A significant part of my consultancy work involves finding the right person for the right job – usually but not exclusively in senior positions as managers or head gardeners. My clients eschew the more usual routes of Job Centres or Employment Agencies as they wish to pass the whole business over to a third party, either for political reasons – they cannot be blamed when something goes wrong (!) – or to save themselves the time and trouble. It is much easier to agree a Day Rate with a consultant, and I pleased to say that there are very few people handling such work, therefore the majority of my commissions are by word of mouth.
My first task is to receive a full briefing from the client with a full and accurate description of the person they wish to employ. This operation is often quite illuminating, for both parties, as it may be only when they are obliged to describe in detail exactly their requirements do they actually realise what that person does for the company. A general job description is of no practical use to a consultant, as I would have fulfilled my brief simply by promoting anyone fitting a vague description!
Armed with this information, I then set about locating such an individual. This statement of fact applies just as much to an employer trying to attract a competent labourer as it does to a high flying manager. Being in possession of a written statement, complete with job description and details of the job offer i.e. salary, hours, holidays etc, I then decide which marketplace to investigate for the said employee. I rarely, if ever, use ‘public’ forums e.g. Job Centres or LinkedIn, preferring to use my own sources and industry knowledge. However, I appreciate this will not be the case for most firms and employers due to their workload, and they will rely on (perhaps) placing an advertisement in an appropriate paper or magazine (such adverts may be extremely expensive).
Whichever method you use, you will hopefully attract a number of candidates – in some cases, several hundred applicants! How to sort the wheat from the chaff?
It is rarely any use providing the candidates or their providers (Job Centre?) with a minimum status schedule e.g. must have a clean driving licence, must be skilled etc, as those rules will simply be ignored, no matter how firmly they are written. So many applicants have absolutely no interest in the job anyway, but are applying just to keep the ‘system’ happy. These professional timewasters need to be sifted out of your application process as early as possible! One way of achieving this is to insist that the Agency – Government or private – are in possession of a set of your rules of engagement. These should take the form of a set of written statements and questions, to be completed by applicants in their own hand writing (there are specific Laws that allow for handicapped or illiterate persons to use a proxy for this). You may ask a series of questions about the applicant, but again, these must be legally worded with care. For example, you cannot insist that applicants have a minimum period of experience e.g. ‘must have at least five years experience’ as this statement would exclude school leavers who may have may have worked prior to leaving school.
I recommend that you include a series of (say) ten questions that cannot fall foul of any Laws, but will provide you with a lot of information. Create a tick box form placing their opinions in order of importance from 1 – 10. Include such questions as ‘What do you think an employer is looking for? What are the most important things, in order placing the number 1 for the most important, down to number 10 for the least important. In no particular order then – Punctuality – Reliability – Honesty – Computer Ability – Tidiness – Cleanliness – Appearance – Fun & Outgoing – Pleasant – etc.
The results may be quite illuminating! You may be amazed that some people have no idea that Reliability and Punctuality are valued more highly than IT skills!
This filtering system – reducing the number of potential applicants to the smallest number – is designed to save you a lot of time and energy. I use a similar method when assessing even high profile £40 – 50,000 p.a. job applications, because if someone with a fistful of paper qualifications cannot understand the needs of the company at a personal commitment level, they do not even make the interview stage.
Moving on from whichever method you choose to select your chosen candidates for interview, the next step is to invite them to attend at a given date and time. This should ideally be a fortnight or so after selection, but in any event, a timed programme should have been provided to the candidates as soon as you feel you have sufficient interviewees. Those selected to attend should be given clear instructions; including a location map and postcode of the interview venue, a statement that they should bring with them any documentary references with both the originals and three copies of each, letters of reference from previous employers (if any), a full curriculum vitae with a note to the affect that they should be able to explain any gaps in their employment, and any further information they feel may be necessary e.g. holidays booked or periods they are unable to work.
These rules should apply to all applicants, although I appreciate that you will produce your own template of those you deem necessary for your personal requirements. I am including my suggested methods in a comprehensive manner recognising that you will probably not wish to follow my methods except in a general manner.
Turning now to ‘qualifications’ – I am not persuaded by reams of school certificates except they are relevant to the job requirements. Anyone with a highly graded award in English or Mathematics will be of interest, as will someone with perhaps an NVQ Level 2 in a relevant subject. I have experience of individuals with BA Hons and BSc Hons degrees that were essentially useless at the job they were given (based on those meritorious documents) because their employer had not been more selective in respect of their personal abilities and skills – great on paper, useless on the ground.
I do prize progressive awards of merit. NVQ at progressive levels, ACI Hort , MCI Hort and FCI Hort, or any industry award that follows an upward trend of achievement is to be valued as a major asset. Similarly, hobbies that include relevant subjects e.g. fish keeping, poultry or game keeping may be of use to a firm, but they also display an attitude towards responsibility (to their charges) which is an attractive trait. I care little for ‘Walking, Country Dancing or Theatre’!
The interview venue need not be the place of work. Consider instead a suitable neutral site – perhaps a local National Trust garden, with restaurant or tea room. This venue will be easy to locate, offer dry weather comfort and car parking. It will also provide you with an opportunity to walk around the gardens asking open or closed questions regarding what the candidate thinks, sees or thinks about the grounds and their working methods. The choice of venue is easily explained – you do not want to be disturbed by work pressures, your office is too small/busy (recognising that many of us work from a yard or home) or you simply want to use the opportunity to evaluate their knowledge.
Finally, once you have chosen your preferred candidate, and offered them the position, be aware that on many occasions, they will eventually turn the job down, having gone back to work and told their employer they are leaving, only to be offered a pay rise/promotion. Always – if you are lucky enough to have a second choice in mind – give the chosen person a deadline to start work and confirm their acceptance in writing – and if you are let down, you may wish to offer the job to your second choice without the need to go through the whole process again!
I cover this by saying to the second choice that it is a toss up between two very good candidates; you both have X factors, but different ones. You cannot decide immediately which one to choose, so could they bear with you for a week, when you will definitely give them an answer.
To reiterate – most of my commissions are for senior personnel, but if you construct your own template using even some of my techniques, you will attract a level of candidate commensurate with your requirements. Simply advertising a vacancy then sitting back and waiting for right person to walk through the door is not going to happen. By operating in a professional manner, you will both raise the apparent standards of your business in the eyes of the candidate, and have a greater appreciation and awareness of what your business stands for.