How do you find the perfect person for your business? There is no definitive answer to this question and it certainly isn’t easy. Do you find them with an interview? What questions can you ask to get the response you’re looking for?

Many would argue that interviewing is a key part of the process but should be treated as one of the final steps and I definitely agree with this.

When using the services of Recruitment Agencies the biggest factor in a successful placement is a true partnership between you and your recruiter. This is done through effective communication. Email a job specification to 20 agencies and “hope for the best” might get you a result, but will it get the right person?

It’s a fact of life nowadays that most people change jobs, gone are the days where people stay in the same company for 30 years before retiring. It would be nice, and when you take a new person on it’s ideally what you want. So it’s vital that you do everything possible to ensure that not only the person you hire is right for you, but also that you are right for them.

If your recruiter knows you, knows your business, your culture, your ethos and your ambitions then it makes finding the right person a little bit easier. Your recruiter should be an extension to your business. There shouldn’t be a need for you to receive 15 cv’s into your inbox and for you to then spend time routing through and finding what you are looking for.

The idea of spending money with a recruitment company is they do all that for you. You need to have trust established, your recruiter should be able to say to you “here you go, I’ve set up interviews for you” and it is as though you picked them yourself. Meet with your agencies; let them do some homework and a get a real sense for who you are and what you need.

You should be able to interview your candidates through your agency. By that I mean, ask questions, what do you want to know about that person before you agree to meet them? What are they looking for? Why are they looking for it? Why have they decided to change jobs? What are their ambitions and aspirations? Do they match your company and the job on offer? Can they do the job? Do they want to do the job?

These are some of the things I suspect you would ask in an interview and would need to know before making an offer, why don’t you ask them first before you meet them? Don’t just agree to meet a candidate because they have done a similar job or worked in a similar industry. How often have you wasted time interviewing someone who from the outset just isn’t right? Get a full picture of the people before you agree to meet them.

Don’t forget to give honest and detailed feedback to your recruiters. It’s vital. Not just about the people you have met, but about them as well. We can try, but even recruitment consultants are not perfect. The sign of a good recruiter is the one who can take it on the chin, make changes and does a better job in the future.

Finally, make sure you are ready for your new starter. There is nothing worse than when I speak to a new starter after their first week and they tell me it took 3 days to get a log in, or they have been “shadowing” someone for a few days because their manager was on holiday. Be ready for them. Make sure you both get off on the right foot.

Kevin Walker   k.walker@amberstonegroup.co.uk

Amberstone Recruitment Ltd