This is the final part of our “Benchmark Search Hiring Forecast” series, studying the essential place of a recruiter network in your career.
Who is a recruiter to you? Recruitment, contrary to popular belief, is not a transaction: it’s a network, and to take full advantage of your recruiter network takes planning, strategy, and patience. Business owners and hiring managers rely on the recruiters' skills and passion for people to highlight the best talent for their company. Candidates look to recruiters to assess their career and background and channel their energies to finding them a better job and advance their career. Recruiters are matchmakers: they build relationships, above all else, and relationships are cultivated over time. Network building in 2021 Placing your business health or career in the hands of a stranger is a terrifying prospect, and recruiters make no small effort to make sure they give you everything you need to trust them to make the right decision for you. At Benchmark Search, we are experts at recruiting with integrity. We make sure every candidate and client who passes through our doors (digitally or in-person) is treated with complete respect and candor, and we support them throughout the process, even when they’re unsure of how we work or what we do. Whether you’re looking to your recruiting partners now, or in 6 months, or in a year - does the length of time you’ve known your recruiter make a difference to your job search or talent sourcing? The answer, unequivocally, is yes. Why should you build a recruiter network? For hiring authorities...
For candidates...
*** Troy Ashby is the founder and president of Benchmark Search, a Dallas-based firm specializing in direct hire recruiting, executive search, and temporary staffing for accounting and finance professionals. With more than 15 years of professional service experience, including more than a decade with one of the nation’s largest recruiting firms, Ashby established Benchmark Search on the bedrock belief that exceptional people, progressive culture, and an unrelenting devotion to serving clients is the formula for developing deep and transformational relationships. BenchmarkSearchGroup.com
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This is part 3 of a 4 part “Benchmark Search Hiring Forecast” series, studying the ongoing effects of the pandemic on hiring, interviewing, onboarding and networking.
How many stages should there be in an interview process? How many steps is too many? What constitutes too few? What makes a good interview? Your interview strategy should be about two things - efficiency, and momentum. Good talent does not hang around, so consider every candidate comes with a shelf life attached. You have a small window of opportunity to successfully hire the perfect candidate, so your interview process needs to be effective, positive, and personal. Let’s review: it takes approximately 25 working days to hire someone for a role, from initial contact to start date. That, in both the minds here at Benchmark Search and the minds of most candidates, is too long. Why do we interview? In the modern age when so much of a worker is digitally accessible, why do we persist in holding interview after interview after interview? Is a face-to-face interview in the age of COVID-19 still required or a preference? Job interviews are still the most preferred way to assess standards of professional and cultural suitability for both candidate and client. Besides the obvious errors fermented through conscious and unconscious biases, the interview, be it one stage or many, is still a highly effective way to understand the person beyond the resume. However you plan your interview strategy, we offer simple advice: avoid complexity, focus on efficiency and use your interview process to build momentum. Good Interviews vs Bad Interviews Interviews are an essential and effective part of bringing new people into your company. For many employers, it is the final piece of the puzzle to finding the right talent. Of course, what constitutes a “‘good” interview is in the eye of the beholder and there has been a vital cultural change to job interviews over the last decade. Gone are the days of clients being in the driver's seat and the interview being one-directional. Now, especially for college graduates over the age of 25 and in industries with candidate shortages, interview equality has been met. Candidates are making a judgment call on your company, on your culture, on your processes, and your offer of a career path. Interview Stages - how many is too many? Each employer has its requirements, and we want to help support their unique processes. At Benchmark Search, we’ve made it our job to know when this style of recruitment steps into the realm of ineffective, and we make sure each client we work with is provided with a personalized interview strategy that reflects their needs and company culture. When speed is of the essence, our tacit advice is - consider momentum. Why momentum? Momentum differs from simple speedy recruitment.
Candidate shortages in niche financial and accounting roles mean good talent is already gainfully employed, the most actively available of those are going to want a discreet, efficient, agile recruitment service to fit their schedule. You can catch a candidate’s eye with fantastic branding, a chance to move up the ladder, growth opportunities, a fancy title, and even more competitive pay...but in most cases, you will not keep hold of them by waiting for weeks to shore up more candidates to compare. They will not wait, or someone else will pluck them off first. We include assessments in our interview process - should we continue using them? You can absolutely keep them. That said, make them relevant and be flexible - potential candidates need to know they are supported and understood. Any assessments done digitally may have to be before or after hours, and if you do need assessments to be done as part of an interview day/on-site interview and assessment, be empathetic to them having to organize time away from their role to come to you. It is also important that you do not ask for the assessment to be done too early in the process, because you may not have garnered enough momentum to have them prioritize your opportunity over others (or over their current employer obligations). Assessments serve as a very valuable tool, but don’t let them inadvertently become a roadblock. What does an interview mean to a candidate? Interviews are a two-way street and must sit at the top of the hiring pyramid. You have sourced, vetted, and maybe even pre-interviewed this candidate. The interview is where you make the final call. This is doubly relevant for candidates. Candidates are assessing you for your leadership, business security, and (in the age of COVID-19) company safety. They need to make a professional and emotional connection with your company. Regardless of whether your interview is in-person or virtual, make it count. Interview strategy tips: Consolidate
Communicate
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In our next article, we discuss networking in our ongoing “Benchmark Search Hiring Forecast” series. *** Troy Ashby is the founder and president of Benchmark Search, a Dallas-based firm specializing in direct hire recruiting, executive search, and temporary staffing for accounting and finance professionals. With more than 15 years of professional service experience, including more than a decade with one of the nation’s largest recruiting firms, Ashby established Benchmark Search on the bedrock belief that exceptional people, progressive culture, and an unrelenting devotion to serving clients is the formula for developing deep and transformational relationships. BenchmarkSearchGroup.com ![]() This is part 2 of a 4 part “Benchmark Search Hiring Forecast” series, studying the ongoing effects of the pandemic on hiring, interviewing, onboarding and networking. Onboarding is an art: it is an integral element of effective recruitment and the final, most personal part of talent sourcing. Onboarding builds trust, community and sets the roots of a burgeoning relationship between the company, co-workers, and your new employee, and onboarding matters: it cultivates a sense of place and worth within your company while driving productivity, encouraging trust and improving retention in your team. The rise of COVID-19 has put pressure on cost-effectiveness and processes countrywide, so understanding the tangible effect of good onboarding practice mid-pandemic is integral to keeping your talent engaged, motivated, and happy! Like a lot of great recruitment practices, the art of onboarding has changed to meet the challenge of the new normal, and revamping your onboarding strategy is necessary, as all employers look to protect their workforces and candidate expectations change. How to perfect your onboarding best practice Pre-hiring
First Day
Welcome packs
After the first day
Training
Mentoring
Communication and Expectations
In our next article, we analyze interview strategy in the wake of COVID-19 in our ongoing Benchmark Search Hiring Forecast series. *** Troy Ashby is the founder and president of Benchmark Search, a Dallas-based firm specializing in direct hire recruiting, executive search, and temporary staffing for accounting and finance professionals. With more than 15 years of professional service experience, including more than a decade with one of the nation’s largest recruiting firms, Ashby established Benchmark Search on the bedrock belief that exceptional people, progressive culture, and an unrelenting devotion to serving clients is the formula for developing deep and transformational relationships. BenchmarkSearchGroup.com This is part 1 of a 4 part “Benchmark Search Hiring Forecast” series, studying the ongoing effects of the pandemic on hiring, interviewing, onboarding and networking.
Think back to this time last year: the heady days of January 2020 were full of anticipation, growth was trending upward, employment was high and with the new year came new opportunities. Skip forward to January 2021 we find a global economy, and our workplaces, in flux; but in our sector of the accounting and finance fields, hiring has bucked the trend and we are seeing clients clamoring for talent. At Benchmark Search we are more than prepared to help them find the best in class and our critical challenge has been meeting this rise in demand amid a candidate shortage. It's wise to remember that the pandemic’s effects on employment have by no means been equitable. Many sectors such as hospitality, leisure and tourism sectors, which employ millions, have been seriously disrupted, but some sectors have seen incredible growth; professional services, healthcare, tech, insurance, supply chain, finance, and accounting sectors have seen demand skyrocket. Equitability of opportunity in the new normal The pressure on employers around the country to find appropriate talent to meet the changes wrought by COVID-19 are compounded by this disruption - but has the process of hiring changed alongside the changes to workplace culture? When (almost) the entire process of sourcing, vetting, interviewing, and hiring has been digitized and physical contact is discouraged, how can companies remain attractive to talent on the move, and how does a company hire with purpose in 2021? Here at Benchmark Search, we wanted to share some of our findings from hiring during a pandemic: some of the biggest changes to recruitment methodology we’ve seen and what processes have remained consistent throughout. New year, new me?
Discretion and your hidden job market
No one size fits
Expectation management
Communication and empathy
The Benchmark Way Now more than ever we have a chance to change how we communicate and build relationships with new recruits and build a better, more inclusive, form of hiring. In our next article, we discuss the art of onboarding in our ongoing Benchmark Search Hiring Forecast series. Troy Ashby is the founder and president of Benchmark Search, a Dallas-based firm specializing in direct hire recruiting, executive search, and temporary staffing for accounting and finance professionals. With more than 15 years of professional service experience, including more than a decade with one of the nation’s largest recruiting firms, Ashby established Benchmark Search on the bedrock belief that exceptional people, progressive culture, and an unrelenting devotion to serving clients is the formula for developing deep and transformational relationships. Benchmarksearchgroup.com. |
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Benchmark Search Group was founded by a CPA with prior experience in Big 4 public accounting, executive search, and a leader for one of the largest finance and accounting staffing firms in the United States. With more than 30 years of recruiting and professional services experience, our firm was created with a focus on quality first and making a positive impact for our clients, candidates, and the Dallas - Fort Worth communities. As a trusted advisor, we believe in establishing and continuing genuine relationships which empowers professionals to further their careers. Our commitment to excellence and integrity, combined with resilience allows our clients to focus on their business while we provide them with highly skilled employees. Benchmark Search Group specializes in direct hire recruiting, executive search, and temporary staffing for accounting and finance professionals. |
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