My big one is that they need to stop asking why I applied for their company. The real answer is I want a new job, and I blasted out a hundred applications. I didn’t choose your company specifically.
I’ve hired dozens of people and I’ve interviewed hundreds. As a manager (area of business development), my objective is simple: get the interviewee talking. I know their CV and have checked their social media; I know my favorite candidates. I just want to check whether I “like the person”, and whether she/he is as good in real life as on paper. My typical interviews run like this: “first, I will tell you about the position for a few minutes, then you will have time to tell me about yourself, and to ask YOUR questions. And then we talk about possible next steps. This will take about 30 minutes. Is that OK?” I try to get onto an equal footing, and although I will ask simple questions here and there, I skip all the humbug, curve ball, aggressive stuff (they probably have pre-prepared answers to those anyway). By laying out the interview plan first, good candidates have sufficient time to prepare their story and clever questions in their head while I make the company pitch.
What do you do for people with no social media? And I’m not talking its private, or hidden, I’m straight up talking someone does not exist online. I’ve got no SM for 10+ years, within the last year no reddit, Imgur, not even a LinkedIn or indeed anymore. Honestly, when I had LinkedIn, its full of self-righteous assholes, humble bragging, and corporate brown-nosers. It’s toxic work culture IMO.
But say I found a job posting or heard of your company and applied directly on the portal, is that a deal breaker?
Not OP but I run a business and handle the majority of interviews and hiring. I set up the beginning of my interviews just like OP does. If someone doesn’t have social media, I honestly think it is a bonus. I barely touch my own LinkedIn… I’d also much rather an application come through our website than an ad. I feel like those who apply directly have a better understanding already of what the job will entail. If a candidate makes it through the first few interviews, we invite them out to observe and then participate in the role (to see what they think and how they like it). I can usually tell by then if they will be a good fit. It’s been nice because occasionally a candidate will decide right then it’s not for them and save us both a lot of time.