從畢業生到面試官

I have recently started my last rotation on BT’s graduate scheme， and for my grand finale， I’m doing a stint with the recruitment team， focusing mainly on graduate and undergraduate recruitment. Being on the other side of the table is strange to say the least and I can still well remember going through the recruitment process myself.

So far I’ve really enjoyed the role and there is a great variety to the job I’m doing and the people I’ve met. I enjoy meeting and talking to the candidates and， being in the position of being a graduate myself， I feel I can often reassure them as I’ve already been through the same process.

My job on a day-to-day basis is varied： it can be anything from 1）sifting through undergraduate CVs to see if they’re suitable for the summer or industrial year placements we offer； or talking to internal hiring managers to find out what kind of thing they’re looking for from the applicants.

One of the hardest parts of the job is delivering the bad news to unsuccessful applicants， and it’s the part of the job I enjoy the least， because I know how time consuming and stressful applying for jobs can be.

I’ve also been involved in the graduate assessment centres： from playing the actor in the one-to-one role play， marking the business case studies and 2）chairing the evaluation meeting at the end of the day with the hiring managers， to discussing who has and hasn’t been successful. It was very weird being involved in this， but also really interesting to see what it’s like. I imagine what my assessment centre was like when I attended myself a couple of years ago.

One of the things I’ve picked up from the recruitment team is how important it is to be yourself. Hiring-managers who conduct the interviews want to see the real you， and hear your honest answers to the questions they’re asking. I used to believe that there were right and wrong answers to interview questions and that giving a well-structured 3）generic answer was what the interviewer was looking for. But from personal experience I now know they’re much more interested in hearing the real answers to the questions， not the textbook answers you think you should give.

If candidates understand the real reasons why they want to work for the company that they’re applying for， and the real reasons why they’ll be the perfect candidate， then more likely than not they will 4）come across as a lot more suitable for the job than if they use generic responses.

Another tip from being on both sides of the process is to make sure you put in as much effort into the first exercise as you do to the last. All of the exercises are marked individually， and your overall performance will be evaluated， so try not to get down-hearted if you feel one went badly. From chatting to candidates on the day and comparing this to their overall scores， I’ve also noticed that there’s not always a correlation between how well candidates perceive they have done and how well they actually did， so I would say try not to 5）second guess yourself.

After the assessment centre， whether you’re lucky enough to get a job or not， we’ll provide feedback to you detailing what you did well， as well as your development areas. This can be a really good opportunity for personal learning. You can use this knowledge of your key points for development when you start. For example， if your presentation was where you fell down， you can try and get some experience presenting to your team once you’re in your role.

Everyone has development areas， and sometimes just being aware of them is half the battle. If you attend an assessment centre where no feedback is provided， get in touch with the recruiting department and ask for some so you can improve on things for next time.

我最近在著手開展BT（英國電信公司）公司畢業生項目的最后一輪任務，最后一個重要工作是與招聘團隊合作，把重點放在研究生和大學畢業生的招聘上。簡單點說，坐在桌子的另一邊感覺有點怪怪的，我還記得自己當時的應聘過程。

到目前為止，我很喜歡現在的角色，我的工作涉及面廣，還會接觸到不同的人。我喜歡跟應聘者見面聊天，我也曾是一個畢業生，我覺得自己常常可以給他們一些安慰，因為我曾經歷過同樣的過程。

我每天的工作都有所不同：篩選大學畢業生的簡歷，看他們是否適合我們提供的暑期實習職位和為期一年的工業實習職位，或跟內部招聘經理交談，看看他們需要什么樣的申請者。

工作中最困難的部分就是給落選的申請者傳達壞消息，這也是我最不喜歡的工作內容，因為我知道應聘職位是多么耗時間，壓力有多大。

我同時也有參與畢業生評價環節：在一對一的角色扮演中充當某個角色，給商業案例分析評分；最后主持評價會議，跟招聘經理討論誰通過或沒通過面試。參與這樣的討論感覺很奇特，但我也很想知道這是怎么一回事。我想象著幾年前我參加面試時我的評價環節是怎樣的。

我從招聘團隊中領悟到保持個性，做自己是非常重要的。主持面試的招聘經理想看到真實的你，聽到你誠實地回答他們的問題。我以前認為面試問題的答案都有對錯之分，給出一個組織好的、通用的答案就是面試官想要的。……