The best opportunities attract the highest flyers
1st September 2011
Be prepared
What should a job hunter expect from a recruitment consultancy? Dominic Thatcher, Principal of specialist executive recruitment consultancy Thatcher Mackenzie, explains
We know that knowledge is power and proper preparation prevents poor performance. The role of the recruitment consultant is not just to present the CV to the client and arrange the interview; it is to provide as much information to the candidate about the organisation, its culture and environment, and provide an insight as to the client's expectations of the candidate during the meeting.
Many companies complain that when they interview candidates, either with or without a recruitment consultancy, the candidates are simply not prepared for the interview and know nothing about the organisation. As a recruiter, my philosophy has been that any candidate on interview is a representative of my company. Therefore you should go the extra mile and ensure that they are properly prepared and informed.
What is preparation? It goes beyond looking at the company website, the job spec and formulating the answer to "where do you see yourself in five years". These are superficial elements and will not successfully navigate the candidate through the interview process.
The candidate must use the expertise of the recruiter. A recruiter should spend most of their professional time communicating with clients and learning about their business – where it has come from, where it is now and where it will progress to. Learning about a company's aspirations and plans determines the type of candidate they are seeking. The recruiter should be speaking to a client on a regular basis throughout the year and meeting them as often as is relevant. Only by building up knowledge can recruiters effectively prepare the candidate.
In one recent situation, I successfully arranged for three candidates to meet with a business seeking to make a global appointment. As well as providing the candidates with the job spec and an overview of the personalities that would be interviewing them, I was able to provide (with my clients' permission) the content of the meeting notes I had with the client a few months earlier. Not only did these notes relate to the role in question but provided valuable insight into the culture and strategy of the business. Each candidate was able to base their performance in interview on their understanding of these factors.
Once the candidate has all the facts, their interpretation of these will ultimately determine if they can impress the client. However, any candidate has a good chance at interview if they have the hard facts of the company and the intangible information.
Beyond the obvious, the candidate should always be searching for further information on the client. The knowledge, effectiveness and professionalism of the recruiter will be determined by what the recruiter can provide.
www.thatchermackenzie.com
