What will executive recruiters be looking for in the future? Some ideas to prepare yourself.

For a new generation association to survive and thrive in the new markets, executives must have a strong business focus and very good leadership skills. We all know that associations compete. They’re competing amongst themselves, they’re competing with other associations and they’re competing with the private sector and government. They’re all competing for members, for funding and for relevance. And a number of them are competing for fee for service.

Being just a good administrator and being in a worthwhile cause may be admirable but the performers of the future will need very strong business competencies and principles. So what should job candidates need to know when looking for new employment opportunities?

Competencies

When we are recruiting people it is not difficult for us to find out what level of education a candidate has. We can check with the relevant educational institution to make sure that information given on a resume is correct. But, as recruiters, we need to be able to get to the inner core of who you are and what you do, and particularly what are your key competencies and behaviours, what is your motivation.

We believe that performers have the following key competencies to varying degrees of ability:

• achievement motivation
• listening and responding
• experience and strategic view
• adaptability and endurance
• motivator and persuasiveness
• customer-service orientation
• self-confidence and initiative
• problem solving and managing process
• relationship and networking skills

Understanding what makes people tick, and particularly understanding their competencies and behaviours, helps us to determine who is going to be the best person for the job. There have been many occasions where we have a short-list of more than three people who, either on paper or face-to-face, have all the skills, all the experience and all the education. At the end of the day we have to make a judgment based on their competencies and fit with the client organisation.

Advertised recruitment and executive search

What are the differences between advertised recruitment and executive search? Utilising an advertised recruitment methodology entails obtaining a brief from the client, writing a position description and person specification. We ensure the client signs off on it so that the client and we are very clear on the type of candidate that we’re looking for. Communication is paramount, so we spending the time up front to get a really good brief is very important The next step is to write a concise and factual advertisement that is strategically placed in the appropriate media. We believe applicants have the right to speak to the consultant handling that position, who can not only answer some intelligent questions, but also carry out some probing in a very short interview over the telephone, to determine applicant suitability. Even if an advertisement calls for written applications only, we recommend that you find out who is handling that assignment and make a phone call. As soon as you apply you are in the mode of selling yourself. After applying, the process involves an initial interview, short-listing, possible psychological appraisal and behavioural interviewing, a panel interview with the client, reference checking, negotiating an offer and for one fortunate person an offer of employment.

Executive search, on the other hand, is a lot more targeted. We only sometimes advertise. We do go through the same process of obtaining a thorough briefing, but we then have researchers who assist our consultants in identifying the organisations where these people may be located, finding out who those people are, cross-referencing with networks and people to find out what they’re like in their roles. This process is very clandestine and confidential. Well then the consultant makes approaches to relevant candidates.

Almost all people are at least happy to have an discussion with a third-party intermediary like us, where none of that information will go back to the client unless that individual wants it to, and vice versa.

Behavioural event interviewing

We have our clients fill out some competency profiling, identifying which of the competencies are important for the role. We also graph behaviours, which the client indicates would make a candidate suitable or outstanding in the role. Next we go to interviewing. Then, probably at the second interview we either tape or transcribe the candidate’s responses with their permission giving examples of his or her competencies and behaviours.

We then go through all of the transcribed information on candidates, checking them against the competency profiling and identifying where they fit on our graph. Past behaviour is a great predictor of future behaviour and this enables us to compare in a positive sense between the candidates who have applied.

Resumes and presentation

All a resume is designed to do is get you in the door for an interview with either the executive recruiter or the client. We like to see a resume of only a few pages only. Included in the resume should be any relevant and voluntary personal details, education (starting with most recent qualification and working back chronologically), experience including titles of roles, some major achievements and, at the end, a list of competencies and possibly interests. Including referees is optional but you run the risk if supplying referees’ names at this early stage that unscrupulous or unthinking consultants or employers could jeopardise your current position by checking up on you before you want it known that you are looking for another job.

We have seen huge business plans and lots of academic papers attached to resumes as examples of work completed. No recruiter is going to read through such documents. Written references are not given much attention as we still want to talk to the individual. For important positions we will meet a referee face to face because body language can tell you a whole lot more. Supplementary material can be taken along as examples or work later if necessary, but it’s a paper nightmare out there at the moment, with more and more candidates applying through the Internet.

Some tips on presenting yourself. As mentioned before, ring and find out about the job to see whether it’s worth your while applying. Apply online by all means if you are interested in the role, but you need to be selective in the jobs you are targeting. You need to research the firm you are interested in. In interviews you need to be able to ask searching questions; you need to be as selective as we are about you.

We are pleased to say that there is a huge candidate shortage across the board at present and that shortage will intensify as we all get older. There will be less and less available talent in the marketplace. So as candidates you are in a strong position.

If you can send your resume via e-mail, do so. If you can do it via the Web on self-entry, do it. But be selective on who you send it to. For recruiters, it’s an administrative nightmare. We’re coping with increased volume, our clients and candidates are more and more demanding, and it is making our lives harder. Recruiters like us handle up to eight assignments at the one time but nowadays, particularly with some of the larger recruiters, resumes are arriving via e-mail and are scanned electronically for key words and competencies and then automatically short-listed. Some recruiters aren’t even reading them as they come in. That is why you must ring the consultant.

Selection processes for associations.

Expect the unexpected. When you apply, you may talk to the consultant or to the recruiting association direct. Send your application in and follow it up two or three days later to make sure they received it. Be up-front and visible without overdoing it, even if it’s verbally, it’s better than not otherwise you may not be considered seriously. You’ll have at least one consultant interview for maybe three-quarters of an hour to an hour, which will probably concentrate on skills and experience. If the association is diligent, it should be conducting a behavioural event interview with the three to six short-listed candidates. Also if it’s a large organisation, you may have to go before the entire board and committee to have your position ratified, associations like to have consensus. You may have to go through a psychological assessment that they will want to talk to your referees.

Finally, you need to negotiate the offer. How will you present yourself in the future?
Good luck!