Interviewer Judgement Errors

Apr 13, 2025 | IT

Here we have listed some common decision making errors people make when interviewing applicants. Rigorous training programs, along with added structure, are important ways of minimizing decision making errors, but understanding the different types of error and recognising when they occur is important.

Stereotyping – This error involves making judgments about a candidate based on broad generalisations, rather than information specific to the candidate. These generalisations typically refer (accurately or inaccurately) to attributes of a larger group to which the candidate belongs, such as gender, age, or racial/ethnic status.

Similar to Me – In some cases, interviewers will display a tendency to attribute some of their own characteristics to candidates. There may be something about a candidate that reminds the interviewer of himself or herself, and this superficial similarity can lead the interviewer to overlook or discount distinguishing details specific to a candidate.

First Impression – This one is pretty self-explanatory. It is very unfortunate, but many poorly or inadequately trained interviewers tend to judge a candidate within minutes of beginning the interview. It can be difficult to design an interviewing process with validity matching that of other selection tools. Drawing conclusions based on first impressions makes this task nearly impossible.

Halo – When interviewers commit halo error, they are allowing their evaluation of one characteristic to influence their overall evaluation of the candidate. For example, an interviewer who is very impressed with a candidate’s decision-making skills may perceive other skills, such as communication or persuasiveness, to be at a similar level of proficiency. This can work in the negative direction too.

Leniency/Severity – Some interviewers tend to be excessively lenient across the board when evaluating candidates, while others may be unfairly critical. These are similar kinds of error, and can be detected readily.

Restriction of Range – Lastly, interviewers may hesitate to use the extreme ends of a rating scale when evaluating candidates. Instead, all evaluations tend to be “middle of the road.” This can occur even if you are not using numerical ratings.

Three Tips for Avoiding Ageism When Recruiting

Apr 12, 2025 | IT

A recent poll found that only a minority of employers monitor practices for age discrimination. Dealing correctly with ageism in the workplace and particularly in the recruitment process is an important part of organisational diversity, so we look at some of the facts and offer a few suggestions to ensure ageism doesn’t become an issue for your organistion.

Remember it’s not only the older generation that ageism can effect

When we think of ageism at work or in recruitment, it’s often related to older workers, as this is the most reported and perhaps the most common, particularly in the world of technology. Many organisations may feel that recruiting a younger employee is best for their organisation as they are able to offer a lower salary, or because a younger person is less likely to have family commitments and be able to work longer hours, or because a younger person may be seen to have a better ‘cultural fit’ with their hip, fashionable business. The older generation has a lot to offer, and our article ‘Can Older Workers Bridge the Skills Shortage Gap?’ discusses this further.

However, the Guardian reported that “experiences of age discrimination were more common for younger groups, with under-25s at least twice as likely to have experienced it than other age groups” suggesting that employees over 40 had the highest status and “perceptions towards those aged over 70 were more positive than towards those in their 20s”. Respect, experience and maturity come with age, but the younger generation need a chance to develop these attributes so mustn’t be discriminated against either.

Keep pay and progression in mind

A report by XpertHR revealed that; “technology professionals get fewer promotions, lower performance ratings and reduced pay increases once they hit the age of 50.” They found that employees in their 20s got higher pay increases and more regular promotions, decreasing rapidly once they hit 30. The report (which excluded senior management) also revealed that performance rates were higher for those in their 30s, than for those in their 20s, and stayed steady for 40 and 50 years olds before beginning to tail off for those in their 60s. This flags up the issue of whether pay increases and promotion are generally being handed out based on performance or on age.

Incorporate anti-ageism into your overall company culture

Obvious ageism such as compulsory retirement ages or age caps are unacceptable and will end up in court if there are still organisations with these kind of old fashioned and unfair practices in place. However there are many grey areas, particularly in the writing of job adverts and descriptions. It seems that some organisations simply want to find a different way to describe the same thing, without using the latest word or phrase to be struck off the list of acceptable adjectives. For example, following a lawsuit against Facebook for posting a job advert with the phrase ‘class of 2007 or 2008 preferred’ and the since common use of the term ‘new graduate’ Fortune reported that some employers are opting to mask their age bias by advertising for a ‘digital native’. Surely just another way to say ‘young’? The more long-term view is to remove any age expectations from your position and organisation, and adopt a policy that thrives on a number of generations working together.

At Langley James we have a wealth of recruitment and personnel experience and can guide you through the best practice for advertising your job and finding the best candidate. We’ll do the hard work for you! If you’d like more information about diversity or avoiding ageism in your recruitment please get in touch.

Questions Never to Ask When Interviewing in IT Recruitment

Apr 10, 2025 | IT

3 Superstar Candidate Traits

Feb 19, 2025 | IT

Must-have qualities and how to find them

Recruiting the right person into your team can sometimes seem like banging your head against a brick wall.  You think you’ve found perfection and then you are let down.  They had all the skills, they got on with the team but it didn’t work out and you’re back to square one of a lengthy, painful process.

The great news is that there are 3 traits that all superstars have.  And they are easy to spot… if you know how.

1.  Integrity/Honesty
No matter how talented an individual is, it means nothing if they are using their skills to work against the company.  A superstar candidate is honest about their own abilities: CV embellishment is more common than you think.  A solicitor, Dennis O’Riordan, was exposed as lying about most of his achievements, including earning a doctorate at Oxford and attending Harvard.  During his career he was Legal Head for many banks across the world.  Scary stuff, and a reason to ALWAYS check references.

A superstar candidate will have the integrity to always act in the best interests of the company.  If something has gone wrong, they will admit their mistakes as soon as they happen and care enough to produce an action plan to put things right and ensure it doesn’t happen again.  Compare this to an employee who hides their mistakes or incompetence until catastrophe strikes and they are found out.  You are unlikely to see them for dust while you are left scrambling for answers.

Ideal interview question:  Tell me about a time you made a mistake?  What happened next?

2.  Accountability/Autonomy
A superstar won’t need their lunch breaks monitoring and you won’t need to worry if they will have the correct documents with them at meetings.  A superstar is ready to be held accountable and won’t need constant supervision to get the job done.

When superstars take responsibility for a task, you know it will get done in time, and to an excellent standard, and if it doesn’t, you’ll have received a memo in advance with the reason (not an excuse) why and a revised timescale. A superstar can be flexible and prioritise.  If their skills can help a team member with something urgent, they will assist, because at that moment it is in the best interests of the company.

Ideal interview question:  Describe your preferred relationship with your manager in terms of direction and monitoring.

3.  Fearlessness/Ambition
A superstar isn’t afraid to take risks.  If their idea doesn’t work they won’t give up: you can expect another well thought out proposal on your desk by the end of the week. They will always be looking for opportunities to prove themselves and will not scrape by doing the bare minimum.  An ambitious candidate will be seeking long term professional development in your company and loyalty won’t be a problem for them.

Ideal interview question:  How long would it be until you were able to make a serious contribution to your organisation?

We find talent
Here at Langley James we get to know our candidates.  We take pride in only selecting people that we are confident suit your company and the opportunity.  We place stars in fantastic IT roles every day and we can do the same for your company.

To discuss your IT recruitment needs please call us on 0207 788 6600 or email us at langleyjames@langleyjames.com.   We’d love you to join in the conversation.  Tweet us @ITRecruitment or follow us on Facebook.

The Open Communication Concept

Jan 1, 2025 | IT

It’s the beginning of a new year and time for a fresh start! The festive period is officially over and settling back into work after the Christmas break can feel like somewhat of an emotional roller coaster, motivation levels amongst staff can be low and the reality of getting stuck back into office life can feel like a struggle. Now is the time to revitalize the office and give your employees the boost they need. Increase motivation and satisfaction by creating open, two-way conversations and get your employees talking about their targets goals for the year.

Why create open communication?

Human nature motivates us to eliminate the unknown. Working environments have advanced from hierarchy causing a halt in communication between all levels of the ranking. Employees now want to know the processes behind the structure of the organisation and have a greater clarity of the environment they are working in, and who they are working for. The unknown causes uncertainty, impacting on performance levels. Transparency in an organisation will increase performance levels and ultimately improve employee engagement and retention. Read more on employee engagement and retention here. Job security and the ‘job for life’ concept is progressively becoming obsolete. Employees will feel a far greater sense of security and trust in your business if there is an environment of openness. Employees will take comfort when leaders appear ‘more human’.

5 steps to creating open communication

1. Commitment to communication from all parties is essential. To ensure a smooth communication procedure can be executed, all members of the team must be willing and committed to the cause. This can only be achieved when all parties understand reasoning and share the same vision as one another.
2. Leadership integrity is fundamental in order to execute such a proposal. A filter approach to communication is a necessary step in ensuring that open communication can start to penetrate through the hierarchy. Employees will lead by example, so begin the process by creating an appropriate procedure.
3. Procedures and policies will aid in ensuring that your communication plan can be carried out fluidly. Policies such as an ‘open door’ policy, regular performance meetings, and setting key performance indicators for all employee’s will start to form a basis for open communication.
4. Disperse negativity and break the cycle of hidden opinions. Encourage employees to discuss with managers any concerns and frustrations they may have. Negativity can impact on the energy and atmosphere and can have a detrimental effect on all parties.
5. Respect open communication at all levels. Do not reproach, no matter how critical. Sometimes conflict is an aid in learning and development and creates motivation for change and for bettering one’s self. Unfortunately, conflict is often inevitable and must be viewed as simply detection and correction of error, and dealt with appropriately. Maintain order and respect amongst all parties by ensuring that difference in opinions or heated discussions get resolved effectively and completely.

Nurturing your business starts with developing the health of your organisation. Through open communication you can create a stable and well-constructed working environment. If you need help in implementing a solid communications plan, then contact us today on 0207 788 6600, and we will find you the perfect HR professional who will fulfil all your needs and requirements, and help you to achieve your HR goals.

How to Create Employee Loyalty

Dec 4, 2024 | IT

How to Create Employee Loyalty

Employees are becoming the competitive advantage for business in the modern world. Bad employees can cause a business to fail; mediocre employees can cause a business to break even. Good employees can make even a business soar.

The key of course is to hire right. At least half of the personnel problems I face with my clients today are caused by poor hiring policies. But just as important as hiring good employees is keeping good employees. Good employees often feel (and with good reasons) that their employers take them for granted. It takes focus, work and commitment to keep good employees. The idea is that the satisfied employee is less likely to search for greener pastures. The following are keys to keeping the best employees in your business:

Pay. Don’t believe the ‘experts’ when they tell you pay is not important. Pay might not be always the most important thing but it always ranks right at the top. Pay is only a non-issue when an employee is not dependent on the paycheck or has another source of income. A general rule is that you must offer a competitive salary/wage for that position. You can offer minimum wage to a journeyman level worker but you will not get journey level skill. If you are offering below market rate you will only attract the worst of the prospective employee pool.

Benefits are similar to pay. If other like businesses are paying certain benefits you will have to also. Health and dental insurance are benefits that better employees are demanding. But you can also offer additional benefits that will attract better employees. Life insurance, 401K plans, sick and holiday days will “sweeten the pot.” Some of these benefits may cost less than you think. The more astute businesses are also offering a ‘cafeteria style’ benefits plan — the employee can pick and choose which benefits are best for them.

Training. Good employees know they must be continually learning and improving their skills. They will search for a ‘home’ that not only encourages but provides regular training. Most businesses concentrate only on direct job-related training. Don’t forget non-business training such as English, foreign languages, computers, etc. Employees also have interests that are not job related. Improving some of these interests may also help improve job performance. Don’t forget to look carefully at cross training so they can learn to do other functions in the business which helps all concerned.

A Learning Environment provides a chance to learn on the job. This not only improves skills, knowledge and performance but keeps the employee’s interest level high. The employee is more eager to go to work if they feel they will learn something new and improve themselves. Hit an interest and loyalty will follow.

A Career Plan will help the employee set their long term goals. If the business can assist the employee in reaching those goals the employee will become more loyal. Most businesses do not help their employees in this way.

Evaluations and Reviews should be held on a regular basis and certainly no longer than three months apart. Problems and concerns can be addressed and progress toward goals monitored. The idea in these reviews is not to build a case to force the employee to improve or to build a case so they can legally be fired. The idea is to focus on the individual as a person and how they fit in the business. Reviews should be used as a way to keep good employees and not weed out bad ones.

Regular Business Meetings are an excellent way to get employee input, make improvements and address concerns before they become problems. Good employees feel they must have input in the workplace. Meetings should be held at least once a month but I advise my clients to have them weekly.

Recognise Good Work with financial and non-financial recognition. Employees often feel management only addresses them when there are problems. Good employees expect to be told when they do good work.

Good Working Conditions are a must. Good employees expect their employer to be making constant improvements so the workplace is not only safe but pleasant.

Have Fun. Good, loyal employees do not want boring, drudgery-filled work. There are many ways employers can make work fun and many of these techniques cost little or nothing. This is not the same kind of fun one has on holiday. But it does add excitement and keeps attitude high and motivation up. Many recent studies are pointing to a labor shortage and a battle for the best employees. One study recently found that only one out of four applicants is actually qualified to do the job. To attract top prospects the business must offer an attractive package. Top prospects must be marketed to in a similar way a sales prospect is marketed to.Those businesses that are lazy and too cheap will have to be satisfied with minimal employees. The long term prospects for these businesses will be poor. The successful business of the future will not only attract the best but will create a loyalty to keep the best. The indicators are suggesting these will be the only businesses that truly succeed.

Two Simple Ways to Help Overcome the Challenges of the IT Skills Shortage

Dec 4, 2024 | IT

Two simple ways to help overcome the challenges of the IT skills shortage

It is clear that CIO’s are operating in an extremely challenging environment and the role has never been more important than it is right now.  IT has a crucial role to play in the UK’s continued growth and with the worst of the budget cuts now behind most IT departments, the focus again is on the IT skills shortage.

We are all so heavily reliant on technology and whilst 80% of IT spend is still focussed on “keeping the lights on” to simply sustain some form of business growth it has been reported by Deloitte that only 58% of budget allocation within IT is for BAU and 42% for change and growth.  This is great news for those CIO’s with an appetite to drive this area but with IT project delays frequently reported in the news and  IT request backlogs growing at a rate of 10 to 20% per year, having the right team on board to help develop and deliver new capabilities is one of the highest priorities for CIO’s.

The report also highlighted the IT priorities for the next 12-18 months:

– 82% support new business needs
– 56% drive digital strategy
– 56% reduce IT cost
– 53% consolidate infrastructure
– 52% maintain IT operations
– 52% strengthen risk and security
– 49% develop skills
– 44% restructure IT operating model
– 29% develop sourcing strategy
– 12% increase offshoring

The impact of the recession has seen businesses being slow to hire and train and as a result, we are not developing our technical skills at the same pace as pre-recession.  Over half of CIO’s are experiencing difficulties when looking for business-centric IT professionals who not only have the necessary skill set but can also think strategically and communicate effectively.  According to a recent survey by CBI, 39% of companies are now struggling to attract workers with advanced STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) skills and 41% expect this issue to continue for the next 3 years.  More surprisingly, it also reported that 66% of UK employers are not satisfied with basic IT skills in their workforce.  On top of that, the European Commission predicts that the UK will need an additional 500,000 IT professionals by 2015!  Recruiting and retaining IT superstars is no easy task for any CIO.

So what can you do about it?

In a reported conducted by City AM, the average salary for technology jobs in the London area rose by a staggering 26% in the last 12 months, with the average topping £48k (£38k nationally) and according to CareerBuilder/EMSI, a third of UK businesses plan to hire full-time employees in 2014, with software professional vacancies expecting to increase by 3.1% to 325,500 jobs and ITC Managers by 3.6% to 326,429 jobs.  Are we set to see average salaries rising even further as companies try to attract the talent they need to prosper?

But those of you who read last week’s newsletter will know that attracting and retaining is not all about salary.  Over 40% of respondents to the Deloitte survey are redesigning IT roles and structures and providing access to cutting edge IT projects to help make their role the more attractive career choice.

Here at Langley James, we are seeing companies offering profit share, performance related bonus, blue sky thinking time, time for training and development and even “free pizza Friday’s” in an attempt to attract the best of the best.

Personal development with tailored training and project opportunities are key to attracting and retaining the right talent so it’s quite surprising to hear that only 12% of CIO’s are offering opportunities on projects outside the IT function – are you missing an opportunity to attract and retain talent?

Here at Langley James, we are passionate about recruiting – that’s why we do it!  We love getting to know you and getting to know our candidates resulting in the right person for the right role; something we have done over 3,000 times in the last 15 years.  We are experts at attracting the best calibre of candidate for your role, not just skills wise, but that all important personality and business skills too.

To discuss your IT recruitment needs please call us on 0207 099 4839 or email us: langleyjames@langleyjames.com.

Christmas Present: Some End of Year Statistics

Dec 4, 2024 | IT

As we get closer to the end of the year, and 2025 is almost within sight, it’s a great time to think about building your team and recruiting. Commonly, January, the start of the New Year and its associated fresh starts and resolutions, are perceived to be busy times for recruiting new employees. For many organisations it is, but starting early and preparing yourself now for hiring could be much more efficient and rewarding.

Applications to jobs in November and December are 3% higher than the yearly average.

Now, we don’t know, but this could be affected by the high amount of Christmas positions that are up for grabs in the retail and delivery sectors in the lead up to Christmas, but it does show that the year’s latter months are not a quiet time for recruiters. Hiring from September to December allows your new members of staff to join the team before the chaotic start of the New Year, meaning they’ll already by integrated into the business and their role come January. Having a new employee start in the build up to Christmas is also a great opportunity for them to mix with the team at festive social events.

90% of job seekers are passive.

According to the Office of National Statistics 90% of job seekers are passive, so they’re likely to act on the right opportunity when it’s presented to them. Many organisations push their job ads out in January as a reaction to the busy and chaotic time of meetings, new objectives, goals and budgets. The space is more crowded and there are more options for the candidate. Advertising your job in the months leading up to Christmas and the end of the year mean your potential candidates are more likely to be attracted to your job with less competition. And with less competition you avoid having to pay higher salaries to secure the right candidate.

It takes 6 – 8 weeks to fill a vacancy.

Adequate planning and preparation for your new team members is very sensible. Advertising, interviewing and selection can take months, and that’s without considering notice periods. Getting the process completed or at least under way, will allow your new employee to really hit the ground running in January, already being familiar with your organisation and with induction and training out of the way.

Project management applications rise by an average of 30 responses over the festive period.

Account management, sales and marketing were the other 3 areas to see this rise in response, and trends like that are really useful in giving recruiters a backing and genuine reason to get on with recruiting at that time. Perhaps there’s some of 2024’s budget to use up, so recruiting a new project manager could be a great way to use it up and save on next year’s training and recruitment costs.

Over the 5 days for Christmas, 49% of applications were made on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or Boxing Day.

Although these guys wouldn’t be starting until the New Year, this is an interesting stat, and shows that during the downtime of the Christmas break, people still have jobs on their minds. Fresh starts and New Years resolutions may be the driving factor, but by getting your vacancy prepared early you’ll be more likely to catch those proactive candidates looking for their next move before the New Year.

If you’d like to speak to one of our experienced Langley James consultants about hiring new employees, get in touch today.