by Sarah J.F. Braley |
January 01, 2008
First visual and mental
impressions play important roles in the hiring process, as
was found in an online poll conducted recently by M&C.
The following results are based on responses of 128 meeting
planners who have responsibility for hiring in their
departments.
As these respondents made clear, how an
interviewee looks has a lot to do with hiring decisions. Candidates
with visible body piercings (other than for earrings) and visible tattoos are less likely
to get the job, according to 83 percent and 70 percent,
respectively, of those who hire. Similarly, people who dress
casually for interviews do not have as good a chance at the
position (80 percent), nor do those whose cell phones ring during
the interview (80 percent).
Of all the attributes listed in the
poll, only one -- when candidates use terms like “thought leader,”
“out of the box,” “synergy” and “win-win” -- has a significant
positive effect on the respondents, with 37 percent of those who
hire saying they are more likely to choose such a well-versed
applicant.
In this digital age, when it’s easy to find out
more about people by putting their names into a search engine,
nearly two-thirds of respondents said they do just that.
Sixty-three percent of hirers always or sometimes Google
applicants. About the same percentage (62) troll online job boards
for candidates; popular sites are Monster.com (36 percent), Careerbuilder.com
(27 percent), MPIWeb.org (21 percent), PCMA.org (14 percent) and Meetingjobs.com (12
percent).
Most respondents (95 percent) said
references usually are checked before a job offer is made. About
half said their organizations conduct background checks, as
well.