How you recruit new employees can make or break your organization. But what sort of things do you look for? What are the gold star achievements that make up the perfect candidate for your company? And what are the red flags?

Don’t take just anybody.

Recruiting shouldn’t be a last resort… for anybody. This is your chance to pick exactly the right person for whatever job opening you may have.

While you have to do you part on selling your company as a great place to work and start a career, potential job candidates also have to sell you on what they can offer your company.

The US News & World Report recently published a piece on how a college grads can get recruited. Mighty helpful for those who aren’t quite sure what they need to look for when jumping into the fray and hunting down excellent recruitees.

Something we thought people who are new to the recruiting process should put into practice is to not put 100% of your stock into the importance of a college major.

Jim Stroud, a recruiter for Google and Microsoft, had this to say:

How important is a college major? Does it have to be relevant to the job?
I don’t think so. I know several successful professionals and entrepreneurs who operate outside of what they studied in college. The best benefit of any major is mastering the patience, dedication, and organization it takes to achieve a long-term goal. These traits are transferable across every discipline.

To read the full article, head on over to the US News & World Report website.

When preparing for a face-to-face interview, what’s the first thing that pops into your head? Most likely it’s the first impression. Dress well. Behave yourself. Answer in polite, complete sentences everything the interviewer asks of you. Elementary stuff, right?

Phone interviews still expect pretty much the same. You may not be seen, but the way you carry yourself with your voice says a lot. You don’t use slang. You don’t lose your temper. You keep yourself at an even, pleasant keel throughout the course of the interview.

But what about a virtual interview?

In an age where video games, MMOs and MUVEs still aren’t seen as 100% serious applications, they are nevertheless used as recruiting and interviewing tools by many companies.

So how should you act in a virtual interview?

You may be sitting at the computer in your underwear, but you’re still expected to put your best foot forward. Some good rules of thumb are: be yourself, no chatspeak and don’t count on wikipedia at the last minute to do your homework on the company you’re interviewing for.

Over at The University Blog, a top 10 list was put together on some must-have virtual interview behavior. Check it out and find out what you should do before your next virtual interview.

Want the one tip we enjoyed?

Don’t try and show off - You might know some impressive tricks in the virtual world. They won’t be impressive halfway through an interview. Leave the tricks for your friends unless it’s part of the interview process.

Over at iNnovative tHinker there is a really informative and helpful list on 50 ways to react to common interview questions. The interviewing process may seem simple, but the way you answer easy questions, even the questions about yourself, can make or break your chances of landing your dream job.

Here are some of the highlights we here at recruiTV liked:

What kind of salary do you need?

A loaded question. A nasty little game that you will probably lose if you answer first. So, do not answer it. Instead, say something like, that’s a tough question. Can you tell me the range for this position? In most cases, the interviewer, taken off guard, will tell you. If not, say that it can depend on the details of the job. Then give a wide range.

What irritates you about co-workers?

This is a trap question. Think real hard but fail to come up with anything that irritates you. A short statement that you seem to get along with folks is great.
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