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Top Ten Recruitment Tips from the Academy for Chief Executives

Top Ten Recruitment TipsOur Top Ten Recruitment Tips

  1. DIY Headhunting
    Your competitors can be the best source of new talent, do some networking with your clients and ask them who is really good and invite them for a chat.
  2. CV’s
    Use CV’s for selecting candidates for interview but don’t use CV’s as the interview plan.
  3. Be Prepared
    We all do it but don’t walk into an interview straight from a meeting without planning it. Create space in your diary so you have 20 minutes before the interview.
  4. Location
    Interview candidates in different rooms and locations – a great way of seeing how the candidate reacts in different environments. Don’t forget this is a two way process so make sure your interview room is impressive.
  5. Interviewers
    Make sure the interviewers you use are trained to interview. Sounds obvious but 90% of managers have had no recruitment training at all.
  6. Questions
    Remember the key objective of your questions is to find out what the interviewee is currently doing because this is what they will do for you. So ask questions looking for the skills you need and request that the interviewee gives you an example of how they have completed a task/project for their existing company. Don’t ask hypothetical questions because all you’ll get is model answers.
  7. Testing
    Where possible test the candidate for some of the skills you are looking for. For example, if presenting is important ask them to prepare and present on a specific topic so you can see their ability to create content and present it.
  8. References
    A vital part of the recruitment process.  Many employers don’t bother but always take verbal references and ask the simple question ‘would you hire this person again?’. Any deflection or hesitation should prompt you to probe the referee more deeply.  A verbal reference is likely to be more revealing than a written one.
  9. Don’t hire
    Don’t be tempered to hire the “least worse” candidate who applied – especially when you are under pressure to recruit.  It’s far better to start again than to hire the wrong person.
  10. Counter offer
    If you have found a rising star from another organisation be ready for a counter offer from their existing company.

The Academy for Chief Executives is a leading organisation, focused specifically on developing CEO’s and MD’s by helping them to expand their businesses whilst also supporting their individual growth as leaders.  Find out more at www.chiefexecutive.com

One Comment

  1. Charles says:

    Number 4 is interesting – interviewing candidates in different locations. I haven’t tried that before, but I think I will. I’m curious to see how this will affect their responses. You’ll probably get a better impression of who they are, which is key to executive hiring. – Charles

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