Sherry sent me a note, “I love this idea (of The Interview Doctor Talent Exchange)! And I want to let some of my customers know about this. Do you have a link to the website with step by step instructions for employers to list intern opportunities?”
I thought I would go one step further and demonstrate how to use The Interview Doctor Talent Exchange for a real job opening for a friend. It was easy!! Let me walk you through the process so you can see the advantages.
- We opened the website at workfountain. We clicked on “Employers” and create a Free Account by entering basic information about the company
- Then we described the job including location, work schedule and compensation. This is a sales internship in a start-up business so the posting is free to both the company and the candidates.
- In the next section we selected the main job category(s)that best fit the opening. We selected “sales” and the sub category of wholesale distribution.
- The next section gets to the guts of this Talent Exchange. We answered questions related to the work required describing the work details, characteristics and behavior expected. Sometimes we moved a little green dot across a spectrum to indicate a range from one extreme to another like “not at all” to “most of the time”. The algorithm is getting an idea of what is required in the job.
Questions include: “How much time do you expect the candidate to spend negotiating details of contracts and payments?” and “What are your expectations for this opportunity?” measuring whether it will be a short term internship or looking to identify a possible full-time hire.
On the Job Seeker side, candidates seeking a sales internship are answering the same kind of questions. You can see how this process can facilitate a match.
- You can share your opportunity on Twitter by including your company’s Twitter handle if you want but this is just an option – another way to publicize your opening through social media.
- After completing this information we clicked “Publish” and the matching process began.
- Immediately after clicking “Publish”, the system scanned the candidates participating in WorkFountain and identified two candidates that met our requirements! I mean immediately. One candidate, A (initials only to protect privacy) is a junior from Western Michigan University. He had a five star match with three of the characteristics we listed as important: resolving client problems, wholesale experience, checking stock levels. The other candidate, R, is a senior from Kent State University. She matched two characteristics with five starts and five characteristics with 4.5 stars.
- We simply click the button “Request to Connect” and an email invitation will be sent to the candidate and we can begin a conversation. If we don’t like these candidates, we can remove any candidate from consideration. We can edit the opportunity to fine tune the requirements so we pull candidates with different strengths and interests.
- If other job seekers sign up whose interests match the job specifications, then we will receive notification.
The advantages seem clear:
- Matches based on outcome and competencies. We use outcomes and details about the job to create our description. Job seekers complete essentially the same form describing the ideal job they want. The match is based on the competencies or characteristics that are important to both the employer and the job seeker, increasing the chances that the match will be successful.
- The process is quite confidential. We created a posting, posted it and received information about candidates without anyone being the wiser. If we want to connect with those candidates we can but we are under no obligation.
- It is very easy to use. From establishing an account to receiving two qualified candidates’ information took less than 30 minutes.
- This tool is very inexpensive. Posting an internship is free. Posting a non-internship position only costs $39. It is hard to find anything in this world that costs so little for such an important service.