Tag Archives: hiring

Hiring Managers, you shouldn’t just be asking potential candidates questions. You need to ask potential recruiters a few important questions before you engage their services. Even if your company has used that agency before, you need to make sure that you are getting the right consultant for your vacant position.

Here are 8 questions you should be asking your recruiter the next time you engage an agency/recruiter:

How long has the recruiter been working in recruitment for?
Why are they the right recruiter to find the best candidate for you?
How do they maintain relationships with candidates? What is their candidate care process?
What areas do they specialise in?
What type of clients and industries do they typically work for?
Are there any other consultants in their agency that they work with to source candidates?
What is the process after our initial brief? Do they send a shortlist? How long should I expect it to take?
What happens after the candidate is placed? Do we stay in touch before the candidate start date? After the candidate starts?

Just like most things in life, go with your gut. When you meet with a recruiter for a role, you should have a good rapport and see yourself being able to establish a long term, professional relationship! There are a lot of great recruiters out there, make sure you are working with the best.

Hiring Managers

Can You Tell A Suitable Candidate From Their CV?

April 17, 2018

Can you tell a suitable candidate from looking at their CV? Here are our 5 Top Tips to spot a great candidate just from just their CV:

LOYALTY

Sh&t happens! Travel, contracts, redundancy and life happens to the best of us! But -there comes a time in your working life where you should have stuck something out for a good 2 years plus .. that’s what we look for. Juniors are pretty much excused from all of the above.

GROWTH POTENTIAL

Internal promotion, leading a project, being headhunted by an ex boss – these are all great signs!

DETAIL

If the header on a CV reads “Cirriculum Vitae” – pass!! Rambling and long winded cover letters also tell you something … having said that – not all roles require great spelling – so different horses for different courses!

ABILITY TO STEP UP

Would you move from one company to another to do the exact same job? Nor would we – so look for the ability to step up and hire on attitude over a skill that can be trained. Will the candidate’s toolkit translate to your business?

FIT

This is tricky without meeting someone in person – however where they have previously worked may be an indicator i.e. huge multinationals or small family businesses. Are the types of company’s complementary or polar opposite to yours?

Remember – a CV is only a snapshot of a person and the whole picture doesn’t come together until you meet them face to face. Sometimes “left of field” candidates are the most successful. Trust your recruiter (if you use one) to fill in the blanks for you …

Hiring Managers

Hiring Managers – You Need to Work your Recruiter Harder

November 28, 2017

Hiring Managers, you might need to work your recruiter harder!

Recruitment is a competitive space in Sydney. Let’s face it – recruiters are a dime a dozen. Unfortunately, however, the good ones are not. Now is the time for your recruiter to be working hard for you.

If they are not working hard? You need to review your recruitment partner and either A. work them harder or B. find one who works hard without being asked.

Here are our Top Six Questions you should be asking to know if your recruiter is working hard enough:

1. They work on your role exclusively

A good recruiter will know the market that you are hiring in. They will know plenty of candidates in that space, but possibly not the best one for you….yet. Let them canvas the whole candidate pool and submit to you a shortlist of the actual best. If three agencies are working on the one role, most candidates will only meet with one recruiter. A recruiter cannot compare apples with apples if they are only seeing “some” of the current candidate pool. So go out on a limb and offer them exclusivity. You might find it’s in your best interests, not just the recruiter’s.

Furthermore, if a recruiter knows they have the role exclusively, they can prioritise finding you the best candidate. If a recruiter is competing against three other agencies, they might end up quickly scrambling and sending you whoever they have so that they are in the race. Without taking the time to ensure they are meeting your brief and sourcing you the best candidate.

2. They don’t offer you budget rates

You know the saying: ‘You get what you pay for’? It’s true for recruitment services too. If you are getting flat rates that seem too good to be true, they probably are. A good recruiter knows the value of the service that they are providing and they will work hard to earn that fee. If your recruiter is charging you full fees they should be worth it. This includes offering a true partnership with you, the hiring manager, to ensure that the hiring process is as seamless as it possibly can.

3. They know their candidates

Sending a hiring manager a shortlist of candidates is of course part of the job. However, a good recruiter who is working hard will have met with and know the candidates they are submitting. They will know what is motivating their search for a new job. They will understand their soft skills and hard skills. A good recruiter will understand what will be the right workplace culture for that candidate. They will know their candidates and be able to talk you through why they might be a good solution for your business.

4. They guarantee their work

If your recruiter won’t offer you a guarantee on the candidate’s placement, they are not working hard enough. It can take a good 3 months for a candidate to find their groove in a new job. Which is why businesses offer a probationary period. Your recruiter should be matching this with their guarantee period. Some recruiters even offer a guarantee of up to 6 months. Proof that they are working hard to get the right solution for you the first time. If they don’t, they’ll do the hard work for you again, without any cost to you or your company.

5. They do their due diligence

The recruitment process can be a little like match making. It’s not tinder though and a good recruiter isn’t swiping left or right based on a hunch! There is an initial telephone screening to get a feel if they are suitable. Then there is an interview process with the consultant, possibly even some testing and profiling. At some point in the process, there will also be detailed reference checks. This is not an additional service or a bonus performed by a recruiter. This is part of the job and part of a recruiter’s due diligence.

6. They partner with you

A good relationship with your recruiter is really important. You should feel that your recruiter is your partner during the recruitment process. You should be able to bounce ideas off them. Debrief with them after each candidate interview and talk through your concerns, ideas and objectives. You should trust their expert opinion. And trust they have you, your company and candidate’s best interests at heart. If you cannot trust your recruiter, it might be time to look at other options.

To sum it all up – a good recruiter should work hard for you to find the right candidate for your role. They should also work hard for their candidates. You cannot have one without the other. A good recruiter understands the importance of this and will work hard for both parties to find the best solution. If your recruiter isn’t working hard, you may need to look at why this is happening and decide what you can do to make sure you are getting a better outcome.

Hiring Managers

HIRING MANAGERS – The Counter Offer

October 30, 2017

It pays to always be aware of the potential for a counter offer. It isn’t always going to happen. But being aware and prepared will help increase your chances of not losing that ideal candidate at the eleventh hour.

It should be expected. If the candidate you want to hire is as good as you think they are, their current employer won’t want to lose them. Remember – good candidates don’t get fired.

So how do you prepare for the counter offer?

UNDERSTAND

When you are interviewing your candidate you need to try to understand the motivator for them leaving. Try to understand if they are leaving for more money, a better career opportunity, or perhaps a change in culture or leadership. By understanding the motivator, you are able to navigate the interviews with this potential candidate. During that interview you can explain to them how your role can offer them the new opportunities they seek.

EDUCATE

Now you understand their motivation for leaving. During the interview process you should be educating the potential candidate on how your role will meet their individual needs and wants.

Don’t forget that the interview process is about the candidate too. Now more than ever. We are turning into a more candidate driven market and the job needs to be right for the candidate as well. During the interview process, don’t take for granted that this candidate wants or needs your job. Along with interviewing the candidate about their experience, make sure you are educating them about the role, company and opportunities that you are offering. If you understand their motivators for leaving, you will be able to cover these off during your conversations.

WORK WITH YOUR RECRUITER

If you are partnering with a recruitment consultant, this is where they will be doing a lot of work behind the scenes. The recruiter will be talking with the candidate and workshopping through their options. A good recruiter will know what is motivating the candidate’s need for change. The recruiter will be helping find the right solution and fit for the candidate and guiding them to make the right decision. Work with the recruiter to help the candidate and ensure they understand your role will meet their needs and wants.

OFFER WHAT YOU ARE WILLING TO PAY

You need to know what the role is paying. You should know what you can afford to pay before you start the interview process. Don’t waste time interviewing people you cannot afford or who have unrealistic expectations about the salary they are after. Equally, once you have identified the candidate and there has been a conversation around salary expectations, don’t lowball your offer if you are hoping to get them across the line.

When money is in play, it is important to be transparent and honest with the candidate. If you have verbally discussed a figure, make sure you are true to your word or you will paint your company and its ethos in a bad light.

It might be too late to negotiate if you’ve lost integrity by offering a lower salary than discussed.

USE THE OPPORTUNITY

How a candidate handles a counter offer is a valuable time for you to learn about that person. A little negotiation is never a bad thing. However – how a person conducts themselves during this negotiation period can be very telling. Occasionally you can find more out about a candidate before it is too late and have signed on the dotted line.

If the hiring manager assumes a good candidate will be counter offered, they are able to prevent a lot of stress at the final hiring stage. Most candidates don’t want more money. They have other drivers for leaving. But money can cloud people’s judgement. So be prepared and ensure that during your interview process, you are covering off any issues that may come up once the candidate is given that tempting counter offer.