ACTION ICT PARTICIPATES IN TECHJOBSDAY 2021 AND … 7 SECONDS WILL NOT BE ENOUGH TO MAKE A JOB INTERVIEW

The pandemic, due to COVID-19, has only further consolidated a way, that of online, of work, contact, recruitment and selection, which was already spreading in recent years. In fact, a recent study shows that currently over 90% of companies use the online job interview method as a primary tool to know the candidate, at least in the first instance, and also to assess their skills. The causes of the exponential spread of online are many: the social distancing derived from the pandemic, the obligation of smart working imposed on most of the working staff, the cost savings linked to the absence of travel to company offices and less use of the structures themselves, the technological maturity of the telecommunication infrastructures (both fixed and mobile) and of the applications to manage video calls and videoconferences (Skype, MS Teams, Zoom, Google Hangouts, Cisco Webex, GoToMeeting, etc.) combined with free or low cost of using them. However, due to the general increase in the productivity and efficiency of the recruiters (number of interviews per day), the main reasons for using face-to-face interviews have been lost: the analysis of non-verbal communication and refinement of that sensitivity, both innate and cultivated and typical of professional recruiters, to intuit the psychological characteristics of candidates on the basis of sensations, both behavioral and tactile, difficult to reproduce on video.

ACTION ICT also constantly uses online job interviews to get in touch with IT talents in order to cover professional needs, highlighted by its numerous projects in progress. An interesting opportunity for potential candidates and ACTION ICT to meet is the TECHJOBSDAY 2021 event which will be held online on Friday 19 November and Saturday 20 November. We can describe this event as a “virtual city”, in which it will be possible both to participate in about twenty streaming events (inspirational talks, technical workshops, technology presentations, specialist webinars) and to converse with the expert recruiters of the HR teams of over 25 IT companies present at the event. The candidate must register for the event (https://techjobsday.com), by registering he can participate in the various webinars scheduled and, once his CV has been uploaded, he can also book cognitive job interviews with ACTION ICT and with the other companies present at the digital event. ACTION ICT will participate with a team of its expert selectors, in perfect gender equality, in order to deepen the meeting with Java Developer, .NET Developer, Angular & React Specialist, Tester, Help Desk Specialist, Network-Storage-System Engineer, Infrastructure Architect, Devops Engineer (Azure/AWS), Business Analyst and Project Manager. Our digital offices will be open from 9.30 to 13.00 and from 14.00 to 18.00 on both days of the event (19 and 20 November 2021).

In this regard, let me give you some suggestions, which I believe are certainly valid for candidates but also useful for recruiters:

Check the connection technologies and familiarize yourself with the interview tools: It is unfortunate to find yourself in the position of not being able to connect, see, hear or have to use two or more devices to get to the end of the interview.

Choose a professional environment: Take care of the background and avoid unpleasant events behind the scenes (do not interview in kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and do not place objects, in the foreground, that can distract and that are incompatibile with your professionalism) .

Take care of the clothing: Even if the atmosphere of the office is almost just a memory, the optimal outfit is always the one in line with your professional application (if you are applying as a Project Manager or  Banking Business Analyst, avoid wearing those colorful t-shirts of AC/DC or Metallica you are so fond of).

Prepare for the job interview: I advise candidates to visit the company website, try to understand what the real potential is, the type of projects and the technologies used; but above all I recommend evaluating the corporate culture, that is, the “modus operandi” on which all the activities and relationships of the company are based, because it will be the most important element in the event of your hiring. I always recommend that recruiters read the CV and presentation documents very carefully, take a tour on social networks to identify any inconsistencies and prepare the salient questions in advance.

Answer standard questions brilliantly: Remember that recruiters often use a few general questions to better understand the candidate. To questions such as “Tell me about yourself”, “Describe yourself with 3 adjectives”, “What are the main professional characteristics related to your job?, “What are the potentialities that could be put in place for our company?”, “Why should we hire you? “, the candidate must always give a prompt and congruent answer with his candidacy.

It is also known that the first seven seconds of a conversation are the fundamental ones to give a good impression to our interlocutor. This first impression is based almost exclusively on non-verbal communication: the handshake, the look, the tone of voice, the posture. In these first 7 seconds, our interlocutor captures a small sample of our personality and designates it as a filter for all further information that will concern us. But given the current situation, with the almost absolute use of the online mode and the consequent difficulty in analyzing non-verbal communication, is this postulate still valid?

Now sorry … but I have to make a video job interview:

1 sec … I don’t hear you well!

2 sec … can you try to check the microphone?

3 sec … I don’t see you well!

4 sec … I see you in the shade, can you check the webcam or increase the lights?

5 sec … but where are you answering from, from the bathroom?

6 sec… but how are you dressed?

7 sec … oh  I understand, it’s a bathrobe, because you just got out of the shower!

ACTION ICT (November 2021)

ACTION ICT is a young, dynamic and innovative IT company. It operates, both nationally and internationally, offering professional skills and design solutions in the ICT field to medium and large businesses. Our highly skilled know-how is housed in three expertise specific departments: ACTION DATA (Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence), ACTION APP (Web & Mobile Application) and ACTION IOT (Internet of Things and Robotics).