One of the best parts of my job is when we find a great employee for one of our clients. It's kind of like being at the wedding of two people you set up on a blind date. It's all good. What's even better, however, is when the client calls us a few years later to inform us that the employee we placed has been promoted and the role needs to be filled once again. This is like being at the 10 year anniversary of the couple you set up. While finding the best job candidates on the market is what we do, clients can play a big role in helping us find the very best person for the position over the long term by doing four key things:
1) Make the job spec as representative of the job as possible. It can be tempting for clients to give us the ad or job spec from the last time they filled the position, but it is much better to rewrite the job spec every time one commences a search. Rarely does a job stay the same from year to year. Not only does the technology change (mimeographing skills are not as critical these days) but so does the way one does business. When you hire someone new, it's an opportunity to rethink the role. Take the time to make any changes before you make a hire. There is nothing more frustrating for a candidate than to feel like they were subject to the old bait and switch.
2) Be honest if you've been trying to fill the role for a while. If you have been looking for someone to fill the role for six months with no success, please let us know. There is nothing worse than calling someone with a new opportunity only to have them say "oh, are they still looking for that?" Some positions are very unique and tough to fill and that is why you are hiring us, but we will amend the script we use when pitching the job to prospective candidates if we have this information. As we talk to people, we will also find out why the role has been hard to fill. Perhaps you are paying below market rates, perhaps there has been some reputational damage (see below), perhaps the job's location is an issue. Once we have this market intelligence, we can often tweak the role to make it more attractive to candidates. Then when we call back our prospect list, we can tell them the great news!
3) Be honest if the job is hard to fill. Perhaps your CEO has just done the perp walk on national TV. Perhaps the person to whom the role reports is nicknamed Chainsaw or Neutron or Queen of Mean. Perhaps your last quarter was dismal. We are used to filling hard-to-fill positions, but again, information is helpful. If I know that I'm swimming upstream, I can be prepared to address the concerns a savvy candidate will have. There are candidates out there who love a challenge as long as they know everyone is being upfront.
4) Be open-minded. Rarely do candidates have the exact experience called for in a job spec (and if they do, they are often wanting more money that you are prepared to offer.) While we do our best to find candidates who are as close to your wish list as possible, it's really good to have a clear sense of what qualifications the candidate needs to have and what they'd ideally have. Unless there are regulatory requirements calling for someone to have a particular educational or professional background, this is often an area where flexibility can be shown. Instead of outlining the number of years experience you require, it can be helpful to focus on what kind of experiences you need them to have (if you are growing your team, you might want someone with proven mentoring experience; if you are experiencing pressure to cut costs, you may want someone who has had to downsize their group.) The more specific you can be about the needs of the role, the more flexibility you can show on the wants. With a wider pool of candidates, you are much more likely to find someone who can do the job and fits your corporate culture, making for a successful long-term hire.
Happy hunting!
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