EXECUTIVE SEARCH

RECRUITMENT PROCESS
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STAGE 1 – ASSIGNMENT BRIEF

The very first step in the Recruitment Process is consult with the client as to which tasks need
to be done by the person you’re hiring, what kind of person will be a good fit for that role and your
organization as a whole.

To do that, you need to prepare:

 A Job Description (JD) which outlines the key responsibilities and purpose of the role you’re
recruiting for. This document will help you in many ways; for writing jobs ads, creating interview
questions and for performance reviews and appraisals.

 An ideal candidate profile: This outlines the skills, capabilities, qualifications and personal
attributes the person should have for the role.

 Benchmark salary

 Outline Behavioural Competencies.

Summarize the needs of the search:

 Competitive Comparison
 Training and Development
 Promotion Strategy
 Career Development
 Investment in Employee Growth

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STAGE 2 – SOURCING STRATEGY

Now that you’ve documented the kind of person you need to fulfil the responsibilities of the role, it’s
time to write the job advertisement.

Be sure to include the key points in the job advertisement and then think about where to best place
the advertisement. For example, promoting the vacancy internally within your organization is
important for existing employees as well as friends or family members may also be interested. This
could be as simple as sending an email to everyone in your organization; pinning it up on the staff
noticeboard; putting it on your company website or intranet; or posting details on the company’s social
media profiles.

To attract a wider pool of candidates and reach a wider audience, place the job advertisement on
relevant recruitment websites and/or newspapers.

Pinpoint the Benefits:

 Define the Targeted Talent – which firms or industries do they come from.
 Understand where the talent is now – Is this a local or international search.
 Geographic calendars – does this position require traveling?

Predict where the talent will be:

 Analyse trends for the past 2-5 years.

 Talk with experts.
 Read News / Reports.
 Follow associations.

Examine competitors:

 How are they sourcing?

 What are they doing differently?
 How can you better position yourself compared to them?

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STAGE 3 – CANDIDATE SHORTLIST SELECTION

Selecting people aims at finding a person who can meet the requirements described in the job
description and job specification. It is difficult to get the right people into the organization but even
harder to get the wrong people out from the organization, especially in public service organizations.

Mistakes in selecting candidates can have very serious consequences for the effectiveness of the
organization.

Three basic questions are vital for a successful recruitment

1. Can the candidate do the job - is he/she competent?

2. Will the candidate do the job - is he/she motivated?
3. How will the candidate fit into the organization?

In order to provide answers to these questions, the selection process must not be
mechanical.

Sources of information about candidates

The selection of candidates is generally based on information about the

candidates from:

 Documents provided by candidates

 Interviews
 Selection tests
 Previous employers

When all the applications have been received by the due date, the next task is to select those applicants
who appear to be the most suitable for the job. This task will be based on the published requirements
for the job and involves a critical study of the information provided by applicants, a comparison of this
information with job requirements and, finally a decision whether to accept or reject on this stage.

It is normally useful to carry out a preliminary sift to place the applicants in three categories:

 Suitable,
 Not suitable and
 Possible.

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Those responsible for processing applications need to be aware throughout, that they (1) have a
responsibility to their client to be as careful and thorough as possible in selecting the most suitable
candidate and that they (2) have a responsibility to the applicants themselves to examine their
applications conscientiously and fairly.

The selection task is important and difficult in general terms and in the following, a few of the
requirements for a successful selection are listed.

 Awareness of the essential nature of the task and its inherent problems.
 Clear and comprehensive definitions of the criteria for effective performance
 Thorough training / briefing for selectors to make them aware of the inherent problems and to
develop necessary skills for effective practice, for example training in interviewing skills.
 A follow up system to check how well the predictions made in the selection process have turned
out in practice.

The next step of the process aims at finding the most suitable candidate among the group of suitable
persons found through the preliminary sifting.

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STAGE 4 – INTERVIEW PROCESS

Selection interviews are carried out as one of the defined step of the recruitment process. This means
that it is made clear in advance whether interviews shall be used or not, how many candidates that
should be interviewed and how the interview shall be organized.

An interview can be described as a conversation with a purpose. It is a conversation because candidates

should be induced to talk freely with their interviewers about themselves, their experience and their
careers. But the conversation has to be planned, directed and controlled to achieve the main purpose of
the interview, which is to make an accurate prediction of the candidate’s coming performance in the job
for which he or she is being considered.

It is also important to use considered yardsticks or list of questions when interviewing many for the
same job, to compare the findings from the interviews.

The selection interview is also a valuable opportunity for an exchange of information, which will enable
both parties to make a decision.

Interview Methods:

 A single one-to-one interview

 A series of one-to-one interviews at the end of which interviewers compare views and discuss
final conclusions.
 A board or panel interview with a group of interviewers
 A combination of one-to-one and board interviews

Whatever method is selected, it is important that the interviewee is at ease and that the method
ensures that all positive as well as negative factors are fully exposed. The requirements for the job are
always the basic checklist for the interview.

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STAGE 5 – CANDIDATE PLACEMENT

Pre-employment testing

This could be:

Skills-based testing: Ensure that the candidate can perform tasks central to their role. This could be
related to computer skills, manual skills, or any other important skills. You will be able to evaluate both
the skill level and accuracy of their work very quickly and it’s far better to check this before you make a
job offer.

Psychometric profiling: Check the candidate will be a good match for the role and complimentary fit for
the team and organization. By this stage you may have just one or two candidates that make the cut.
Before you make any decisions (let alone job offers), you need to review test results (Step 21) and check
out their references.

Reference checking: Many candidates can put on an Oscar-worthy performance in the interview of
talking themselves up but when you talk to their previous managers, it can be a whole different story.

It’s vital that you speak with the candidate’s former employer, they should be someone the candidate
reported into, so they are familiar with the candidate’s core KPIs and overall performance.

Candidate must give you permission to speak to their referees and legally you can only speak to the
referees provided. If the job applicant hasn’t given you the name of a previous manager or supervisor,
you need to find out why.

If the applicant is worried about jeopardizing their current role, you may need to do that reference
check later. You can make the job offer “subject to satisfactory reference check(s) coming back from
your referees”. Then if you do discover something negative, you can legally withdraw the offer.

The purpose of the reference from previous employers is to obtain information about a candidate and
opinions about his or her personality and how he or she will fit for the new job.

The factual information is essential. It is important to confirm the nature of the previous job and other
facts, for example time of employment, how the candidate performed, his/her strong and weak side
etc. It is normal to take references from 2-3 previous employers.

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STAGE 6 – EVALUATION AND COMPLETION

If the client is satisfied with the final candidate, next step is a job offer.

This is where there are often negotiations around salary, bonuses, holiday allowance and other benefits
and conditions. Be ready for this!

Think about things like candidate’s Superannuation scheme. Will contributions to this be on top of their
salary, or included? The candidate may also have some more questions about the role and the
practicalities. It’s a big step for them too.

Work out the salary package and be prepared for negotiations, know what you can (and can’t)
accommodate. Once you and the candidate have an agreed verbal understanding, provide them their
Letter of Employment for official signing.

The new recruit resigns and works out their resignation period – make sure that you keep in contact
with yourself in this critical period.

If there is any opportunity to invite to them to any “team event” such as Friday afternoon drinks, this
can be a great way to start to their transition into the team, so the final move isn’t as daunting.

YOUR CANDIDATE STARTS THEIR ROLE, CONGRATULATIONS!