You're a recruiter? Need to interview Olim Chadashim and foreign language speakers? All the things you should know before your candidate will walk into your office!

By Uwork | April 3, 2020

Being a recruiter, especially a recruiter that has to recruit and interview Olim Chadashim and foreign language speakers such as German, English, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Italian, French, Spanish and other languages, can be challenging. You have a certain amount of time to decide whether the person sitting in front of you will fit the job you're hiring for, both professionally and personally. A lot is at stack, and the pressure is on? We've got your back with the following article.


How can we know who's sitting in front of us before we even start the interview?

Reading in between the lines is sometimes a crucial skill in interviews. The best way to indicate if a candidate that's sitting in front of you is serious about the job, or if this candidate is someone that could fit into your company's environment would be reading the candidate's body language. 

Remember – interviews can be stressful, while you're used to it, it's not a natural situation for most candidates. 

Take that inconsideration that the pressure or stress may affect the candidate's reactions at times, so make sure the atmosphere in the room is accepting and welcoming by smiling and offering the candidate something to drink before you start.

After the pressure will lower itself, you can read the candidate's body language a little bit better – for example, if he or she are looking into your eyes while talking, especially in questions that require honesty (such as: why did you leave your last workplace?), also hand gestures can tell us a lot – if the candidate is speaking with his hands closed onto his body it probably means they don't feel very comfortable for whatever reason.


What's the most important thing to look at in the candidates answers?

It's highly recommended, even for the more experienced recruiters and interviewers to prepare beforehand to the interview. There should be answers you'd expect to hear, and answers you'd rather not. Some questions are more vital than others – for example – asking a candidate if he thinks he's capable of executing the job properly is a crucial one – so pay attention to the candidate's reaction – is he more stressed since you've asked the question? Did he change his voice or body language? Is he thinking a lot before saying anything? Notice if the candidates are speaking a lot without really answering the question – it's a tactic some may use. You should always get the job done and if the candidates answer isn't clear – you can ask it again or in a different manner.


How will you know if the candidate is motivated? 

Sometimes, a candidate can look exhausted, tired, or simply indifferent about the position – then you'll know you need to rethink if the candidate is suitable for the job or not – but sometimes the candidate could look more neutral and you won't be sure if he or she are really into the job or just checking their options. So, what to do?

Ask the candidates why or what draw them in to apply for this job? What are they passionate about it? You can tell a lot by their choice of words, tone of voice, and enthusiasm. While some candidates are only interested in the job to get to another role in the company or to generally get a job, some will do their best to show you how motivated and excited they are about it.  


How will I know if the candidate will be able to face the challenges that come with the job?

Most candidates will try their best to come across as perfect. We're all human and we all have our good and bad qualities. So, how will you know what are your candidates' bad qualities and how relevant they are for the job you're hiring? Simply ask!

Asking the candidates what is their biggest weakness or asking to provide you with 1-2 bad qualities is the most respective and upfront way.

Also, it's very direct and the candidate will not have too many options but to directly answer it.

If your candidate will say he or she has got no weakness – they're just not being honest, which can indicate something about the rest of their interview.

While more honest candidates would be able to put it all on the table, that way you could examine if they have what it takes to execute the job properly.


Chemistry – is it important?

Absolutely yes! At times, you'll come across candidates that will professionally fit the job's requirements, however, personally or character wise will not fit into the company's environment which can be a big issue. You can screen candidates by checking if there's chemistry and keeping in mind whether or not this candidate could be a good team player and will fit properly in the company.  Good communication skills are vital when working with someone on a daily basis, so you can try and communicate with the candidate in a not so formal way just for a little bit, ask him how his day was or if the traffic was OK on his or her way here. This type of informal interaction will not only ease the candidate stress a little bit but also will let you know if there's a good chemistry or not. While the final decision shouldn't be based solely on chemistry – it should be another aspect that's taken inconsideration before hiring someone.


Are there any must ask questions for a recruiter to know?

Each position requires different preparations and different style of questions.  Therefore, before you'll start the interview, be sure of what the job requires, what exactly is relevant, and what type of candidate you're looking for. The requirements for a sales representative could be different than the requirements for a customer service representative for example.   


Are you Olim chadashim? Looking for a job in Israel? Are you foreign language speakers like English, German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, French, Italian, Japanese, Chinese or perhaps other foreign languages? Check out our blogs now for more tips on how to navigate in the job seeking world in Israel to find the best job for you!