CIPR Midlands is running an event You're Hired! aimed at helping interviewers get the most out of prospective candidates - a great idea for a session, since small companies and agencies sometimes lack the ability to coach or train new managers in this area.
Unless there were blatant lies on a cv, it could take until interview stage to expose some of the best works of fiction on a cv:
Interviewer: "You say you enjoy going to the theatre? What's the last play you went to see?"
Interviewee: "Um, I saw some Shakespeare at school ... I like the idea of going though."
Interviewer: "It's great that you're interested in current affairs - did you hear our client interviewed by John Humphrys on the Today programme this morning?"
Interviewee: "No ... I don't watch Channel 4 news" (pause as interviewer scrapes herself off the floor)
However, thanks to Twitter, we don't have to waste our time at interview stage finding out that the candidate we're talking bears no resemblence to the person on the cv.
You say you're interested in current affairs? I'll expect you to follow at least a couple of national daily newspapers or online news sites (and not just those recommended to you when you sign up to Twitter). And since you're working in PR, you must be fascinated by the media in all its forms, so I'll expect to see you following @mediaguardian at the very least. And while the sort of PR people you want to follow might depend on the nature of PR you're interested in, I'd expect you to follow at least a couple of these PR/social media people or the people they're connected to: @stedavies, @jangles, @markpinsent, @wadds @emilycagle @mediaczar @armano, @trevoryoung, @shelholtz, @harrietcrosse @behindthespin (these names have been picked at random from people I follow who posted today, in case you were wondering why you were included or missed out).
If you don't follow any PR people (or journalists) I'll smell a rat straight away - are you really interested in a career in PR, or did it just seem like a nice idea? And if you say you love politics, I'll expect you to follow at least a handful of politicians.
And of course it's not just about following ... it's about how you use Twitter as well.
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