Recruiter: “I met a great candidate today, but I am unsure if they’re truly interested!”

As recruiters, Human Resources staff, Hiring Managers, Senior Managers, Partners and employers review candidates, they are very focused on who is genuinely interested in more than getting the position, travel opportunities, help with obtaining a designation and being gainfully employed (getting a pay cheque).

History has proven that individuals with real interest in the company have many attractive traits and bring significant collateral value to the company. Experience shows those who truly want to work for the company have an elevated knowledge of the company, its business and its staff. This knowledge effects the way they “fit” which is one of the most important components of hiring a successful candidate. This kind of “fit” results in a more seamless entry into the company, a higher level of morale on the team, greater productivity and higher retention levels. These qualities are not only attractive, but also relate to the bottom line costs of hiring and training.

From the beginning of any hiring process, candidates that know the company, its staff, its business and its clients stand out among the hordes of networking students, masses of paper applicants, selected interview candidates and finally the shortlist out of which an offer is formally made. Interest!

Currently, as the CPA recruiting period is transitioning from phase one of the interview process into the next phase, employers are assessing candidates for many things that will attract them enough to invite them to the next step in the process. Specific interest in the company is one of the main pieces of this selection process because at this point interest in the position is elementary.

Employers believe they can train people to learn most anything, so the technical side and even academics are not the main components in making these selections. Experience in accounting, although compelling, is not s “slam – dunk” for being moved to the final round of the selection process. If these two areas were the sole reasons for selection, the firms could save themselves a lot of time, effort and cost by creating a simple checklist: has over 95% – check; has accounting experience – check = hired! Yet even with these attractions recruiters are still looking for other things that help determine the whole idea of “fit”. But, interest is one of the greatest things that significantly attracts recruiters to keep meeting and talking with a candidate, and is often an integral piece in the criteria for the employment offer.

Showing interest and revealing interest are both important at every opportunity. However, just saying the words, “I am interested”, alone are not enough. It takes conversations with people, graduate level research and some creative sleuthing to find talking points to use during the interview process. Once this content has been identified then a candidate can utilize it when crafting the ‘Tell me about yourself’ answer,  the ‘Why do you want to work for us?” answer. preparing questions for interviewers, creating talking points for conversational interviews, to create a “statement of interest” to be used at the close of an interview, and to be used for a much higher level of follow up communication. The weight rests solely on the candidate to locate this information, prepare it and use it well.

I know, I know, you are already very busy and are feeling tapped from the many networking sessions, firm events, application preparation, coaching meetings, emotional impact, push-back from lonely friends and family, and, oh yeah, course work. But don’t let up quite yet! Protect all of your hard work and the investment you have made so far by going over the finish line at a sprint. When put to use, the impact of your specific interest in the firm, its people, its team, its business and its clients could be the very thing that brings the pay-off.

Good luck!