people2people news | September 7, 2010
Welcome to people2people news
Welcome to the people2people news site. It is intended that this site will be used as forum for the sharing of ideas and news about people2people, the jobs market and experiences from our clients and those who are seeking new opportunities. We welcome comments and should you wish to start your own discussion contact: news@people2people.com.au
What happened to my bonus?
Posted by the Editor: May 28, 2008
As appeared in 9 to 5 Monday 26th May 2008
comment on this post | read comments (0) | Email This PostDefinitely one to watch
Posted by zichuan: May 27, 2008Congratulations to FiniteIT’s Elliot Howard who scored a perfect round as one of three winners of round 8.
Elliot is currently the highest ranked competitor coming in this week at 13 (9 points off the pace) with two wildcards to spare! Close on his heels is people2people’s Nick Luya (22nd - but only two points behind Elliot) who is the next highest ranked competitor with two wildcards spare.
We’ve got a few intense weeks ahead of us as we pass the half way point and head towards the business end of the season. Will Elliot hold off the hordes or will a few dark horses emerge from the pack? Stay tuned!
ZiChuan Lim
Consultant
Luck of the Irish in Round 10!
Posted by Kaden: May 27, 2008The lucky winner of two delicious bottles of Printhie wine for round 10 of the people2people footy tipping competition was Donnacha Flaherty of Stella Travel Services. A true Irishman, Donnacha is more suited to tipping Gaelic football matches, however must have pulled out the four leaf clover and crossed paths with a leprechaun to tip a full round.
Donnacha assures us that his form to date hasn’t warranted any prizes, but the rivalry within Stella Travel with certain team members, who shall remain un-named, has prompted him to pick up the pace in recent weeks, seeing him often spending four to five hours on a Friday morning checking out the form. people2people is expecting big things from Donnacha in this competition, purely as the wine delivery is so much fun!
Kaden Kennedy
Consultant
Recruiter Referral Schemes
Posted by the Editor: May 20, 2008
As appeared in 9 to 5 magazine Monday 19th May 2008.
Review the people2people scheme here; http://www.people2people.com.au/current_incentive.php
comment on this post | read comments (0) | Email This PostAnd our other winners are……
Posted by manda: May 9, 2008Congratulations AGAIN to Amanda Campbell and Jeff Ackland from Dransfield Hotels & Resorts on winning the round yet again! Amanda has graciously agreed to have Jeff’s photo included this time! Jeff told us it was all a fluke, sounds more like a trend than a fluke to us Jeff!! Well done to both of you and happy drinking!!
Manda Milling & Matthew Patteson
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Our referral scheme at work again!
Posted by manda: May 9, 2008We are always very appreciative of the wonderful referrals we receive at people2people. Pictured is Elyn Zhang with her ipod nano which she was awarded for referring her friend Grace Xu. Grace was recently placed in her new permanent role by Simon Gressier. We sincerely thank Elyn for her kind referral. Well done Elyn and Grace!
Simon Gressier
Director
And the winner is……
Posted by manda: May 8, 2008Congratulations to Raquel Casswell from Ingram Micro, one of our week 8 footy tipping winners. When I asked Raquel the “secret to her success” this week, she gave me the advice that you don’t give up on the Eels or the Bunnies! It’s obvious a lot of people already have I suggested to her. Well done Raquel and we hope you enjoy your lovely Printhie Wine.
Manda Milling
Director
Tell Me About A Time
Posted by Lisa: May 2, 2008Following on from Kaden’s blog about candidate experiences, I thought I would spend some time ‘talking’ about those pesky ‘Tell me about a time’ questions.
Firstly, let me acknowledge that as a person looking for a job, those questions are annoying and frustrating - when they are sprung on you in the middle of a conversation, you may go completely blank and then panic that you cant think of an example; and then if you CAN think of an example you worry that it’s good enough to give the interviewer what they are looking for.
But there is a reason these questions are asked. Each question is covering a ‘competency’. For example, in roles where the employee is dealing with customers, you will want to know how they go about dealing with customers. So you will ask them “Tell me about a time where you went out of your way to exceed a customer’s expectations.”
I will give you the answer that a young guy from Victoria gave me last year to this very question:
“I was working in a camera shop and I had this couple come in to look for a new camera. They were an older couple and they were going on their first overseas holiday in many years; they were so excited! Anyway, they came into the store and when I talked to them I realised they wanted a particular type of camera but that we didn’t have that model in store. They agreed to buy it and I ordered it in.
Then things started to go wrong, and there was a big delay in the supplier getting the camera into store. I kept calling the customers to keep them updated, and understandably they were getting upset that it wasn’t coming in. Then the day came that they were due to fly out of the country and I called them to apologise for everything. But a few hours later, we got a delivery and the camera was there - so I called the man on his mobile and found out that they were on their way to the airport to fly out.
It was close to my finishing time for the day, so I talked to my boss and I jumped in my car and took off to catch them up. I called them again and agreed to meet with them on a lay by on the motorway and to give them the camera. Twenty minutes later I met up with them and they were so thrilled.”
From a hiring manager’s / recruiter’s point of view here is what we are looking for in an answer like this:
- Was the candidate able to give me a specific example that answers what I asked him?
- Did the candidate demonstrate the ability to follow through with the customer?
- Did the candidate demonstrate that they understood what the customers requirements were?
- Did the candidate identify what the problem / issue was?
- Did the candidate take some responsibility for resolving this issue?
- Did the candidate go beyond what he or she normally would to resolve the issue?
In the example I gave, the guy obviously did. He listened to the customer from the first moment he met them; he followed through when there were delays and then he took it upon himself to ensure that the customer’s needs were met.
The only proviso I would like to make on these behavioural competency based questions is that the question is only as good as the person who is doing the interview. If the hiring manager or interviewer has no clear idea of what they are looking for in the answers and if they are incapable of assessing the answer against the competency indicators (eg the ones bullet pointed above); then these questions have no validity at all.
lisa johnson
onsiite
Feedback from our candidates
Posted by Kaden: May 2, 2008As a company, people2people take pride in offering a quality service to our candidates. One way we do this is by sending out surveys to all people that are interviewed in our offices, which helps us gauge what we do well, what we don’t, and how we compare to other recruitment agencies. We take the results of these surveys very seriously.
Recently one of our candidates came back with some very interesting insights into how people are treated by recruitment agencies, and the perception of recruiters in the market. Following are three of the questions we asked, and their respective answers:
- Please describe your overall impressions of your consultant.
Very well presented. Took the time to explore what role/s I was looking for. Sounded like he had knowledge of the industry.
- How can we improve the interview process?
I believe the generic recruitment questions should be used with caution (eg. ‘Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond etc. etc’) There wasn’t a big focus on them though, which was good. The fact that they weren’t heavily relied on suggests that the consultant can think and make decisions for himself as to the suitability of the candidate. The above mentioned questions create an impersonal, uninterested atmosphere and drag the impression of the company down to the same level as all the other recruiters out there.
- In what ways are we different or the same as other recruiters?
Some recruiters are of very poor quality. Others aren’t too bad. Meeting the candidate, as opposed to an online form or phone interview, definitely is the first step to standing out. I also found the recruiter I met with professional and seemed intelligent. This is a welcome change to a 22 year old backpacker that seems to be commonly employed in the recruitment industry. In addition, and as previously mentioned, I appreciated that the interviewer took the time to find out what I was looking for.
Very interesting comments. It sounds like this particular job seeker has met with lots of recruiters in the past, and not always had a good experience. We commonly fight a preconception that our job is ‘easy’, or we don’t really care about the candidate and just want to make placements. The fact is, without candidate loyalty, our business is doomed. Candidates often become future clients if they have had a good experience with our company, and word of mouth is a very powerful tool in the job seeker industry; it can make or break you.
The lesson? Treat everyone in the recruitment process or in business generally with respect and listen to what they say, and you are half way to running a successful business.
kaden kennedy
consultant
The curse of Facebook or is it?!
Posted by the Editor: May 1, 2008
As appeared in 9 to 5 Monday 28th 2008
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