner said “Christie, this girl go give you problem with her attitude”. I believe and accept her perspective because she’s an experienced HR executive.
My question to all of them is, why did you apply for an internship when you barely have experience? What happened to finding someone close to you who has a business and volunteering to help them grow their business for free for probably 1 or two months?
If you even do it so well, you can request stipends for internet from the person while you’re honing your skills. If I were to hire an intern, here are the things I would look for:
- your knowledge and skillfulness in that field
- your level of experience. Now you will ask, how do I get experience? The answer is in two ways,
(a)Create an imaginary brand and build a social media presence for them with your knowledge/personal projects
(b) Find NGOs or small business owners around you who don’t have a social media presence and are willing to try it out.
If you show up without skills as a volunteer, I will accept to work with you but if you’re showing up for an internship position, I’m assuming you have some skills and experience under your belt and you need a place to experiment and grow and money because you will be contributing to my company.
3. Your confidence in the experience you have regardless of how little it may be. If you’re confident in your ability to deliver results, it will be obvious in your response to questions during the interview.
My first post-nysc job was an internship with one of the leading edtech companies in Lagos, Nigeria. I remember my boss mentioning that he hired me and another person because we had built something with our little knowledge. It was a good foundation for all that we practiced and learnt within our internship duration even though I didn’t finish my internship before I got promoted. (story for another day)
4. Your aspirations. Are you a “whatever will be, will be” or a “this might seem beyond my reach, but I still want it”?
Aside from your own aspirations, it’s proof that you won’t stick with the status quo when it comes to delivering on the job. You won’t do a mediocre job and walk away with your salary at the end of each month.
For example, on no account should you go for an interview without a salary expectation. It also shows that you do not value yourself and whatever you’re bringing to the table or you are not even bringing anything to the table, you just want a tag that says “employed”.
At the same time, be realistic with your demands in relation to what you’re bringing to the table.
I rest my pen here and I hope this provides some guidance for job-seekers like myself.
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