There are times when it is better to call the personnel manager, times when it is better to call the hiring executive, and times when it is better to call both.
In the preinterview stage, when you are gathering information about the job, you should talk to both the personnel manager and the hiring executive. Often when a hiring executive receives your sales letter, he will ask you to call the personnel manager or even have the personnel manager call you himself. In that case, the decision has been made for you. In some companies the personnel manager may withdraw from the picture after an interview has been set up. In other companies he will continue to participate in the hiring process. You may be directed to come by the personnel office before your interview with the hiring executive.
After the interview, if you have already met the personnel manager, stop by his office and bring him up to date, as suggested previously. Obviously, you should not do this (unless directed to by the hiring executive) if the PE told you he was handling everything from here on or if you did not get along with the personnel manager.
If you have a post interview question, it is generally better to ask the hiring executive. However, you can use the question as a reason to get back to the personnel manager and find out how the interview went If you are on good terms with the personnel manager, you can also use him as a "how goes it" to keep track of the offer as it develops. Be sensitive to everything you say and hear about the job and the hiring process. And remember that the desires of the hiring executive always take precedence over those of the personnel manager.
How to Use the Personnel Manager during Salary Negotiations?
Personnel managers can be useful during salary negotiations. This is especially true in large companies, where personnel managers may have considerable influence over the salary range. For example, if you want to know how high the hiring executive can go, you could call the personnel manager and tell him that you have a tentative offer of $X, a figure 10 percent higher than the offer from his company. Casually ask whether the personnel manager thinks that the hiring executive can meet this offer. You may get some important information. A particularly friendly personnel manager may even suggest that he let the hiring executive know that you would accept the offer for another 10 percent.
What to Do During a Screening Interview with the Personnel Manager?
If you have a screening interview with a personnel manager, put everything into the interview, just as if it were with the hiring executive. If you have competitors, try to find out about them. You may learn something from the personnel manager that will help you beat the competition.
For example, during a screening interview with the personnel manager Louise S. learned that her leading competitor had no production experience, a fact that bothered the hiring executive. During her interview Louise found a way to stress her own production experience and to mention that she felt it was a prerequisite for the job. It is impossible to say whether Louise got the job for this reason. But what she said could only strengthen the hiring executive's conviction that the other candidate did not have adequate experience.
The personnel manager can be of assistance in your campaign if you use him instead of allowing him to use you. To do this, you must be careful about everything you say to both the hiring executive and the personnel manager.
