Who’s interviewing who?! (or interview tips for Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys)
We’ve all been there: you’ve interviewed your shortlist of Patent or Trade Mark Attorneys – twice – and made a mouth-watering offer to your star candidate: all’s going swimmingly well until out of the blue, they tell you they’re going somewhere else!
Where did you go wrong? How can you avoid this happening again – and ensure you sell yourself as an employer, just as well as you expect your interviewees to sell themselves to you?
Ten Interview Turn-offs
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Being late to the interview- or worse still - not turning up at all and sending someone else
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Checking your phone / blackberry during interview
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Lack of preparation: not reading the CV or preparing relevant questions
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Arrogance: assuming your organisation’s the only Patent or Trade Marks team the candidate’s interested in; bad-mouthing competitors
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Ambushing candidates at interview with technical Patent drafting tests without warning
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Lack of rapport / disinterest in the individual: many candidates have felt that they’re only being interviewed to gain inside information on a rival organisation
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Using hobbies and interests as an excuse to delve into areas of potential discrimination
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Declaring that you’re not sure whether there’s a vacancy or not
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Offering the job at interview – and worse still – expecting a response
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Unexplained delay in – or lack of – feedback
People buy people – and in a multiple offer situation, candidates will naturally gravitate towards the business and its people to whom they can relate best, and who make them feel most wanted.
Sacco Mann’s Patent and Trade Mark Division is ideally placed to be able to assess what strategies and techniques have the best impact. One of the ‘soft’ benefits we provide is assisting our clients, as well as the Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys who are registered with us, to interview effectively. This not only enables you to choose the best candidate, but also helps them to choose you as their next employer .
If you would like to discuss any of this further please just call one of our specialist Patent and Trade Mark consultants on +44 (0) 113 245 3338 / +44 (0) 203 440 5628 or email Catherine French.
