A life of recruitment
With 25 years of experience, recruitment is in my blood.
13 years agency side, 12 years after that in business recruiting for my team or wider roles in the business, alongside my actual role. I love the recruitment hunt.
Of course, sometimes people don’t work out, but I’ve recruited many business-changing stars along the way.
Going against the ‘norm’
I’m a huge advocate for not getting too stuck on what’s on someone’s CV, but to see past this to the actual person, what they stand for, and the richness of useful experience someone has when they’ve taken a different path to whatever we consider the ‘normal’ one to be.
It doesn’t matter what market we’re in, the best people are hard to find and in demand.
Here’s what I learnt along the way, some tips for finding and enticing the best people, and making sure your role is the one they pick.
Tips for recruiting game changers
Let go of your ‘interviewer power’
The candidate is interviewing you as much as you are interviewing them
So don’t try and control everything
Sell the job to them, as much as they sell themselves to you
The best candidates have more choice than you do, whatever the market
Write a detailed job spec, then take it with a pinch of salt
Good to know what your ideal person looks like
However you’re unlikely to find them
Write a detailed job spec, highlight the non-negotiables, and forget the rest
Make friends with recruiters
Having been on both sides, you need them as much as they need you
Be the nice client that they want to speak with, and you will get prioritised
Don’t batter them down on fees: your job won’t be worked on the most
Proactively ask agencies for wildcard candidates that they haven’t sent you because they don’t match on paper: these will be some of the best you’ll see
Know how to sell your job
Get clear on what makes it stand out and what makes your company stand out
Sell it to agencies: you’re telling them how to sell it to candidates and making their job easier
Sell it to candidates: sell it to every one of them even though you’re not sure if they’re right; they might be the friend of the one who’s right
Map out the customer journey for your candidate and make it the best it can be a. Candidates are your customers, treat them like they are b. Know every touchpoint that your candidate has with you, your team and your company, and make it great
Create a decision matrix and mark candidates against it
Include a few (not too many) key non-negotiable skills and values
Mark each candidate against each one out of 10 during or straight after the interview
Then you have a data-backed comparison at the end, which isn’t swayed by emotion
Trust your instinct
Alongside the data, trust your gut
If you think there is something not quite right, you’re probably right
If two candidates meet a similar level in terms of the data, go with your instinct of who is going to fit best into your team
Stand by what you say
Like anything in life or business, integrity is everything
If you say you’re going to pay a certain salary level, pay it rather than trying save a few pounds
If you say you’re going to get back to someone, do it
Have the hard conversations and give the honest but kind feedback
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