Category Archives: Recruiting

How to Source and Recruit Executive-Level Candidates

When doing an executive search, the roles can look quite different, from the other roles you have recruited in your company. It is also a risk that the same candidate you are communicating with, is being pursued by other competitors. 

In that case, it is essential that you have a hiring plan in place before your team starts to invest time in contacting potential candidates. To ensure that you are hiring the right top talent for your company, we have created a short guide explaining how to source and recruit executive-level candidates. 

Understand the Role 

When focusing on executive recruitment, you must have the right recruitment strategy. The first step is for your team to understand the role and define the person you are looking for. Executive search can be very different from other roles since the role often comes with more requirements. Your team cannot start hiring for the role without knowing exactly what they are looking for. 

Make sure to understand the qualifications the person needs to have, what function the candidate will have in the company and which long time goals you have for the role. Also, make sure to clarify what kind of personality you are looking for, to ensure that the candidate fits into the team and company culture. You probably already know the professional experience the ideal candidate needs to have when starting the executive search but remember to focus on the specific skills you need for the role as well. 

Implement Social Sourcing Strategies

Senior and executive-level candidates might not be actively looking for a new job opportunity, but perhaps they are still active social network users. When focusing on executive recruitment, make sure to join professional online groups, and start to build a network with potential candidates. 

Your team has probably already posted the job on different job boards and on LinkedIn. But relying on these tools alone, when doing an executive search, will not get you all the relevant candidates for the position. To ensure that you have all eyes on the candidate market, use social sourcing to connect, engage and attract top talents. 

Check Resumes and Relevant Keywords

When focusing on executive recruitment, you must check the relevant keywords are aligned with the requirements and skills you identified in the first step. Look at the job title and make a list of relevant keywords, for you to use when searching for resumes. Lastly, do not be afraid to use boolean search tools, to find qualified candidates in a more time-efficient manner.   

Once you have found and received the resume, that fits the requirements and keywords for the position, you can begin to look deeper into the resume. Look at if the candidate’s work history is consistent and progressive, or if have they been “jumping” around in their career. If you find these are red flags but still feel the candidate is relevant for the position, you can ask questions regarding the concerns during the phone screening. 

Conduct Effective Interviews 

You want to hire the best executive candidates, but how effective is your executive recruitment process and is the process helping you hire the right talent? A structured interview has been shown to not only be more reliable but also more effective than an unstructured interview. 

A structured executive recruitment process and interview process, show that your company is professional. It also makes the process faster and more productive, which gives you a better chance to hire the right top talent, before your competitors. 

Trends for Hiring in the Recruitment Industry

The recruitment market is constantly changing due to external factors impacting the economy and companies. As a result, there is more pressure on employers and recruitment agencies, to be on top of their game when it comes to finding the best talent to grow their company. To get a better understanding of the trends for hiring in the recruitment industry we have put down the top trends that will get you inspired to attract, source, and hire suitable talents. 

Candidate Experience

It is not always easy for recruitment agencies to find the right talents for an open position. With the high demand for skilled candidates, the recruitment experience remains more important than ever. Candidates are more likely to accept offers if they have a positive recruitment process and reputation matters. 

For that reason, the first factor to keep in mind when focusing on improving the candidate experience is the job advertisement. You must write the description with the candidate in mind, focusing on what they want to know. The next step is the interview process, which must be easy and to the point. If there are too many rounds of interviews and if the process is too long, they will probably lose interest and go with another employer who is willing to offer them the job more quickly. 

Finally, communication is key if recruitment companies want to build a relationship with the candidates. Acknowledge the applications you receive for the role, and make sure to ask the candidate relevant questions, to figure out exactly what they are looking for and what they want to achieve in their new role. 

Data-Driven Recruitment

One of the biggest trends for hiring in the recruitment industry is data-driven recruitment. With more pressure to hire the right talents, both cost, and time-effectively, many recruitment companies have turned to data to help them make smarter hiring decisions.  

Recruitment agencies are using this trend to attract and source the best talents, through HR technology, such as an ATS system and recruitment marketing platforms. These methods are great ways to get relevant data from potential candidates and to find the best talent for an open position as fast as possible. 

Work Flexibility 

One of the most relevant factors for candidates when deciding to change jobs is work flexibility. Many companies work with a diverse team that includes a combination of full-timers, contractors, freelancers, and interns. Because of the competitive candidate market, more employers are offering creative benefits including flexible work schedules. This has helped to differentiate companies and create a more attractive workplace for potential talents.

This is a hiring trend that recruitment companies have to keep in mind to attract the right talents. Candidates who like the fact that they can work from wherever they want, whenever they want. Technology has been a game changer, and enables a huge growing trend, helping to connect teams from all over the world. 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

While diversity, equity, and inclusion are not a new hiring trend, it remains a popular and growing trend around the world. Employers and recruitment agencies must keep this trend in mind since it can strongly influence a candidate’s perception of an employer’s brand and in the end, it can affect the decision of whether the candidate wants to pursue the advertised job. 

Employers and recruitment companies must pay close attention to the language they use in the job description, the variety of sourcing channels they use, and the screening and evaluation process they use. Prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion also offers companies many other benefits including improved employee happiness, productivity, retention, and loyalty.

What is a CV and what Should it contain?

The CV must be considered as an appendix to the actual application and is a very important part of the application – if you do not send a curriculum vitae, you can be sure that many companies will not consider your application at all.

What is the purpose of a CV?

So, what is a CV and what is the purpose? The purpose of the curriculum vitae is to give the potential employer a quick overview of your education, work experience, skills, courses, and personal information. Therefore, the CV must be easy to read and accurately worded.

The difference between application and CV

Now you know more about what is a CV, but what is the difference between the actual application and the CV?The main difference between the application and the CV is that the curriculum vitae is a detailed document of your past experiences and qualifications. The application itself is forward-looking and an argumentation for why you should have the job.

What should a CV contain?

There are many ways to write a curriculum vitae and the perfect recipe of what should a CV contain does not exist, since it depends on what the company and employer are looking for. But we have put down an ultimate guide and we’ll teach you what is a CV and what should a CV contain. 

  • Personal data (name, address, telephone number, marital status, date of birth / year and e-mail)
  • Work experience / previous jobs, including job function, areas of responsibility, results obtained and other relevant information
  • Personal skills
  • Organizational experience
  • Education
  • Relevant courses and continuing education
  • Language skills and IT skills
  • Experience abroad
  • Other personal information

What should an application contain?

Now you know what is a CV and what should a CV contain, but now you need to focus on writing an application, to tell the company what you can contribute to the specific position. A good application is one page, where you clarify the match between your competencies and the specific tasks you must solve. 

An application should include:

  • A catchy headline
  • An introduction
  • Your motivation to apply for the job
  • A short conclusion.

80% of employers read your CV before your application, which is why it is a good investment to focus more on your curriculum vitae.

What is the typical mistakes in a CV?

The most typical mistakes people make while writing a CV is that they use almost the same profile over and over again. It is important that you adapt your resume depending on the job you are applying for and make sure that relevant competencies are clearly stated in relation to the job. 

It is also important that you do not avoid to mention any experience in the past, even if you have had a job which only lasted for 3 months. You can not choose the content of your resume yourself – you will have to stand by the experience you have had. If you are exposed in the fact that you have changed important information in your curriculum vitae, or lying about the start and end times for your employment, you risk being disqualified.

Be yourself in your CV

The style of your profile tells more about you than you think. It is important that you stick to a style that is true to you as a person, since it will reflect you and your personality. Use a professional and easy to understand language, and do not use too many foreign words. 

The curriculum vitae is a very important part in the application. Therefore, it would be a good idea to consider getting help from a professional company who know everything about what is a resume and what a resume should contain. They can help you write a catchy resume which will get you considered in the application process and get you closer to getting your dream job.  

3 Signs That You Are Ready To Start Hiring

Your company is growing                                                                                 

For many companies, growth is a signal of success. But there is no denying that running a company is stressful and when your company is growing it often means that more work is being created for your team. This is one of the most common and clear indicators that you might need to start hiring new people. 

This might seem like an obvious reason, but you would be surprised how many company owners just assume that more work and stress is a normal part of the work experience. In some cases, stress should be expected, but in other cases your team and company performance might suffer if you are not hiring more people. 

Your employees are overworked or underperforming 

As an employer you must make sure that you have a dedicated team who are motivated and who want the company to succeed. Which is why their performance, attitude and work attendance can be invaluable when it comes to making the right hiring decisions. 

Even your most productive employees are going to be demotivated and exhausted if you are not providing them with the right support. So, if you are feeling that your employees are overworked or underperforming it might be time to start hiring more help. 

Your Business Goals Have Changed 

Have you changed your business goals or are you ready to launch something new? It is important to make sure that your current team is capable of handling extra work. It is not uncommon for companies to increase their expectations for a department. But when your employees must meet new goals, the resources assigned to the team should reflect the change including the people power. 

Hiring new employees can be expensive, but if you hire the right employees, they have the potential to increase the revenue streams and tackling more work. The key is to hire the right people for your business. Contact Scancruit today and let us help you grow your company with the right talents.