Michael DeSafey | Executive Recruiter and HR Professional
How to Strengthen Your Organization By Hiring Talent
How to Strengthen Your Organization By Hiring Talent
If you are looking to hire talent that performs well in the construction or engineering industry, you want to make sure you are not limiting yourself in the way you think about recruitment. Improving your recruitment strategy can help upgrade the level of talent that you are attracting and hiring. WeBuild Staffing is considered one of the nation’s leading staffing agencies and is dedicated to scouting high quality, industry-specific technical professionals. We are committed to finding exceptional employees, and you should be too. Do you think your recruitment strategy might be flawed? Here are some Dos and Don’ts that might help you identify issues.
Don’t…
Rely Too Much On The Interview
Interviews are essential to landing a job, but they not everything. The person you are interviewing could be having a bad day or display uncharacteristic anxious. Some people will also say anything to secure a job, and great social skills and interview performance do not guarantee they are the most qualified for the job. This is especially important in the construction and engineering industries, where the new hire will be performing specific and specialized tasks.
Do…
Make sure you consider the application as a whole, taking into account the candidate’s experience and any projects they have done, without letting yourself be blinded by the way —good or bad— in which they present themselves.
Don’t…
Feel Threatened by Someone More Qualified Than You
In fear that they might jeopardize their position, managers are often hesitant to take on someone with better skills or who seem more talented. However, this person could become a vital asset and improve your company.
Do…
Look at special certifications or skills that a candidate will bring that are not already available at your company. There is no such thing as being overqualified for the job!
Don’t…
Let the Job Description Misrepresent the Job
The term itself could be misleading; a good job description is in fact more than just a description. You cannot simply offer an overview of the job, and even a long explanation might be too broad, leaving your new employees to be caught off guard by some of the duties they are asked to perform.
Do…
Include a list of duties as part of the job specifications. Make sure you indicate exactly what skills and requirements are needed to attract the right talent and discourage unqualified individuals from applying. Put yourself in the shoes of someone looking for a job: wouldn’t you want to know exactly what will be expected of you?
Don’t…
Wait For The Perfect Candidate
Most employers want to find people who check every box. However, it is time-consuming and nearly impossible to find the perfect fit for every position. The longer you wait for a candidate who is exactly what you pictured, the more you are jeopardizing your team.
Do…
Keep an open mind about what you are looking for, and consider giving a chance to someone who shows potential and is eager to grow and learn. They can end up being a valuable team member.
Don’t…
Overthink References
While references are a key part of the hiring process and give an insight into whether a candidate is a good fit for the job, they are not everything. Job seekers are very likely to have gathered their references from people they knew would give them a positive review —often close friends as well as employers— and a good experience at one company doesn’t mean it will be the same for yours.
Do…
Use references as one element for consideration in the comprehensive process of forming your own judgement about the value a candidate can bring to your company.
Michael DeSafey is a leading executive recruiter for professionals in the construction, engineering and environmental industries. He is currently the President of Webuild Staffing www.webuildstaffing.com . To learn more about Michael or to follow his blog please visit www.michaeldesafey.com
How to Hire Smart People Who Will Advise Us What to Do
How to Hire Smart People Who Will Advise Us What to Do
As a leader in the construction, engineering, or environmental space, you probably know that people are the organization’s most significant assets and capital. In essence, your hiring process could be the difference between success and failure of your company. How, then, can you hire smart people who will have the right expertise and insights to advise you on what to do? Here are essential tips that will help you get smart, proactive, and innovative staff for your firm.
Use a Talent Philosophy
When hiring, seek out individuals who are smarter, better, and more talented than you. It is also essential to look for independent-minded people who won’t fear sharing divergent opinions from yours. Avoid “yes men” employees who lack innovative ideas. The right candidate should have the knowledge and courage to identify and point out any errors you might make and suggest alternative solutions.
Keep Up to Date With Market Trends
Getting the smartest talent takes more than flipping through candidates’ resumes. Take the time to research the best-recruiting companies and the recruitment strategies they use to net highly skilled and talented employees. You also need to understand the ever-changing job market landscape. Talent keeps evolving and what worked well in the past may not be relevant for current job needs. Where possible, work with experienced recruitment agencies to help you quickly identify the best candidates. You can also ask your existing team to refer skilled candidates for consideration who fit your company’s standards.
Leverage on Social Media and Digital Trends
Social media is another great way to attract and retain the right talent. Using Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram appropriately, you can create a profile or embed your own digital culture site to show both what you can offer and what you are looking for in an employee. Make sure your page or website is mobile-friendly; up to 58% of potential employees use their smartphone when hunting for a job. Find out more about interesting candidates by looking at their online profiles and activities; you can mine critical data on an individual with a straightforward social media background check. Although not necessarily a decisive recruiting factor, social media activity will give you an idea of the candidate’s professional and personal interests, and make the screening process simple and effective.
Set Up a Stringent Hiring Process
However urgent your recruiting needs may be, avoid the urge to rush to hire. Use a failsafe hiring process to help you identify ideal skills and talent as quickly as possible while still being thorough. This involves formulating a comprehensive list of relevant questions and establishing a grading process that will enable a tight recruitment process. If you need help, delegate this to a solid hiring specialist or team who will shortlist candidates and conduct interviews. You can also set up a multi-tier interview process if you have a large pool of talented candidates to choose from. Finally, as a manager, hiring the ideal personnel is one of your most essential responsibilities. Look for candidates who bring in opportunities to grow your department and organization.
Michael DeSafey is a leading executive recruiter for professionals in the construction, engineering and environmental industries. He is currently the President of Webuild Staffing www.webuildstaffing.com . To learn more about Michael or to follow his blog please visit www.michaeldesafey.com
How To Turn It Around When Candidates Turn Down Your Job Offer
How To Turn It Around When Candidates Turn Down Your Job Offer
You have identified the perfect candidate among a large pool of qualified (and not-so-qualified) candidates. You have examined his or her resume and been in contact with an impressive list of references. You have conducted multiple interviews with this person at various levels within your organization and embraced an amicable salary negotiation process. You are ready to cross the finish line on the hiring process and extend a generous offer to the ideal candidate, but then the unthinkable happens – your dream candidate creates a nightmare scenario when he or she turns down your offer of employment.
Believe it or not, these days it is not uncommon for many organizations – particularly small businesses – to feel the strain of stiff competition for qualified workers. In a strong economy with low unemployment, the pool of job seekers constricts significantly. The engineering industry, in particular feels this pain acutely.
If your organization is struggling to turn job offers into job acceptances, there are a number of proactive steps that you can take to increase the odds of your ideal candidate becoming an ideal employee.
Find Out The Buzz on Your Business Online
Now more than ever, job seekers are empowered with inside knowledge about your organization. A wealth of information about your company’s inner workings and leadership, processes and policies, strengths and weaknesses are merely a simple Internet search away.
It is imperative that you plug into online databases and review websites to get a clear picture of what prospective employees are reading about your company. Follow-up with an internal review to determine which claims are legitimate and which claims are the ramblings of disgruntled former employees. You can’t change every negative review, but you can course correct on the things that matter and address these changes with prospective candidates during those crucial discussions on your company’s culture.
Reexamine Your Hiring Process
Of course, it is in your organization’s best interest to be thorough with its hiring process – you want the best candidates possible to win out. Take some time to think about your hiring process from the candidate’s perspective. Lengthy processes can be off-putting to job seekers, particularly when they unfold with little or no communication from the main organization.
If your company follows an extensive hiring procedure that includes a detailed application, multiple rounds of interviews, background checks and even more interviews before candidates even reach the salary negotiation stage, try to find areas in the process where you can streamline the process. Consider combining interviews with key company personnel to cut down on the number of individual interviews. Try conducting background checks upon completion of the application to speed up the process.
Maintain Lines of Communication
Sometimes a lengthy hiring process is an absolute requirement – this is particularly true for engineering, construction and environmental industries. In these cases, it is vital that your organization maintain open lines of communication with prospective candidates. Let them know where you are in the hiring process. Provide them with anticipated completion dates and deadlines.
This may represent a small shift in your hiring process, but it can have an enormous impact on prospective candidates’ positive perception of your organization and reflects well on your company’s overall culture. It could make the difference between getting a yes to your job offer or getting turned down.
Ask Why Not
When you get turned down by your dream candidate, don’t hesitate to politely and professionally ask why he or she rejected your offer of employment. The answers you receive will likely be varied and range from compensation and company culture or just getting a better offer elsewhere, but the information you discover can pay dividends in terms of how you conduct the hiring process with future prospects.
Finding the ideal candidate for your organization can be difficult, particularly in the highly-specialized construction, engineering and environmental industries. Using a firm like Webuild Staffing to partner with in finding top-tier talent may help.
Michael DeSafey is a leading executive recruiter for professionals in the construction, engineering and environmental industries. He is currently the President of Webuild Staffing www.webuildstaffing.com . To learn more about Michael or to follow his blog please visit www.michaeldesafey.com