One of the biggest hurdles of talent management – more so than many other departments – is justification. Sales teams have easy sales reports and conversion data to share. Marketing can easily report its spend versus revenue. Talent management? Well, measuring and showcasing their return on investment is a bit more complicated. Measuring your return on investment isn’t just for showing off to the bosses. While justifying the expenditures to the CEO/CFO/CIO and other executives is important, it’s also a good way to benchmark performance from quarter to quarter and year to year. It’s data you can use to measure the value of optimizations, changes, tools, and investments that you make in your overall talent management process. Whether you’re trying to measure the efficiency and cost of your in-house HR department or you’re trying to measure the success of your current or future talent manager, this guide will help you focus on the metrics that matter. Recognize the Link One key to measuring ROI is understanding the link between the investment and the return. With sales, it’s easy; you have the expense of manufacturing a product, the expense of order fulfillment, the profit of the sale, and so on. It’s a rather simple and direct calculation. For something like talent management, the link can be more difficult to see. Here are some ways that the link manifests: Reducing the time to hire results in less lost productivity from empty roles and gets people up and running faster. Reducing time to hire and increasing quality of hire reduces the overall amount you spend working with a recruitment agency, thus reducing the cost of that agency’s contract. Consistent onboarding reduces turnover, which is costly itself – up to 2.5 times the salary of the candidate. Streamlining training processes reduces the overall cost of training, including physical materials and in-person training sessions. These and other links can be very important. Employee turnover is one of the most costly investments a company has to make, and it varies from role to role. According to PeopleKeep: “Some studies predict that every time a business replaces a salaried employee, it costs 6 to 9 months’ salary on average.” Moreover, for a C-level executive, it can cost over 200% of their salary, which means a $100K CEO might cost over $200K to replace. Understand What Matters You might understand intuitively that hiring better people for a job makes a business stronger, or that hiring someone a little less experienced and training them can be a better investment than hiring someone with a higher experience level. What you need to recognize, when calculating ROI to present, is what matters to the people you’re presenting to. The most important people to keep in mind when calculating ROI is the C-level executives in charge of making decisions. The CEO, the CIO, and the CFO are all important decision-makers, but they’re also all focused on different areas of the business. That is, after all, why your company has all three of them. If they were redundant, you wouldn’t need them all. What is your CIO looking for? Chief Information Officers are usually most concerned with institutional build-up and layered systems. They want to streamline a business to remove barriers between employees and the tasks they need to perform. According to Gartner , they often “rank talent as the no. 1 barrier to achieving their objectives.” Their goal is not just to see their number of team members grow, but to see a streamlined hiring process. They want to see how you’ve used your time and investment and used it to create more effective and more efficient processes. They want to see your results of hiring better candidates for each role, reducing turnover, and doing more with less. What is your CFO looking for? Chief Financial Officers are, of course, concerned with revenue and spending. They’re the most aware of the value of efficient and high-quality tools. They’re also often hyper-aware of the problems inherent in hiring underskilled employees for any given role, citing talent shortages as their largest constraint. CFOs are most likely to be won over with monetary considerations, though they will also be aware that there’s more to the value of an employee than their salary and the profits they help generate. You may need to justify expenditures on new processes and tech, with tangible evidence of results. What is your CEO looking for? Chief Executive Officers are guiding the overall course of the business, and as such, they need a bird ’s-eye view of the entire organization. They don’t need to be muddied down with minute details; rather, they want a broad overview of the pros and cons of various investments, processes, and tools. CEOs tend to be very aware that the skill level of their employees is a critical factor in their success. A high skill cap or a skill shortage can lead to devastating consequences over several years, and turnover is one of the major risks. Of course, all of this, for all C-levels, can change from organization to organization. Different C-levels have different backgrounds, and some of them may be more understanding and receptive than others. It can be worthwhile to talk to each in turn, if possible, to understand what their specific goals and needs are, and how to present information to them. Find a Place to Start Before you can measure a change in return on investment, you need to have a baseline. Before you can establish a baseline, you need to think long and hard about your metrics. What are you measuring? You need to identify metrics that you can measure and that matter. Sure, you can measure the average hair length of qualified candidates, but that’s meaningless data. You want to measure specific data that has a real, tangible impact on business processes and their end results. Turnover. Measuring turnover is one of the most important, tangible metrics you can monitor with a monetary cost associated with it. As we have already mentioned, the cost of turnover can be very high, particularly for higher-skilled and higher-ranking positions in your organization. Turnover impacts your finances directly, but it also impacts employee morale and productivity, which suppresses growth. Luckily, turnover is something that you can measure. You can track hard numbers for how many people are leaving and from what departments and positions, how quickly any given position turns over, and how much it costs to fill those vacancies. Pay particular attention to problem positions. Measuring this data can help you identify areas where, for example, a bad manager is driving away a lot of good talent. Denise Brandenberg writes on Chron : “There are several ways poor management affects turnover rates in a small business. Managers who operate like dictators, refusing to take other people’s opinions into consideration, [scare] off good employees. Companies that do not have 360-degree feedback tools or performance reviews that allow subordinates to rate their managers, also are at risk of high turnover. The bottom line is that when employees do not feel appreciated, or even feel as if they are taken advantage of, they do not want to continue working for their managers.”  Productivity. Measuring productivity can be somewhat harder than measuring something as obvious and financially tied as turnover. Productivity can be nebulous for many employees. More importantly, monitoring productivity metrics is never a one-size-fits-all solution. For example, in an assembly line, working faster directly correlates to more products leaving the line. On the other hand, an IT worker completing their tasks faster does not necessarily make the business better overall. Measuring the average time spent on a task just leads to competition for simple tasks and problem tasksbeing shuffled off and ignored. This is a common problem in call centers, where measuring the time spent on a call and incentivizing short calls leads to worse service because the employee’s goal is no longer service quality, but speed.  Time saved. Similar to productivity, you can measure time spent on certain kinds of tasks that can be sped up through the use of tools and processes, outsourcing, or another aspect of talent management. If your HR team is tediously creating performance reviews to process every quarter, something as simple as making a template they can use can save hours of work every quarter. In business, time is money, so efficiencies like that are directly responsible for better use of time and money. Your HR team may be able to spend that time doing something more useful to your organization. Even the actual measurement of your key performance indicators can be streamlined. Many modern tools and platforms for talent management have built-in metric tracking and can monitor those metrics for you, without you needing to tediously measure and calculate them time and again. This might take integration with existing systems, or even the replacement of those systems, but it can be valuable overall. Once you have identified the metrics you want to measure and how those metrics are directly relevant to the interests of your C-levels and anyone else who needs to care about talent ROI, you can start the measurements. At this point, you also have to decide how often you are going to measure your metrics. Some are as-they-happen, like turnover. Others might be ongoing measurements, like the performance metrics you monitor for employee activity. Figuring out how often to take measurements and compare them is critical. Finally, when it comes to benchmarking your success, PageUp says : “A common mistake people make is to fixate on trying to hit an industry benchmark. Benchmarks should act as a way to determine your HR strategy, not dictate targets you have to meet. They show you how you’re tracking relative to others in your industry so you can see where you’re doing well and identify areas for improvement.” Remember to only consider your own benchmarks for decision-making. Determine a Path to Improvement Once you have measured data over a long enough period, you can start putting that data to use. Some decisions will need to be made at an institutional level by your C-levels, while others will be better implemented at a managerial level. Some considerations may include: Looking for opportunities to streamline business processes. Whether you’re using an inefficient tool or you’re in need of a tool to replace manual repetition, identifying weaknesses in existing business processes gives you the opportunity to implement solutions to problems identified by your metrics. Monitoring turnover to watch for problem areas and seek out causes. The above example of a problem manager driving turnover is a key example. The managers themselves might look good on paper, but their attitude or their treatment of their subordinates causes extreme and unnecessary disruption to productivity, both through their own actions and through the disruption caused by turnover. Removing the problem element can be an immediate up-front cost, but the improvement to the department, to employee morale, and to overall turnover is worthwhile. Reviewing metrics to ensure accuracy of measurements. Every so often, it’s worth conducting a review of your metric measurement to ensure that you’re still measuring the right information in the right way. The call center example is a good one to illustrate a failure in measurement. Implementing the measurement of a metric can change employee behavior to adapt to that measurement, which itself can cause suppression in productivity. Review metrics to ensure they aren’t themselves a problem. Finally, look for the benefits and growth you’ve achieved. When you implement a change, you can monitor metrics and see improvements. Setting SMART goals allows you to draw a direct comparison between the actions you take and the benefit to metrics they show. That, in turn, can be written and contextualized. For example, being able to say you reduce employee turnover is good, but it’s better to be able to say “Our first-year retention of new employees is 80%; the industry average is 75%, so we’re doing well”. Contextualizing your metrics is how you present ROI in more than just an abstract sense. This presentation of ROI is the ideal report to deliver to your C-levels and other decision-makers. As Cornerstone says: “With talent management best practices in place, you can build a world-class workforce that is aligned, inspired, and delivering exceptional results – and most importantly, helping your organization achieve its strategic goals.” Establishing measurement and understanding metrics is the key to developing an understanding of your talent ROI.

Employees come and go. It’s simply a fact of running a business that, sooner or later, even your most dedicated employee may move on, whether it’s to a new career or retirement.  Sometimes it’s on good terms, and sometimes it’s not. Sometimes there’s plenty of notice, sometimes there’s not. There’s only one constant: you will have employee turnover. Just because it’s a fact of life doesn’t mean you can’t do something about it. How much turnover you get can be influenced by a variety of factors, many of which you can control. Understanding Turnover What makes an employee leave? You can broadly divide the reasons for turnover into two categories: voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary turnover includes reasons the employee decides to step away. These can be amicable between the employee and the company, such as a need for relocation, retirement, or a family illness. They can also be adversarial, such as a micromanager blocking the employee’s mobility or an interpersonal conflict with another employee. Involuntary turnover includes reasons the employee is forced away. These are generally adversarial, such as absenteeism, unsatisfactory performance, or a poor culture fit. Many of these factors can be addressed to reduce turnover. For example, an interpersonal conflict can be resolved, or the employees involved separated so they don’t need to work together. (Graphic and data provided by LinkedIn 2017 study and TalentLyft) You might expect that the ideal turnover rate for a company is zero, but that’s neither true nor, really, possible in the long term. Companies can outlast the lifetime of their employees; turnover is as inevitable as human mortality. On a less grim note, a long-term employee retiring can be a good thing, as it allows for internal mobility for a talented successor. A highly creative employee might move on before they stagnate, having left the company better than they found it. It’s better to have some small amount of turnover than it is to have stagnant employees, employees held captive by circumstance, and a toxic culture that retains employees through fear of burning bridges throughout the industry. What is the average turnover rate, and what can be considered a good turnover rate for your company? The actual statistics vary quite a bit from industry to industry.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides annual Job Openings and Labor Turnover Surveys and compiles this data into an aggregate report, which you can read here . Keep in mind that data for 2020 is skewed by the Coronavirus pandemic, so looking at 2019 data might provide a better overall average. Remember, too, that the true cost of turnover is larger than just the monetary cost of a severance package and the recruiting process to hire a replacement. The employee can take with them institutional knowledge. Their loss can reduce morale amongst the people who liked that employee, and amongst those who now have to pick up their duties. To reduce employee turnover, you must begin by hiring better employees. Picking the right candidate for the role and the company culture helps ensure that they don’t leave right away and that their presence doesn’t imbalance your existing teams and drive others to leave. Thus, we’ve divided our tips into two sections: pre-hire and post-hire. Pre-Hire Tips Pre-hire tips are steps you can take before you hire a new employee to help reduce the possibility of turnover in the first year after they’ve been hired. To a certain extent, these tips need to be applied even before publishing a job posting.  Pay attention to company culture. A good cultural fit is one of the most important determining factors in employee retention, and a negative trend in internal culture can drive a spiral of employee turnover that can be devastating for a business. As Mike Kappel writes for Forbes , “If employees don’t fit in with your work environment, I guarantee they won’t be happy. They won’t fit in, they won’t get along with their co-workers, and they’ll feel lonely. An outstanding candidate that doesn’t match the behaviors and culture of your business won’t stay around long.” Determining whether a candidate fits in with your company culture requires understanding your own company culture . Thus, a good trick is to ask yourself (or your employees) questions similar to those that a candidate might ask to get an individual sense of your culture. The Muse offers many such questions you can use to get an idea of what the culture is in your company (if you don’t already know). Keep in mind that, especially in upper management, what you see might not be what the employees on the ground experience during the day. Once you have a solid idea of your company culture, you can work some behavioral questions into your interview process to see how a candidate may react to certain situations, which can indicate how they would fit in with your culture overall. Offer competitive pay and benefits. Salary negotiations are one thing, but you need a strong foundation of benefits and base pay that satisfies your best possible candidates. For example, we covered what to offer to attract and satisfy engineering candidates . One of the key takeaways is flexibility. A lower base salary might be fine if you offer flexible hours, work from home, and loan assistance. Being able to adapt to what a candidate truly finds valuable is a powerful way to entice top candidates and keep them around. Express company culture through your job posting. When crafting your job posting , you want to write it in a way that expresses your company’s values and culture. You don’t have a lot of space with which to express these values, so you may need to do work in developing an employer brand that conveys enough information that you can reasonably expect candidates to have basic knowledge of your company before applying. Be honest with what you write in your job posting. Telling candidates that they’ll be working in a fast-paced environment with unique, ongoing challenges only leads to frustration if they find their day-to-day task list to be little more than busy work on repeat. The disconnect between job posting and job reality is a huge driving factor in turnover. Post-Hire Tips Once an employee has been hired, you need to uphold the promises outlined in the interviews, your company's reputation, and your job posting. Moreover, you need to make sure your internal culture, your business processes, and your other employees all contribute to a positive, effective workplace. Offer praise and recognition for good work. Studies have shown that recognition is a huge driving factor in retention. 20% of employees cite lack of recognition as a reason to seek a job elsewhere. 40% of workers say they would put more effort into their daily work if they were recognized for their efforts. A mere 9% of employees feel that their managers are good at recognizing contributions. Recognition doesn’t need to be a gamified competition to earn customer feedback or to gain a picture on the wall as an employee of the month. It can be as simple as a manager offering congratulations to employees at the end of a project. Be encouraging, be positive, and be grateful to your employees for the work they do. Don’t be afraid to fire the toxic element. We’ve all heard stories of (or directly encountered) the bad manager whose toxic presence consistently demeans and oppresses the employees beneath them while presenting a pleasant face to their senior leadership so they’re never the target of institutional ire. In situations like this, one bad employee can result in dramatically increased turnover rates, poor job performance, satisfaction for those under them, and more. Not all turnover is caused by an individual, but if you have a situation where it is, it’s usually worthwhile to let that employee go. As Darcy Jacobsen writes , “No matter how effective they might be at their actual work, an employee who is a bad fit is bad for your culture, and that creates ‘culture debt.’ They will do more damage than good by poisoning the well of your company.” Offer flexibility and keep benefits current. Flexibility and adaptability are the most important qualities in both a worker and a company. Your employees are changing and growing. They’re learning new skills and they’re progressing through the stages of their life’s journey. If you want to keep them on for the long term, you need to change and grow with them. This means being able to continually offer growth in salary and benefits according to their skills and their role. If you hire a junior developer and train them, and assist with their certifications, but fail to increase either their pay or their responsibilities, of course, they’re going to look elsewhere. They want a job befitting their skill level . Additionally, life circumstances can change. An employee you hire while single may meet someone and decide to start a family. Suddenly, paid family leave becomes a priority they didn’t have when you hired them. If you rigidly adhere to the benefits they wanted when they were hired, they’re just as likely to quit and find a new job after raising their baby as they are to stick around. Flexibility in raises, bonuses, benefits, work hours, and working remotely are all great benefits to keep on hand and leverage to keep employees happy. Hire enough people. One of the biggest driving factors in employee dissatisfaction is overwhelming responsibilities. Millions of employees in every industry have experienced, or are currently experiencing, times when an employee leaves or is let go, and rather than hiring a replacement, the company divides their duties among employees already there. For one employee and light duties, this might be fine. When it happens two, three, or five times, it quickly builds up to a point where your employees are burning themselves out working too many hours, too long shifts, and doing too much. With burnout comes, at best, poor job performance. More often, employees leave, often leaving the industry entirely. Maintain adequate staffing; the cost of replacing an entire team is much higher than the cost of keeping your department full. Maintain transparency, accountability, and trust. Fostering an atmosphere of transparency and accountability is important for the modern workforce. In part, this helps with the tip about getting rid of toxic employees; by offering a channel where an employee can make a report (even anonymously) and trust that it will be investigated, you can help give employees a sense that they have some recourse beyond quitting. Transparency works the other way. Holding your managers and your executives responsible, as opposed to hiding information and treating business processes as arcane secrets, builds trust in your management team. This avoids the situation where employees see a company crashing down around them while executives cash out and do nothing about it. Remember, a company is nothing without its employees, so they should be valued. George Dickson says this: “Instead of saying ‘do I have to share this information with the team?’, try, ‘do I have to keep this information from the team?’ If you can’t come up with a solid reason to keep something a secret, you need to question the validity of keeping it behind closed doors, especially when the alternative offers so many benefits.” You don’t need to be transparent with proprietary information, top-level negotiations, or everyone’s salary information. Just be open with information that matters, and that doesn’t need to be kept secret. Build Growth Opportunities into Your Culture to Reduce Employee Turnover Recruiting software company Jobvite President and CEO Dan Finnigan knows the importance of providing growth opportunities for employees in both employee retention and talent attraction.  He says it’s not only for the benefit of employees. It’s also important to the entire company. And he reminds everyone that younger workers, especially, are probably viewing entry-level roles as having a short shelf-life on their career path and will move on regardless, but that shouldn’t keep employers from building a growth culture that attracts the best candidates and treats them well while they are with the company. Twitter’s head of organizational effectiveness & learning, Melissa Daimler, advises employers to provide training and growth opportunities that employees want and need rather than just offering what people in charge want.  It’s important to remember that helping employees reach their career goals builds engagement and loyalty and has a big impact on retention. Include growth offerings such as employee development plans at evaluation time, skills assessments so employees can understand what areas to focus on, and formal assistance with tuition reimbursement. Growth Opportunities Employees Want Do you know what types of growth opportunities your employees want? Collaboration software and services provider PGi’s 2015 Workplace Resolutions survey found that the top five things employees want this year include a raise or promotion, better work/life balance, better technology, being more organized, and continuing education. Forbes contributor and Wolf Management Training founder Victor Lipman explains four types of growth : financial, career, professional, and personal. Financial growth includes more than raises and retirement benefits and encompasses bonus opportunities, recognition for length of service, and financial incentives for goal achievement.  Career growth includes clear career paths and opportunities for advancement and progressively more challenging work. Professional growth includes acquiring new skills, being set up for success to meet sales and productivity goals, and opportunities for “stretch” to explore work beyond current roles. Personal growth opportunities include programs for peer recognition, work/life balance in the work environment, and employee programs for wellness, charitable giving, and volunteering. Conclusion Overall, the number one determining factor in employee turnover is happiness and job satisfaction. Happy, satisfied employees are more loyal, more productive, and better at their jobs. Hiring the right people, keeping a company culture of transparency and teamwork, and recognizing contributions are all powerful ways to keep employees happy, which in turn reduces turnover. If your company wants to grow its team, reach out to us today ! We can help you build the team you need for success.

Anyone can throw a job posting onto a bunch of careers pages and recruit employees. There are more than enough people out there looking for jobs and it’s easy to fill seats with warm bodies. When you want to recruit actual talent, however, and pick up candidates with specialized skills and experience, you need to be a little more strategic with your efforts. This process can be intricate, demanding a strategic approach that takes into account the intricacies of human potential and organizational needs.  In this blog post, we’ll explore the critical steps and strategies for spotting those rare gems – candidates with specialized skills and invaluable attributes. We delve deep into understanding what makes a candidate stand out, how to adjust our lenses to spot potential, and how to strategically position your organization to attract these talents. Whether you’re a startup looking for its next leader or a multinational corporation aiming to bolster its ranks with unparalleled talent, this guide is your comprehensive roadmap. Identify the Skills Necessary for the Role This might sound obvious but bear with us. Before you can spot rare talent in your candidate pool , you need to know what talent you’re looking for. Do you need a rockstar developer? Do you need an entrepreneur with success under their belt? Do you need a project manager to be the unsung hero of your success? Sit down with your department managers and C-levels, and identify the specific skills necessary for your open role. Divide them into four categories: Trainable Skills: These are the skills that you can teach to an otherwise well-qualified candidate on the job. Baseline Skills: These are the skills that are necessary to survive in the role from day one; a candidate should not progress to interviews without them. Selling Points: These are the skills your candidate should have to impress you and make a candidate stand out from the rest of the pack. Excellence Skills: These are the skills and attributes that showcase a truly unique individual who is destined for success in your role. This list allows you to filter down your candidate pool through progressively smaller filters. Your goal is to find someone with Excellent skills, though this is often unrealistic. You may need to be willing to expand the definition of trainable skills to make room for someone with untapped potential for excellence. Try to keep this list to skills and experiences. Posting elements like their location, years of experience, and specific certifications might filter out a candidate who would be excellent if you gave them the chance. After all, someone can know a lot about a subject and never bother to take a certification test, and your ideal candidate might not live in the same country when you find them. Be Specific About Needs in Your Job Posting There are a lot of ways to make your job posting stand out . One of them is to have a small but clear list of requirements. One common mistake that some companies make when drafting job postings is including too many items on their list of requirements. It discourages people who meet most but not all of the requirements from applying, so most of the people who apply are underqualified and overconfident. It’s much better to use the division of skills above to determine what is truly a requirement and what is just nice to have. The ideal would be to add your list of excellent skills to the list of requirements. You may have fewer applicants overall, but they’ll trend closer to the ideal candidate you have in mind. There’s a careful balance you need to strike here. Jennifer Tardy, of Jennifer Tardy Consulting, writes : “Job descriptions with a ton of basic qualifications indicate that the employer truly has no clue what they are seeking, or what it takes to get the job done.” Job postings with far too many requirements are one of the top signs of a poorly organized or poorly managed company. It’s all too easy to write down a huge list of nice-to-have qualifications, only to drive away from the best candidates because of the unrealistic nature of what they’re asking for. To a certain extent, the best way to get around this is simply to question every element. “Does the candidate need this attribute?” Pare your job posting down to the essentials, both to make it more attractive and to bring in the candidates who meet the most important requirements. Use an Applicant Tracking System The use of modern applicant tracking systems is surprisingly contentious. These systems can save a lot of time and energy in your HR team, but they can also accidentally filter otherwise excellent candidates. Kristen Hudson of Jobvite explains the benefits : “Recruiting software can automate many screening functions, search for unusual keywords, and expand searches to include social media tracking and integrations with third-party employment agencies. You can identify unique skills with automated searches. Using social media platforms, the software can look for keywords, behavioral patterns, and even what kind of products and websites interest potential candidates.” On the other hand, automated tools prove to be a double-edged sword. Peter Cappelli explains : “My earlier research found that companies piled on job requirements baked them into the applicant-tracking software that sorted resumes according to binary decisions (yes, it has the keyword; no, it doesn’t), and then found that virtually no applicants met all the criteria.” A good ATS can be tuned to show a percentage match with an array of different hard and soft requirements while using a limited number of essential requirements as filters. A poorly-tuned applicant tracking system, meanwhile, will poorly filter and sort candidates until there aren’t any viable candidates left in the pool. Look for Candidates in Unexpected Places These days, candidates with hard-to-find skills and experience are rarely out searching for a job. They have jobs already, where they’re at least satisfied because their skills and talents are in high demand. Finding the best candidates often means looking for passive candidates and convincing them that the grass is greener on your side of the fence. Thus, one strategy that many companies and organizations are turning to is looking in unexpected places for attributes, rather than defined skills and experience. The FBI is a good example of this. They ran a recruitment campaign called the “Unexpected Agent” campaign, looking for skills and knowledge first while being willing to train their new candidates to become agents. For example, they might look for an art historian to recruit as an agent specializing in forgeries and counterfeits in the art world. An art historian would likely never think to apply for a job at the FBI, but their unique skill set would make for a highly valuable asset. George Anders, the author of The Rare Find, seconds the motion . “Some of the best sports coaches I talked with would go out and get to know other parts of the globe. Or a rural coach would go and learn about talent spotting in Chicago. Hollywood casting directors might go and check out the Iranian film industry.” In other words, be prepared to look further afield for the best in rare talent to suit your needs. Look at industries other than your own, where skills might translate. Look for personality traits over experience. Look at broader geographies and be willing to hire outside of your immediate geographic area, or even your country. Be Willing to Ignore Gaps, Grades, and Past Experience Part of being open to a candidate outside of your industry is being willing to overlook some elements of a traditional resume or CV that would normally be requirements. Three elements, in particular, are worth putting in the “nice to have” bucket, rather than the requirements. Would you hire a college dropout for a high-level role in your company? Perhaps your initial inclination is no. Yet, many of the world’s most brilliant minds, especially in tech, dropped out of college to pursue their passions. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and others all dropped out and became incredible success stories. Educational performance is not necessarily predictive of the attributes that make an individual truly successful in their career. While these tech geniuses dropped out to pursue their inspirations, many others don’t drop out, but rather let school take the back seat while they follow their passion projects. Consider looking not just at educational performance, but at what a candidate has accomplished throughout their education and subsequent career. A candidate who isn’t necessarily a viable option on paper might have developed an app that precisely exhibits the sort of drive and creativity necessary to succeed in your company. Alongside education, the candidate’s experience is often used as a sign of their past successes. Sure, to a certain extent, experience in their field is necessary. All a good candidate really needs, however, is familiarity with the industry. Someone with five years of experience and someone with ten may have comparable performance, and in some cases, long years of experience might simply indicate a candidate who is at risk of falling behind the times. Gaps in work history are another factor that can often be overlooked to find true talent. Sometimes your best, most entrepreneurial spirits have gaps in their employment and education history, from times where they spent years focusing on other projects. Look beyond the surface level and be willing to overlook these elements in favor of attributes that make a candidate more successful. Take a (Controlled) Risk George Anders is a fan of taking risks, but only in the right context. “I met with an art gallery manager who evaluated artists by saying ‘Surprise me’. You can’t hire pilots by asking them to surprise you – that’s not going to make a successful airline.” Risks can be hugely rewarding, in the right circumstances. Taking a risk with a high chance of success makes the potential failure less damaging if it happens. You may, for example, be willing to gamble on a candidate who doesn’t quite meet all of the requirements but shows promise, where the risk of failure is a loss of time and money. Don’t, however, sign a year-long contract with them with no escape clause. Context is important as well. As with the airline example, some roles require strict adherence to education and industry standards. A financial planner who doesn’t adhere to compliance regulations isn’t an asset, they’re a liability. A pilot can’t freestyle their flights. A doctor can’t go with their gut against the tenets of practicing medicine. Make Your Job Attractive Part of spotting the best talent is knowing what those candidates want out of a job. By offering what the best candidates really want, you attract a candidate pool that has the best chance of giving you the people you want to hire. The trick is to offer benefits and perks to your candidates that are truly in demand . What might qualify? The chance to work on big problems facing the industry or the world. A guaranteed ability to focus on real work, not busy work. Flexibility in days and hours; the ability to work when and where work can be done. Tangible support for lives outside of work, such as family leave and paid sick leave. Upward mobility; is the promise of growth and progression in their career. The reason so many of the best candidates never seem to stick with one job for long is because of a lack of progression within their companies. They may get hired on for their abilities, and they may excel in their roles, but if they have nowhere to go, they leave. Hire for Attitude Mark Murphy, the author of Hiring for Attitude, says it best : “It’s not that technical skills aren’t important, but they’re much easier to assess (that’s why attitude, not skills, is the top predictor of a new hire’s success or failure). Virtually every job (from neurosurgeon to engineer to cashier) has tests that can assess technical proficiency. But what those tests don’t assess is an attitude; whether a candidate is motivated to learn new skills, think innovatively, cope with failure, assimilate feedback and coaching, collaborate with teammates, and so forth.” Technical solutions and resumes have a hard time showcasing attitudes; that’s what the interviews are for. Finding a way to assess attitude as it fits with your company culture is essential. You want a candidate with the talent, the desire, the drive, and the attitude to succeed; everything else can be taught over time. Spotting the best talent out of any candidate pool is as much a matter of subjective judgment as it is any individual quality on paper. It’s an acquired skill, and it comes with experience in hiring and observing the results of those hires. Conclusion  Finding the right talent, especially those with specialized skills, goes beyond traditional metrics and requires a more nuanced and strategic approach. Whether it’s looking beyond conventional expectations, embracing the benefits of modern tools, or valuing attitude as much as aptitude, the path to recruiting the best is riddled with innovation and intuition. Ultimately, the goal is not just to fill positions but to enhance the overall value and potential of your organization.  If the task feels daunting or if you’re unsure where to start, we’re here to help. Our staffing services are designed to bridge the gap between employers and rare talent, ensuring that you find the perfect fit every time. Contact us today and let us assist you in spotting and securing that exceptional candidate for your team.

Modern technology allow companies to hire employees from pretty much anywhere in the world. Hiring foreign workers can be difficult due to language barriers, visa requirements, and other issues, but hiring out of state candidates within the United States is much easier. It still presents some unique challenges, however, and navigating those challenges is critical to making the best hiring decision. Here are 10 tips for successfully hiring out of state candidates: 1. Consider Candidate Motivations Anyone considering a position in a city (other than the one where they currently live) has to have some motivation for doing so. Perhaps they visited your city and liked it, and are now looking for a job there . Maybe they don’t like their current situation and want to make a major change. Or, they could have ties to the city, such as friends or family. It’s important to consider these motivations and even discuss them with the candidate. A candidate looking to make a major change may or may not make a good long-term employee if the change doesn’t address what led them to that point. If they’re making a major geographic jump, such as from Florida to Minnesota, weather can be an important consideration they may not quite understand. You’ll also want to be open to discussing the reality of life where you live. A good candidate may not be interested once they learn the realities of the weather, the local culture, or even certain state or local laws. 2. Be Transparent About Salary and Costs One important factor that many job seekers may fail to recognize is that the cost of living can vary dramatically from place to place. Your company’s salary and benefits package may sound great on paper, but if the area your candidate will be living in is much more expensive than they’re used to, it may end up resulting in a drop in salary after living expenses. This is especially true of major cities. The internet is full of cost of living calculators, so your candidates are likely going to have some idea of what they’re in for. Be transparent with those costs, your salary and benefits options, and how your offerings stack up to those of other companies in the area. You may also be able to provide and promote certain kinds of local benefits, like paying for employee passes to local attractions and trails, offering a transportation stipend, or facilities in your office that assist with costs, such as indoor bike storage. These can also help your prospective employees tie into local culture quicker. 3. Streamline Your Interview Process Clinton Brown, the permanent placement lead for Experis, says time is of the essence. “If you want to secure an out of state candidate, you need to move relatively quickly.” The longer your interview process goes, the less a candidate is going to be interested in your company. The issue is relocation. Moving, whether it’s across a city or a state, usually has a strict timetable. Leases need to be managed, rent needs to be paid, moving companies need to be booked in advance, and so on. The greater the delay is in the hiring process , the less a candidate will trust you to have everything ready on the timetable they need. Relocating is stressful, and organization and communication are important. A delayed interview process also increases the chances that your candidate will receive another offer in the meantime. By the time you’ve progressed to the interview stage, another company may have already extended an offer. Remember, you’re not just selling yourself as an employer, you’re selling your city and state as well. 4. Skip (or Finance) the Face-to-Face Whether or not you need a face to face interview can be a critical determining factor for some candidates. Depending on how far away the candidate lives, it may be inconvenient or expensive for them to fly out for an interview. Skipping the face to face interview may be a good idea for everyone involved. If you’re skipping a face to face interview, make use of modern telecommunications to replace it. A phone interview can work, but a video interview over Zoom or Skype is much better. This can also be an indication of how well the employee will fit in if your company is heavy on remote meetings or distributed teams. If you must have an in-person interview , consider financing it. Pay for a plane ticket and a hotel room for the evening, working with the candidate to schedule it appropriately. Alternatively, offer reimbursement, regardless of whether or not they’re hired. The last thing a candidate wants as part of a job interview is a financial burden, especially if they’re on the cusp of moving to a new state. 5. Cover Relocation (or Not) Whether or not your company will cover or assist with their relocation costs can be a deal-breaker for many candidates. This is especially true if your company uses recruiters to find candidates ; a recruiter might not pay attention to the location of a qualified candidate, just to their skills. It’s a huge drain and a disappointment to make it most of the way through the hiring process, only to run into relocation funding as a major issue. Elliot Lasson , an HR expert at the University of Maryland, recommends that you mention to your candidates that you can offer “relocation assistance for highly qualified candidates” – if you’re willing to extend that assistance. If you’re not, make note of that upfront. More importantly, make sure your recruiters understand the situation ahead of time. If a candidate isn’t able to relocate on their dime, they should avoid adding “willing to relocate” to their applications. The best candidates might even list a local address when applying, even if they don’t live there yet, though that means they’re already planning to move to your area regardless. Keep in mind that, due to the nature of the internet, you’re going to receive applications from across the country (and even outside of the country) regardless of your hiring intent. Offering to cover relocation can be a great way to broaden your potential candidate pool and ensure you get the best candidate for any given role. 6. Provide a Resource Package Moving to a new location is difficult for many people. Their social networks, their habits, the stores they frequent; they all need to be adjusted. This means there’s always a transition period. The less at home a candidate feels, the more likely they are to consider the move a failure, and either return to their previous location or move on. You can help contribute to their sense of belonging by providing a sort of onboarding package for your city. Put together a guidebook to your city. Not the usual touristy information you’d give to a visitor, but the insider tips from a resident. Local resources, local meetups, city information, tips for the best groceries, daycares, pet sitters, credit unions, and so on. Geoff Smith of VanderHouwen even recommends expanding the interview into a local tour to point out landmarks, local resources, and personal insight. This more casual style of an interview can give you a deeper insight into the personality of the candidate and their interests, as well as allow you to answer more specific questions that they may have. 7. Be Mindful of External Factors There’s more to a job relocation than just you and the candidate. Keep in mind that there are other factors at play, including entire families. Does your chosen candidate have a spouse they want to bring with them? Are they planning to start a family in their new location? Do they want to settle down, or is this a temporary transition along the way to something more solid? Bill Humbert says: “Avoid asking candidates to make a big decision. Keep asking for small decisions until their relocation is a logical next step. People resist making big decisions without enough information – and asking them to pull up roots and move is a very big decision because it potentially impacts a whole family. Do you tell your candidates in the first conversation that they must move to your town? If so, you are probably making relocation a more difficult issue.” One recommendation is to invite the spouse along for the interview, so they can get their eyes on their potential new home as well. Work to ensure that your candidate and anyone else involved in their decision-making process has adequate information to make the choice. 8. Consider a Delayed Relocation Relocation is the number one hurdle to successfully hiring out of state candidates, especially for highly skilled or high-level positions that require years of experience. The older a candidate is, the more likely they are to have established roots, including children they don’t want to uproot or a spouse’s income they can’t disregard. One possible solution to this problem, recommended by Joe Matar at Brazen , is an extended or delayed relocation. Allow your candidate to work partially or fully remote for a while before a deadline to come into the office. Whether you fly them into the office every other week, or you simply accommodate them working remotely most of the time while they work on the transition, these kinds of accommodations can go a long way. 9. Consider Professional Objections When relocating for a job out of state, candidates are necessarily more concerned about their future in a new area, especially if the cost of living is higher than they’re used to. If your company is owned by a private equity firm, they may be concerned that you’ll be sold out from under them and they’ll be left with nothing. If your job offer is appealing, they’ll look to the future, to see what options they have for growth, or if they’ll have to jump ship in a few years to move to another company. You can help alleviate some of these issues by offering a glimpse at your 10-year plan, to showcase how you anticipate growing and what potential room for career improvement they’ll have within your company. No guarantees, of course – nothing in life is guaranteed – but ensuring that you have a plan that they can find a place in can make them feel a lot better about making the move. Some issues can’t be handwaved away, of course. If your firm is owned by private equity, it’s simply the nature of the beast that they’ll have to consider the inherent uncertainty. It might be a sign that they aren’t a good fit, as well, since that’s just how your company operates. 10. Consider Remote Workers We mentioned this in part above, with a delayed remote start, but why not consider a fully remote position ? The modern workforce is better and better at taking advantage of technological tools to assist their remote work. Whether it’s teleconferencing, casual channels like Slack, or online productivity tools for collaboration, the experience level and utilization rate of these tools is growing every year. The pandemic in 2020 is also leading to millions of workers (and thousands of companies) realizing they can survive much more remote than they thought they could. While this may entail some shift in the way your company works, remote work is a good option for out of state candidates who aren’t able to relocate. It’s also a good option for companies located in a high cost of living area, who can’t offer competitive packages that entice a relocation. Remote work definitely has challenges of its own. That’s why we discussed the topic in greater detail in another post . Remote work is an excellent choice when it works, though it’s not always an option. Your IT network admin needs hands on the machines they oversee, for example. You may also need to offer remote work as an option for existing employees when you start hiring others remotely, to avoid jealousy and other issues. Hiring out of state candidates who are at the top of the talent pool is a great choice for many companies. Broader horizons and the power of the internet make it more than feasible; it’s almost essential. Your competitors are likely hiring from out of state, so you should get to it as well. Conclusion Hiring out of state candidates offers a plethora of advantages and opportunities for both your company and the potential employees. By embracing the diversity and skills brought by candidates from different regions, you can significantly enhance your team’s capabilities and perspectives. The key lies in navigating the unique challenges this process presents, from considering candidate motivations to offering relocation assistance and embracing remote work possibilities. As we’ve explored, each step in this journey requires careful consideration and a strategic approach to ensure a smooth transition for your new hires. Whether it’s understanding their motivations, being transparent about salary and costs, streamlining the interview process, or offering a comprehensive resource package, every action you take sets the stage for a successful and mutually beneficial relationship. Now, it’s your turn to take the leap forward. If you’re ready to expand your team’s horizons and hire top-tier out-of-state talent, we’re here to help. Let’s work together to find the perfect candidates who align with your company’s vision and goals.  Reach out to us for help hiring your new team members. It’s time to broaden your team’s landscape and usher in a new era of growth and success.

The modern workplace is a very different environment than it was even ten years ago, let alone in the 70s or 80s. Back then, job perks like retirement benefits, healthcare, and the near-guarantee of a long-term career were all it took to attract top candidates. These days, you need to offer more tangible job perks to attract some of the most highly-qualified applicants. What Aren’t Considered Benefits There are a few entries on every list like this that come up time and again, but for this post, we won’t consider them benefits for engineering careers. Most employers who are looking to hire engineers include baseline benefits such as: A competitive salary Healthcare benefits A retirement fund Since most competing companies are offering these same benefits for engineering positions, it’s tough to call them benefits. You aren’t standing out if you are offering the same healthcare and retirement plans, except in the sense that your candidates might ask themselves what else you aren’t offering if those are your primary selling points. So, what do you need to offer to make your position stand out? Here are some of the best job perks and benefits that engineers will find interesting. A Good Company Reputation Some engineers get into the field out of a cynical drive to make money. Most, though, have grander aspirations. They want to solve big problems, make the world a better place, or leave their mark on something fantastic. They want to work for a company that has a grand reputation. Moreover, your reputation needs to precede you. A Glassdoor survey interviewed several engineers, and one had this to say : “If your company isn’t attractive on its own because of its technology and engineering culture, I probably won’t be interested in working there. Hearing about your company from a recruiter – rather than because of something amazing you’ve built – simply cements that disinterest.” This can be a challenge for small companies, but it’s entirely possible to build such a reputation. It just means you need to spend some time building a strong employer brand . Work on Big Problems Engineers typically become engineers because they like working on large, challenging problems. Millennials and Gen Z candidates, in particular, don’t want to be a cog in another corporate machine; they want to feel like they’re tangibly contributing to solving large problems . Those problems may be problems in their local community, in their chosen industry, or globally. You don’t have to dedicate your firm to fighting world hunger, but a humanitarian or technological issue in your city or state can be plenty big enough. The problems your company is working to solve don’t necessarily need to be humanitarian by nature. Humanitarian problems can even be a detriment to companies who aren’t prepared for these challenges. Very few of your candidates will believe a family business from Nebraska can solve world hunger or eradicate a disease. Many more will be interested in simply solving complex technological problems. The Receptionist agrees and says: “Remember that the work doesn’t need to be humanitarian to be appealing. It just needs to be challenging, and solve a real problem for customers.” Talented engineers enjoy going to work in the morning to solve complex problems with elegant solutions. A Focus on Actual Work Engineers are a part of a subset of workers who need concentration to be effective. Some roles in a company require short bursts of actual work completing individual tasks, such as customer support. Engineers, architects, and those C-levels who guide the company from the top down tend to want more time “alone with their thoughts” so to speak. This is a combination of several factors, including workplace culture, the office environment, and the responsibilities of a role. Large problems require large solutions, and engineers like to focus when they work. Interruptions can be devastating to productivity. Dr. Gloria Mark, associate professor at the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of California Irvine, says this : “The good news is that most interrupted work is resumed on the same day – 81.9 percent – and it was resumed, on average, in 23 minutes and 15 seconds, which I guess is not that long. But the bad news is, when you’re interrupted, you don’t immediately go back to the task you were doing before you were interrupted. There are about two intervening tasks before you go back to your original task, so it takes more effort to reorient back to the original task.” A 23-minute delay might not seem like much in an 8-hour day, but when there are half a dozen meetings, a dozen phone calls, urgent emails, daily task alerts, and all manner of other interruptions throughout the week, it can add up to large amounts of time for your engineers to continually return to the important work they want to be doing. When your engineer comes to work today, what will they be expected to do? Are they spending time in their office, thinking about deep problems and working on ways to solve them? Or are they attending meetings with their coworkers and managers, constantly answering the phone to assists their coworkers and writing status reports that nobody is going to read? What can you offer, tangibly, that allows and promotes a focus on actual work? Consider benefits such as a closed office rather than a cubicle or open office design, a limit on weekly meetings and routine interruptions, and a dedicated focus on specific tasks. Your engineers should not be pulling double duty as system monitors, maintenance techs, or service people. Let them focus on their tasks. Flexible Hours and Work From Home Policies The year 2020 has taught thousands of companies the value of allowing their employees to work from home. The global pandemic has also demonstrated to millions of people that they’re capable of working from home – and taught some hard lessons to many businesses that aren’t. It takes a specific kind of person to work from home successfully, and yes, not all roles can be performed remotely. Most engineers, though, can often benefit from the flexibility of working from home. Data aggregated by Apollo Technical has this to say : “Several studies over the past few months show productivity while working remotely from home is better than working in an office setting. On average, those who work from home spend 10 minutes less a day being unproductive, work one more day a week, and are 47% more productive.” This ties back, in part, to the interruptions mentioned above. When every phone call, every manager sticking their head in the door, and every meeting costs a third of an hour of productivity (if not more), it’s easy to see how an environment without those things can be a much more productive one. Managing a remote workforce certainly has its challenges . Some employees either suffer from isolation, have a limited ability to set up a home office, or lack the technology to perform their tasks remotely. That’s why you need to do more than just allow for work from home; you need to support it. Provide technology, subsidize purchases for a home office (like a proper desk and chair), and avoid overbearing time tracking or monitoring software that discourages flexible work. Education and Student Loan Assistance The cost of an engineering degree from an average institution ranges from $11,000 to $55,000 per year for a degree that can take four years (for a Bachelor’s degree), six years (for Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees), or longer. That means many of your engineers are coming to you six figures in debt. A competitive salary helps, but often, an excellent benefit is loan assistance. Tuitions are increasing every year, and that financial burden is shaping the entire futures of an entire generation of students. An increasing number of companies are offering some form of loan assistance. From Inc, “About 8 percent of employers offer student loan repayment assistance in 2019, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. That’s up from 4 percent in 2018 and 3 percent in 2015.” Given the overall cost of an employee, adding on some level of loan assistance or repayment isn’t all that much. And, if it feels unfair to those who have paid off their loans or didn’t have any in the first place, you can offer tuition reimbursement for employees who want to continue education or training on their own time. Family Leave Many amongst the younger generations are hesitant to start families, primarily due to the uncertainty of their careers and the repeated global recessions causing financial instability. While a stable career helps, these people also want progressive policies in terms of family leave. In America, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 specifies companies must offer 12 weeks of unpaid leave annually for mothers of newborns, but it only applies to companies with over 50 employees and is only for mothers. Paternity leave is often neglected. Even still, those numbers pale in comparison to other countries around the world, which offer longer leaves, equal leave time for mothers and fathers, and paid leave instead of unpaid leave . Offering paid leave (for a longer duration, and for both parents) is an incredible benefit. In fact, it’s one of the most coveted benefits of all . Parents want to spend time with their children as they grow and develop. Allowing your engineers paid leave, plus flexible hours and work from home opportunities, encourages both company loyalty and a healthy family. Customized Benefits Perhaps one of the biggest benefits you can offer your engineers is flexibility. Some of your candidates might not want to work from home. Some of them don’t need a transportation stipend, or family leave, or a paid gym membership. The list of benefits you have to offer might not, in reality, be all that beneficial to them. In these instances, a highly qualified candidate might not see your benefits as benefits, so you need the flexibility to offer them what they want. Maybe they want the ability to take the occasional sabbatical. Maybe they want life insurance. Maybe they want stipends to cover transportation and daily chores. Maybe they want mental health support, or perhaps they want stock options in the company. Some employees prefer to work while they travel once a year. The list of potential benefits is huge and varied. No one company can offer all of them to everyone, but you can offer what an individual wants to that individual. Offering the ability to negotiate a customized benefits package for each new employee can be very attractive. New engineers with specific desires might not be able to find what they want out of most companies, but your flexibility can attract them to you. The only caveat here is to ensure that existing employees can negotiate their benefits as their own needs and desires change. A new hire with a new benefit can make other employees jealous, and it can cause issues within the workplace, as well as job dissatisfaction. Never adopt the position of “you didn’t negotiate for it, so you can’t have it.” Always be open to adjusting benefits packages to the changing needs of your employees. Otherwise, they’re going to be more likely to jump ship for a company that better fits their needs. Hire with Intent to Train A common problem in the modern job market is the job listing with too many requirements and too little compensation. Employers want to hire extremely talented and educated candidates for a pittance , and an increasing number of candidates are no longer going to accept that kind of treatment. These days, it’s important to remember that a candidate doesn’t need to be perfect. Someone who meets 80% of your requirements can easily be trained to meet the rest. Pare down what is truly required, and count on your employees to grow into their positions. Overall, the list of benefits you can offer to your engineers is large and varied. Everyone has different needs and desires, so offering a generous benefits package – or a customizable package – is the best option. Beyond that, though, always remember that your engineers want to feel part of something bigger. They want to work on complex problems and solve issues with their communities, industries, or the world at large. Facilitate that desire to fuel their passion and get the most out of the best engineers.

We’ve written a lot about how to hire the perfect candidate for any given role in your company. A lot of that process involves starting with a large pool, narrowing it down through progressively steeper requirements, and then finally arriving at your chosen candidate. What happens to those who make it most of the way through the process, but ultimately don’t get the job? You have to reject them, but you have to do it the right way.  I wrote this blog post to answer, “what is the best way to politely reject a job candidate?” So let’s first cover how you should NOT reject a candidate.  What Happens When You Reject a Candidate Incorrectly Before we get into how to politely and tactfully reject a candidate, let’s talk about how the process can go wrong. One of the worst things you can do is simply ghost the candidate. Cutting them from your roster, not contacting them to tell them they didn’t get the job, and ignoring all attempts at communication is a terrible way to do it. Another mistake many companies make is waiting too long before informing a candidate about their rejection. Many people who are applying to these positions are trying to find one quickly, which is difficult to see as the company in charge of reviewing candidates. To the candidates, whether or not they get the job can be the foundation of major decisions moving forward. The longer you leave them hanging, the worse they’ll feel about it. Many companies also make the mistake of beating around the bush. Candidates want a firm answer – something to the point so that they can move on to the next phase of their job hunt. It’s fine to explain why they didn’t get the job, but if your rejection letter is too lengthy, you could be wasting your time that is better spent elsewhere (not to mention the candidate’s time). Why do you want to avoid these mistakes? Several reasons. First, the candidate you choose might not work out. If you need to go back to the drawing board, the natural first place to look for their replacement is the list of candidates who almost made it the first time around. If you leave those candidates on bad terms, they’re less likely to want to work for you after all, and you’ll have to dig even deeper, or worse, start the hiring process over again. There’s also the possibility that another role will open up, and a candidate who made it to the last rounds of interviews is a great choice to fill that role. If you cut communications or otherwise burn that bridge, that candidate will be less interested in working with you. Again, you’ll have to go back to the start of the process or settle for a less qualified candidate. June Javelosa, from HireRabbit , also recommends soliciting feedback from rejected candidates. “Candidates, even the rejected ones, can give you a lot of feedback about your hiring process. They can tell you which areas they found difficulty in and how you can improve on those. Asking for feedback gives the impression that you still value their opinion even if you’re not hiring them. The impression he or she takes away may affect other potential candidates for your jobs. Candidates do talk and often, like birds, flock together to pursue an employer of choice.” According to Kelly Services 95% of candidates are more likely to apply again if they had a positive candidate experience the first time. 97% of candidates who had a positive experience would refer others to apply. 88% of candidates with a positive experience would increase their purchase with the company. 55% of candidates with a positive experience would tell their social networks about that positive experience. As you have probably already figured out, it feels bad to be the one to reject a candidate. Doing the right way minimizes hard feelings and makes it easier for everyone involved. Tips for Politely Rejecting a Candidate When it comes time to reject a candidate, you have to decide how you’re going to do it. Establishing a process for rejections allows you to minimize the emotional impact of the rejection, leverage it into possible future value, and keep a relationship with a candidate alive. First, you need to pick a method of communication. Different channels have different pros and cons when it comes to rejecting a candidate. Email is good for your early filtering. Most applicant tracking systems have either their in-house templates for rejection emails or the ability to create one. It’s easy enough to find email templates to base yours on. On the other hand, an email can feel impersonal or cold and can be poor at incentivizing continued communication with the candidate. Phone calls. A phone call is a more personal means of delivering a rejection, and it allows your hiring manager to leverage their charisma and tone of voice to portray a considerate and thoughtful rejection. It also allows you to follow up with additional recommendations, opportunities, or offers, if you have them on hand. Remember, though, that there’s still some distance between a phone call, and it can be more stressful for your hiring manager, especially if they have to call dozens of candidates in a row. Video messaging. Sending a customized video is a sort of a cross between an email and a phone call. You can leverage tone of voice, as well as visual presentation, to soften the blow of the rejection via video. It’s not real-time, so your hiring manager doesn’t need to worry about answering questions immediately. You can still offer additional opportunities through video as well. On the other hand, video can be complicated to produce if you don’t have a process already established for it. In-person meetings. An in-person meeting to reject a candidate is very rare and can be dangerous because an in-person meeting often means a meeting to sign paperwork for a hire. It can augment the emotional distress of a candidate to find they came into the office only to be rejected. This is only a viable option for very high-power roles, or for cases where you have an immediate secondary offer you’re willing to extend. Once you have your communications channel pinned down, you have to work out what to write or say. We have some tips for that as well. Personalize your message. At the very least, when writing a rejection email, personalize the name and pronouns of the recipient in the template. In general, the deeper into the hiring process a candidate makes, the more personalized their rejection should be. So how can you personalize such a rejection? Mention something they did well or a reason they were in consideration as long as they were. Offer a piece of advice they can use in future interviews. Consider linking them up with another recruiter who can get them elsewhere. Candidates will remember the results more than the communication, so leaving them with some level of value will help maintain a positive impression of your overall brand. Make sure to avoid anything that can be construed as discriminatory. Susan at The Balance Careers says: “Make sure the applicant cannot misconstrue the words you use or find evidence of unlawful discrimination. For example, you may be tempted to tell the applicant that you have decided that you have candidates who are more qualified for the job. The candidate could well ask you to detail the differences. Why go there?” There are a lot of different ways a stray comment can be leveraged into a lawsuit in the right circumstances . Even if you have no outward bias and didn’t intend to be discriminatory, you can be found at fault, and a lawsuit can be devastating even if you win it. Give honest, useful feedback. As part of personalizing your rejection message, offer some precise feedback the candidate can use in future interviews, either with your company or with another. While you can’t speak for every company, you can point out things they did that left a bad impression. If they interviewed perfectly, but simply weren’t qualified for the job, you can give them guidance on perhaps applying for jobs they are more qualified for. Encourage Candidates to Apply to Other Positions If you liked a candidate enough that they made it to the final rounds of your interview and hiring process, but they didn’t quite make the cut, that means they had something that fit with your company. You can, then, encourage them to apply to other roles within your company. There are several ways to do this. You can refer them back to your careers page and point out a specific role they can apply for, and offer to forward their information to the manager in charge of that segment of hiring. You can simply offer a general “you’re a good culture fit and have the skills, but we don’t have room for you right now, but if you would like to apply for another role, we can then consider you for internal transitions later.” You can also just tell them they were close to being hired, and that if a similar role opens up, they will be at the top of the list if they apply. Just make sure that if you extend this kind of offer, you’re not doing it just to be nice. If they do apply later, and they don’t make it through a second time, it leaves a bad taste in their minds. They’ll lose faith in you personally, in your company in general, and perhaps even more. “If you know they will never fit in successfully at your organization, don’t go making a point of telling them to apply for other roles in the future. While it may make you feel better to say so right now, the reality of them applying again isn’t practical.” – Social Talent . Connect with a rejected candidate on LinkedIn. If the candidate is talented and promising and if you want to keep them as an active part of your candidate pool, you may want to link up with them on social media. LinkedIn is generally the most appropriate social network to use for professional networking. That, combined with your applicant tracking system keeping them active in your pool, allows you to call on them specifically if a job opens up in the future. Ask for feedback on your hiring process. As mentioned above, it’s usually a good idea to solicit feedback about your hiring process. You can do this in your rejection message, or you can send it as a follow-up email later. A simple survey or open feedback form for comments can help you streamline your process for the next time around. Deliver your rejection as soon as possible. Remember that the longer you leave a candidate hanging, the worse it will feel for them when they get that rejection. Yes, sometimes there are delays in decision-making, but you can explain those. Be respectful of the time and effort the candidate has put into their part of the hiring process, and free them up to pursue other leads as soon as possible. Following Up with Rejected Candidates In addition to keeping a candidate active in your ATS, and connecting with them on LinkedIn, you should consider other ways to keep your relationship with a talented candidate alive. Some ideas include: Invite the candidate to job fairs and other events you’re either participating in or hosting, to give them more opportunities they might not otherwise have known about. Watch what they post on social media and, where relevant, leave positive comments and encouragement. If you know a new job will be opening up, reach out early to see if they’re still interested in a role with your company, or if they’ve settled into a new job since. All in all, as long as you keep your connection alive, you should be able to tap that candidate as a future employee if they’re still available. At the very least, by showing interest in their progress and being supportive of their ongoing career, you can build a positive impression of your company. That impression can go a long way, both towards encouraging that candidate’s future and in building a positive reputation as a good company to apply to among other candidates. Conclusion  Concluding, the art of rejecting a job candidate is a delicate process that, if handled with care, can maintain a positive relationship and keep the door open for future opportunities. By avoiding ghosting, providing timely feedback, personalizing messages, and giving clear and helpful guidance, employers can ensure a respectful and constructive rejection experience.  Encouraging candidates to apply for other positions, connecting on LinkedIn, and requesting feedback further strengthen potential future connections. It’s about closing one chapter with grace, leaving the potential for future stories with your company untarnished and full of possibility. Do you need help building your team? Contact us today to learn how we can help you hire the teammates you need.

Facebook is the worlds biggest social media platform. It literally has 3 billion people using it every month. To put it another way, that’s more than a third of the entire population of the world . Chances are pretty good that your applicants have Facebook profiles. That’s just Facebook. Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram; social media is mainstream. Virtually everyone has at least one social media profile, though how much they use it, how easy it is to find and identify as theirs, and how valuable it is will vary wildly. So, here’s a question: should you use the information on social media as part of your pre-employment screening? If so, when? If not, why not? We spoke about this briefly in our post about remotely screening candidates earlier this month, but today we’re going to dig a bit deeper into this strategy. Growing Trends Using social media to screen potential employees – and even to monitor existing employees for adherence to company policies – is a growing trend. According to a survey performed by The Manifest : “Most employers (90%) factor a job candidate’s social media accounts into their hiring decisions and 79% have rejected a candidate based on their social media content.” Social media is primarily public information. It often represents how a candidate acts in their personal life. Those actions and that attitude can inform how a candidate would perform in their job. Employers face a difficult task when they need to hire a candidate for a role, especially a high-level position within the company. Resumes, cover letters, and interviews only show part of a candidate, and it’s the part they’ve practiced and polished to impress you. We’ve all experienced times where a candidate who looked good on paper fell short of our expectations while on the job. Probationary periods exist for a reason, after all. If you can get an additional channel of insight into a candidate that can help you make an informed decision, shouldn’t you take advantage of it? After all, the cost of a bad hire can be devastating to a small business and harmful to a large one. Studies have estimated the financial cost of a bad hire can range from $25,000 to $190,000 . The Pros of Using Social Media Screening First, let’s talk about some of the benefits of screening candidates via their social media presence before making a hiring decision . Information is free and generally easy to access. Researching a candidate can be as simple as putting their name into Google or the Facebook search bar, then verifying that you have the right person using other pieces of information from their resumes, such as location or work history. Matt Erhard, from Summit Research Group, says, “The three main platforms that most employers check are LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.” Let’s look into how these three are compared: LinkedIn is generally the most curated and presentable because it is geared towards professional networking rather than casual use. As such, it tends to be the most valuable for employers looking for more in-depth information and insight into a candidate’s work history and skillset. Twitter can be very fickle. Some users use it as a microblogging platform, to retweet content that interests them or engages with content creators they like. Other people use it to post glorified nonsense that has little bearing on their quality as a job candidate. It’s generally the least useful platform in many cases. Facebook has the most personal, casual use. As such, it can be useful to get a picture of how a person acts when they’re not being judged for those actions. However, an increasing number of people are locking down their profiles to make it more difficult to “doxx” them . Other platforms may garner other kinds of information about a candidate. Instagram can bring insight into how a candidate acts on vacation, or what they do as a hobby, or it might be nothing more than pictures of their pets. The important thing to remember is that while a social media profile can be valuable information, it also might be irrelevant to their suitability as an employee. Information you find can weed out unsavory candidates. Facebook and Twitter are both often responsible for lost jobs and lost opportunities for candidates. Today’s political climate means that many people feel comfortable posting hate against specific people or groups, posting threats, or bad-mouthing their current employers. “Companies can hold employees accountable for their social media conduct,” says Katrina Grider, an attorney in Houston. [But] employees need to be educated about their responsibilities and the consequences of their social media conduct and activities.” A candidate who feels comfortable posting hate speech is a liability waiting to happen for workplace harassment, a hostile work environment, or escalation. You can get a better sense of a candidate’s personality and cultural fit through personal social media. A candidate who posts about football and bar-hopping will fit right in with an office that has a fantasy football pool and uses local tickets as incentives. A candidate who dislikes dogs might not be a great choice for an office with “take your dog to work day” events. There are a lot of minor contextual details you can learn about a candidate that might make them a poor fit for your company. That said, you have to use caution when using these kinds of details to reject a candidate, for reasons we’ll discuss later. The Cons of Using Social Media Screening While the ability to screen candidates based on their social media profiles has some merit, there are also drawbacks to the practice. It can take a lot of time if you perform screening too early in the hiring process . Researching a candidate, identifying them and making sure you have the right person, and researching their background through social media can take quite a bit of time. If you’re using it as part of your early screening, you may be digging into thousands of profiles, dramatically delaying your time to hire. If you’re going to use a social media background check, it should be on candidates who have made it through at least the first interview. A social media presence isn’t necessarily representative of the candidate’s work attitude. Cashiers and waitresses have a “customer service voice” that they turn off when they’re outside work. Many people maintain different personas for different realms of their personal lives. How they act on Facebook – so long as they aren’t violating social mores, posting about illegal drug use, or promoting hate speech – is not necessarily a good representation of how they’ll behave in your office. An increasing number of candidates hide their profiles or sculpt them to build a personal brand. At this point, one of the number one pieces of advice to job seekers is to build a personal brand. Dedicated job seekers hide most of their social media activity and curate a public persona that is just as polished as their resume and their interview persona. You won’t necessarily learn anything of value through your social media background check. There’s a risk here as well. Some employers attempt to add candidates as friends, follow protected accounts, or dig into less scrupulous methods to view social media content otherwise hidden. This taps into an ethical issue; if the information is hidden from public view, but can be accessed if the user accepts a friend request, is it ethical to use? Generally, no. You should avoid digging too deep, especially if you have to request access to the information implicitly. There’s a very real risk of unconscious bias in your decision making. Edna Nakamoto, the founder of The HR Manager, offers a scenario: “What about the woman who just applied? Maybe you see her terrific profile plus the fact that she’s just announced that she’s pregnant. You know you can’t discriminate based on pregnancy, but you may still have had a little nagging thought of “oh, she will go on maternity leave within the year if I hire her.” Unconscious bias can affect everyone from time to time.” Even if you consciously know you can’t discriminate based on specific information and characteristics you see, you may still do so unconsciously. The Legality of Social Media Screening Three relevant laws can apply to social media background checks. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act . These are protections against discrimination according to categories such as race, color, religion, gender, disability, and age. It’s difficult to perform a social media background check without discovering at least some of these qualities, leading to unconscious bias. If a candidate believes they may have been passed over for an opportunity because of such a quality, they can potentially bring a discrimination suit against you. The Fair Credit Reporting Act . This is the protection of privacy and private information primarily relating to credit reports, but can also apply to social media information. Among other things, this legislation requires you to be able to make background check reports available to candidates if they request it. Because social media screenings are often handled casually, this can be a source of liability. State laws . Several states have laws limiting what an employer can ask for or what they can screen as part of an employment decision. For example, many states prohibit companies from requiring that users disclose login information or log in to their accounts in an employer’s presence, which can reveal hidden information. In general, screening candidates by their social media presence is legal but is best performed by a trained HR professional or a third-party background check service, rather than a prospective boss or CEO. (Image credit: Software Advice) There’s also the issue of free speech. While the concept of free speech is widely misunderstood (the first amendment only protects against punishment by the government, not by private entities such as businesses), some forms of speech such as political affiliation are protected in many states. Even in states with those protections, Grider says: “Online speech attacking other persons’ immutable characteristics protected by law – such as age, race, ethnicity, sex, and religion – or that constitutes workplace harassment is not protected.” In other words, it’s perfectly legal and ethical to fire (or refuse to hire) someone whose social media posts reveal hate speech, illegal content, fraud, threats, and similar content. How to Ethically Perform a Social Media Background Check If you want to use social media information to screen candidates , here are some essential Dos and Don’ts. 🟩 Do: Consider using a third-party background check service. This has two important benefits: it generates a tangible report that can be provided if a candidate requests it, and it can appropriately remove protected information to avoid unconscious bias in your decision-making process. 🟩 Do: Limit your screening to relevant information. A candidate’s hobbies, political affiliation, preference for pets, or casual posting style are not relevant to their workplace performance and should be ignored. 🟩 Do: Use a consistent screening process for every candidate. Apply this process at the same point in the interview process, and apply it equally to all candidates. Applying it to some candidates and not all of them can show bias. 🟩 Do: Be up-front about screening candidates via social media, what you look for, and how you perform that research. 🟥 Don’t: Screen candidates too early in the process. As mentioned above, this can take far too much time and energy and has very little reward when other forms of screening are more effective. 🟥 Don’t: Take everything you see at face value. Social media profiles often have a lot of contexts that you miss as an outsider looking in. Posts can be ironic or misconstrued without such context, and basing a decision on them can leave you bereft of a quality candidate. 🟥 Don’t: Limit your research to just the big social media profiles. Some candidates may have established a broader presence on sites such as StackOverflow, Medium, or GitHub, which can be valuable for certain kinds of roles. Think about the context of the role and what sites a good candidate might use. Conclusion Overall, using social media to screen your candidates can be a valuable tool, particularly when judging an individual’s character. However, it’s not necessarily reliable and should not be a significant component of your decision making. Use it for context and to decide between two very similar candidates, not as a primary driving factor in your hiring. However, it’s crucial to approach this tool with caution and ethical considerations. While social media profiles can reveal aspects of a person’s personality and behavior, they are not always accurate representations of their professional capabilities or workplace demeanor. As such, these screenings should supplement, not replace, traditional hiring practices like interviews and reference checks.  Employers must also be aware of legal and ethical boundaries, ensuring that their social media screening practices do not lead to discrimination or violation of privacy rights. When used judiciously and ethically, social media screenings can be a helpful component of a comprehensive and fair hiring process, aiding in the selection of candidates who are not only skilled but also align well with your company’s values and culture.  Are you needing help hiring more teammates? Contact our team today to learn how we can help you!

Every company needs to hire eventually, and not all of them have the organization, the manpower, or the training to handle recruitment themselves. This is true in just about every industry but can be especially true in the pharmaceutical industry in particular. Big pharmaceutical companies – the giants like Pfizer, Novartis, and Merck – typically have their in-house hiring departments. These hiring teams are forced to work as generalists, however, because they’re supporting the entire organization. They need to hire everyone who works for the company, whether it’s the biochemists, the IT staff, or the administrative assistants. This is fine for a large company that can afford to take its time in making hiring decisions and can leverage its reputation to attract the top candidates in the industry. It’s a luxury that smaller pharmaceutical firms cannot afford. It’s no wonder that many companies tend to turn to recruiting agencies to handle the recruitment process for them. Recruiting agencies can specialize in certain industries, including pharmaceuticals. The more knowledge and intimacy a recruiting firm has for their specialized industry, the better qualified they are to judge the skills and experiences of the candidates they build in their pool. When hiring a recruiting agency, you’re also hiring their experience and their detailed interview processes and hiring processes. They add subject matter experts to their teams, so they have people uniquely qualified to judge and analyze the candidates with equally specialized resumes. With that judgment, a specialized recruiting firm can offer highly targeted and effective prospective employees for their clients to choose from. If you’re looking for pharmaceutical recruitment agencies, you’re in luck. Here’s how to find them. Determine Your Needs Before you decide to seek out a specialized recruiting agency to work with, decide if it’s something you need. For an industry like pharmaceuticals, you have a few options for posting jobs yourself, though this method isn’t without its downsides. Job boards are very competitive and may not be ideal for hard-to-find positions. Here are a few examples: Traditional job boards like Indeed , Glassdoor , or ZipRecruiter can host highly specialized jobs just as easily as they can entry-level positions. Skilled individuals still use these boards when searching for jobs, if for no other reason than that they have a large pool to choose from. Specialized job boards such as PharmaOpportunities exist for specialized industries, including pharmaceuticals. The cost to post a job listing on these sites is often less than what you would pay for a recruiting agency on a retainer. Networking still works. Whether you’re reaching out to connections through LinkedIn, asking your existing employees for referrals, or setting up a hiring booth at a trade show, standard avenues for reaching certain types of skilled individuals still work just fine. On the other hand, you may not have the time to personally manage your hiring process . Recruiting firms may cost more per hire than doing the legwork yourself, but the costs balance out when you factor in the value of your time. A specialized recruiting firm can often present you with a pool of qualified candidates on short notice, simply because they have the resources and the candidate pool already built through their work with other clients. HRDailyAdvisor adds another point . “A [recruiting company] may also have the connections to be able to find passive candidates who are a perfect match for the position but would not have otherwise known about it. This means it’s possible to get an even better candidate for the role than the organization would have found on their own.” On the other hand, they point out another pitfall. “Depending on the situation, a [recruiting company] may place a candidate for interviews with several companies concurrently. This can increase the likelihood that your chosen candidate will have competing offers.” Deciding if you truly need a recruiting company and can benefit from their access, experience, connections, and pool, or if you would rather do the legwork yourself, is the first step. Pick a Model The next thing you’ll want to do is pick a recruitment model. Recruiting agencies generally work in one of two models. The contingent model is a model where the recruiting agency is paid contingent on their candidate being chosen. A company that works with a contingent agency typically works with many such agencies at once. Each agency is incentivized to throw as many candidates into the overall pool as possible, to maximize the chances that their candidate is chosen for a role. This model is fine for filling low-level vacancies and entry-level positions but doesn’t always work as well for senior-level executive positions. If you need bodies to fill seats and can train them in the specifics of their jobs later, working with contingent agencies is just fine. If you’re investing heavily in a single candidate and want to choose the best possible person for the role, you’ll likely want to go with the other model. The retained search model is a more exclusive relationship between the pharmaceutical recruitment agencies and the pharmaceutical companies. It’s a more traditional style of outsourcing; one company handles focused and dedicated recruiting for their client. The recruiting firm is paid on retainer and works to familiarize themselves with their client company. They end up as a hybrid of recruiting agency and brand ambassador. Close familiarity with the client company ensures that a retained recruiting agency can pick candidates with a high chance of matching not just the skills needed, but the overall ethos and cultural fit as well. The downside to this model is, of course, the speed of the process. Recruiting with an emphasis on finding the right fit can take significantly longer than the wide but shallow approach of the contingent model. Both models are perfectly acceptable and viable for a pharmaceutical company to use. It just depends on the urgency of the vacancy, how much the cultural fit matters, and how specialized the vacancy is. A third option is hiring an Emerge Talent Cloud Recruiter. A cloud recruiter is essentially the same as any other full-time recruiter who you may hire, but in this case, you pay them an hourly rate rather than a base salary.  As such, they are a contractor, and thus temporary employees. Hiring an Emerge Talent Cloud Recruiter to tackle a hiring spike can be a cost-effective and smart option, especially when they have experience recruiting in a specific domain such as the pharmaceutical industry. Some recruiting companies such as Emerge Talent Cloud also offer even more flexible, hybrid solutions that combine the best elements of a cloud recruiter and an RPO (recruitment process outsourcing). Look for Specialists For a highly skilled and specialized industry like pharmaceuticals, you can’t hire just anyone. You need to find highly skilled, trained, and knowledgeable individuals to fill your vacancies. Much like you wouldn’t hire a fresh college grad to be your lead biochemist, you shouldn’t hire a generalist recruiting agency to fill specialized roles. Scott Kabo , a client partner for Klein Hersch, agrees. “It’s really important that hiring managers look for firms that have specialization in specific disciplines, true subject matter expertise, and a track record of success. The pharmaceutical recruiting agencies or headhunters will be the brand ambassador for the company. Therefore, they need to know what they’re talking about when it comes to candidates being a good fit for a position.” There are dozens of recruiting agencies out there that specialize in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, biochemistry, medical devices, and other related niches. Finding them is a lot easier than you might think. Find Lists There are three ways you can find and build a list of potential recruiting firms to interview for your recruiting needs. First, you can find online lists. If you can dream up something, there’s probably someone online already doing it. Such is the case with aggregators for companies. These lists provide large directories of recruiting firms with details about the companies. You can see excerpts of who they are and who they serve, their contact information, links to their websites, and other relevant information. It makes finding and comparing firms a lot easier. Second, you can ask around. While the pharmaceutical industry is cutthroat, networking is still possible, and there’s no reason not to simply ask other business owners or HR managers how they handle their recruiting. You can do so privately via email or another contact method, or you can turn to public Q&A sites like Quora to see what their readership has to say. Another source of networking is an industry event. Wenny, from Women in Pharma Careers, says this : “Relevant trade shows and conferences in your field are a great place to meet with recruiters.” Third, you can find them manually. Google is useful for more than just finding aggregators; you can find recruiting agencies directly as well. One thing to keep in mind is that the most visible recruiting companies are not necessarily the best. The names that keep coming up everywhere you look might be popular because they’re good, sure, but they might also simply have the best grasp of SEO and reputation management. Often, the largest companies don’t always need to promote themselves so widely and may take some digging to find. Analyze Potential Pharmaceutical Recruitment Agencies Much like hiring an employee, contracting with a recruiting company is a multi-step process. The first step is to build a list of potential candidates . The second step is to analyze them. What’s important to this analysis? Their business model. Some companies work on retainer, some work on contingency, and some offer both options. Filter companies that suit your needs. Their scale. Some pharmaceutical recruiters only work with companies that have million-dollar annual budgets for hiring and have dozens or hundreds of positions to fill each year. Others work on a per-position basis. Their location. Some recruiting agencies only work in specific regions, states, or countries. Others have offices around the world. A larger agency can offer a wider range of candidates but they may be more costly to retain. Their specialties. Some recruiting agencies have narrow specialties within the overall pharmaceutical industry, such as medical device design, biotechnology, or novel pharmaceutical research. Others cover all the bases on anything related to the niche. Their reputation. Much like how you would perform a background check for a candidate employee, you should research the background of a recruiting agency you’re interested in contracting. Pay particular attention to reviews and complaints left on industry-relevant social communities and discussion boards. Their attitude. We’ve all had times when a recruiter looks good on paper, but actually talking to them reveals an arrogance, hesitance, or another flaw that turns you off. It might be nothing more than a bad day for the representative you talk to, or it could be a systemic problem with the company. Conversely, if the recruiter exudes confidence without arrogance, personality without ego, and competence without hesitance, they’re much more likely to be a valuable ally. It also helps to talk to representatives of the agency as part of an interview . If an agency looks promising, talking to a representative can give you a closer view of what they’re good at and where their weaknesses are. Make a Choice and Make a Hire Analysis paralysis is a problem facing many companies. Building a list and checking it twice is fine, but if you get stuck deciding between close-match companies, and you’re getting deep into the weeds of minor points, just pull the trigger on one of them. If they don’t work out, you can always change your mind. At the end of the day, what’s really important is that the recruiting company you work with manages to help you hire the skilled, talented employees you need. Whether it’s a pharmaceutical chemist, a bioengineer, or simply a knowledgeable administrative assistant, filling your vacancies with high-quality employees is the most important part. Everything else is just details getting from A to B. Conclusion In the dynamic and intricate world of pharmaceuticals, the challenge of recruitment is as complex as it is critical. Hiring the right people isn’t just about filling vacancies; it’s about advancing your company’s mission and solidifying its place in the industry. Whether you’re a burgeoning startup or an established name, understanding the nuances of pharmaceutical recruitment is essential. The journey to finding the ideal recruitment agency is paved with decisions — from determining your hiring needs to selecting a recruitment model that aligns with your company’s ethos and objectives. It’s a path that requires careful consideration, a keen understanding of your industry’s landscape, and a clear vision of the talent you seek. As we’ve navigated through the intricacies of pharmaceutical recruitment, from the merits of various job boards to the strategic approach of specialized recruiting agencies, one thing remains clear: your decision can shape the future of your organization. It’s not just about hiring an individual; it’s about embracing a partnership that fosters growth, innovation, and success. As you stand at this crossroads, pondering your next move in the recruitment chess game, remember that your choice will set the stage for your company’s future. The right recruitment partner can be the catalyst that propels your organization forward, bringing in not just employees, but visionaries who will drive your mission with passion and expertise. Are you ready to take the next step in refining your recruitment strategy? Contact our team today and learn how we can help you grow your team.

The ongoing global pandemic has thrown the labor market into disarray. Dramatic unemployment, dramatic increases in hiring, a massive shift towards remote work, and an increase in remote hiring have all thrown historic trends out the window. Companies right now are cautious. Many have made the shift to remote work and, six months in, have gotten over the initial hurdles. Business is returning for many sectors, and with the holidays ramping up , many companies are looking to surge their hiring for the season. Yet with a focus on remote work in many areas, screening your job candidates remotely is a huge advantage. The traditional series of in-person interviews is not safe, and even with precautions in place, many well-qualified candidates are turned off by the prospect. How can your company screen candidates remotely, without putting yourselves or your candidates at risk? Here are five methods you can use. 1. Resume/CV Analysis One of the oldest methods available to HR is the resume analysis. A resume is meant to be a tailored document that showcases the relevant skills, experiences, and work histories for the role the applicant is applying for. An unfortunate reality, though, is that the average resume only gets around six seconds of attention before being discarded. When you can’t talk to a candidate in person, it’s worthwhile to spend a little more time looking at their resumes first. What should you look for? Length. The length of a good resume should never be more than two pages. A single page is often not quite enough space, especially for upper-level or technical positions, while anything longer means the applicant isn’t thinking about what is relevant to their chosen role. Design. A resume should be well-planned and well-laid out to present information in a logical, self-contained manner. If it’s scattered and poorly organized, it reflects poorly upon the candidate. Exotic formats, designs, and shapes for a resume aren’t necessarily beneficial, and should only be considered relevant for creative design positions. Language. Appropriate use of language is important. Make sure the candidate isn’t disparaging of their past employers. Make sure they have a firm grasp on the technical aspects of the language and aren’t making obvious grammar and spelling mistakes. Don’t worry about simple language, though; unless the position requires compelling use of language, it’s not necessarily reflective of the applicant’s skills. Experience. Your ideal candidates should have job experience relevant to the role they’re applying for (unless it’s an entry-level position). Entry-level jobs mean you should look more into skills and education, though relevant work experience can be valuable if it exists. For example, if you’re hiring a project manager, you want your candidate to have some kind of project management experience. If you’re hiring a retail cashier, their experience isn’t relevant. Tailoring. How well-tailored to the role is the resume? Do they include skills, experience, and accolades only relevant to other industries or other positions? This can be a sign that the candidate is just sending the same resume out to every position they come across, and they aren’t thinking specifically about your company or about the role to see where they fit in. Cover letter. If you want, you can ask for a cover letter along with your applications. You can then filter candidates by how well they follow directions, and how it fits with their application. A cover letter can also give you some idea of the candidate’s personality and cultural fit with your office. Now, there are some drawbacks to using resume filtering as a screening method . It’s time-consuming. Going through resumes manually is tedious, especially when you have thousands of them on your plate. It’s no wonder that so many are discarded right away, for superficial problems. Authentic Organizations says: “Studies show that we correctly assess someone’s correct personality traits only 20% of the time, and even then we can get only a few kinds of traits close to right.” Personal biases, even judging the gender and name of an applicant from their resume, are a huge systemic issue. Anonymizing resumes is an important part of impartial judgment. It’s not necessarily representative. There are hundreds of services available online for users to get their resumes polished up for submission, and that means the resumes you get aren’t reflective of the skills of the individual, but the skills of the people helping them format it. A well-organized resume could come from a highly disorganized person and you’d have no way to know. A good modern applicant tracking system can handle a lot of cursory reviews of resumes, as well as resume anonymizing, but they can’t necessarily filter you down to the single best candidate. You’ll need to spend time and judgment on resumes no matter how you handle the process. 2. Reference Interviews Ask anyone if they can ever recall having their references contacted as part of a job application , and you’re likely to get a resounding no. It’s surprisingly rare for companies to reach out and contact references for their candidates. Yet, in a time when it’s increasingly difficult to get a feel for a candidate through standard interviews, contacting references can be a valuable tool. The truth is, references are commonly checked, but it’s not common for those references to then mention that fact to the candidate. According to The Balance Careers , 92% of employers conduct background checks that include talking with references. The higher level the position, the more likely they are to contact at least three references. When interviewing references, you want to get a feel for who you’re talking to and what their relationship is with the candidate. It’s very different interviewing a former boss and interviewing a childhood friend. Who the candidate chooses as references can be telling as well. Ask the right questions when interviewing references. Whenever possible, go into detail about how the candidate performed at their previous job, why they left the company, and how their previous role relates to the open position. Ask if they encountered problems with the candidate, and how those problems were resolved. Ask how the candidate responded to feedback when it was given. If the reference is a former boss, ask if they would hire the candidate again. All of this can give you a good insight into the candidate’s ability to perform in their role. 3. Online Skills Testing If you’re filtering your candidates based solely on their resumes, you might be missing out on skilled candidates with talent that wasn’t necessarily represented well in their resume. References may be biased in their analysis. Neither gives you a hands-on look at how the candidate performs in their given role. To that end, we turn to more modern technology: online skills testing. Skills tests are practical tests that challenge the candidate to perform tasks relevant to their intended role, and allow you to grade them based on that performance. For example, a developer role might have a coding skills test that challenges the candidate to complete a handful of coding tasks, so you can see how they work. Some companies that provide skills tests include: eSkill’s Talent Assessment Platform SkillRobo’s Testing Library Interview Mocha’s Test Bank Test Up’s Knowledge Tests These skills tests do have some drawbacks. For one thing, most skills tests are focused on technical roles, like development and coding. Other positions, like managerial roles, HR, sales, and support, are harder to test for in a codified environment. Additionally, a skills testing platform will cost money, which adds to the overall expense of recruiting. Setting up this system and integrating it into your hiring process can be a hassle, so it’s not always right for everyone and every role. 4. Paid Trial Projects Another option you can use is to hire candidates part-time or as a contract worker to start. Paying a candidate for a project where you can see everything from how they work with your team to how they complete their objectives gives you an excellent idea of how they can work within your organization. This isn’t a great screening option for roles where you have hundreds or thousands of applicants to sort through. You won’t be paying each and every one of them for a test project. Instead, it works in conjunction with screening your job candidates remotely. Once you’ve narrowed your field down to the top five or so candidates, you can pay them for work and see how they fit. Trial periods are a good option to give potential employees a chance to prove themselves in a real environment. Some candidates may balk at the idea of working for a month with no guarantee of ongoing employment, but others will take the chance to show their skills and work with your team to impress you. Depending on the situation, you may need to be flexible with a trial project. For example, if a candidate is waiting for a job offer before leaving their current job, they can’t very well work for you for eight hours a day without their current employer punishing them. Make your projects task-oriented, not time-based, so they can be completed outside of your regular business hours. You should also strive to make the task meaningful, rather than busywork that will have no impact on your company. If you’re hesitant to bring on what is essentially a short-term contractor for security reasons, you may consider setting up an NDA for these trial periods. You don’t need to throw open your doors and let every candidate access your internal network just for the application process, after all. Make sure you’re compensating your candidates for the time and work they put in. Paid work is always more enticing than unpaid labor, which turns off many of the best candidates. Otherwise, it’s just an internship, and unpaid internships can have a whole host of their own problems. 5. Online Research A traditional background check can tell you a lot about a candidate. A resume can give you an idea of their relevant skills. Speaking with their references can help you understand their work ethic and their history. Interviews can give you an impression of how they act on a good day. There’s just one problem. All of this is chosen and presented by the candidate. Obviously, they’re going to put their best foot forward. The thing is, nobody is at their best every single day. Some people look better on paper than they are in reality, and some people are extremely disingenuous. It’s always a good idea to look for warning signs of a candidate who is more – and less – than they appear. One option modern employers have is to look up the candidate online. In this age of blogs, social media profiles, and public comments, everyone leaves a trail. Modern trends indicate that 90% of employers look up applicant social media profiles and activity as part of the hiring process, and 54% of employers have eliminated a candidate based on their activity. So, look them up. You have their name and enough information from their resume to differentiate them from other people with the same name. Google their name and see what comes up. Check out Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other public activity. What should you look for? Any warning sign that might turn you off. Inappropriate photos, posting about drug or alcohol abuse, discrimination or racism, slander, bad-mouthing your company (or a previous company); there are many reasons you might consider. Some companies have even rejected candidates because their screen name was inappropriate. You’re free to make the decision based on anything you want, so long as it’s not a protected part of their demographics. Conclusion Regardless of how you choose to screen your employees remotely, you need to pick candidates with the right mixture of skills, experience, and personality to work as part of your team. Getting the right hires is more important than ever, and wading through the sea of underqualified applicants always takes time. It’s better to spend than time than to deal with turnover. Screening job candidates remotely is a vital and nuanced process, especially in the current global landscape where remote work has become the norm for many companies.  Each method has its strengths and potential pitfalls, and it’s crucial for employers to use a combination that suits their specific needs. By investing time and resources into a thorough screening process, employers can ensure they select candidates who are not only skilled and experienced but also fit well within their company culture.  If you need help hiring excellent teammates to grow your business, contact us today . We help companies just like you hire the employees they need to get to the next level.

Navigating the complex regulatory landscape of the banking and finance industry can be daunting, especially when it comes to hiring. Compliance violations can result in hefty fines, legal battles, and severe reputational damage. The banking and finance sector operates within a highly regulated environment. From federal laws to industry-specific guidelines, employers must adhere to a strict set of rules to avoid legal repercussions. Non-compliance can lead to costly fines from regulatory bodies like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Labor (DOL). Key Compliance Considerations in Banking & Finance Hiring Several key regulations govern the hiring process in the banking and finance industry. Let's explore some of the most critical ones: Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA):   The FCRA regulates the use of consumer reports, including background checks. Key Considerations: Obtaining Candidate Consent:  Employers must obtain written consent from candidates before conducting any background checks. Providing Proper Disclosures:  Candidates must be informed of the types of background checks that will be conducted and how the information will be used. Ensuring Accuracy and Fairness:  Employers must ensure the accuracy and fairness of background check reports and take steps to address any discrepancies. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Laws:   These laws prohibit discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, and genetic information.    Key Considerations: Implementing Fair Hiring Practices:  Employers must establish and implement fair and objective hiring practices to avoid discriminatory outcomes. Ensuring Equal Opportunity for All:  All qualified candidates must have an equal opportunity to be considered for employment, regardless of their protected characteristics. Avoiding Discriminatory Interview Questions:  Interviewers must avoid asking questions that could reveal a candidate's protected characteristics, such as their age, marital status, or origin. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Rules:   FINRA, a self-regulatory organization for the securities industry, has specific rules for registered representatives and broker-dealers. Key Considerations: Background Checks and Suitability:  FINRA requires thorough background checks and suitability determinations for individuals seeking employment in the securities industry. Maintaining Records:  Broker-dealers must maintain accurate records of all hiring-related activities. Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Regulations:   These regulations require financial institutions to implement measures to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. Key Considerations: Due Diligence:  Conduct thorough due diligence on candidates, especially those in high-risk positions, to assess potential money laundering risks. Know Your Customer (KYC) Procedures:  Implement robust KYC procedures to identify and verify customer identities. Monitoring for Suspicious Activity:  Monitor for any suspicious activity that may indicate potential money laundering. Background Checks: Best Practices and Considerations Background checks are a crucial part of the hiring process, but they must be conducted legally and ethically. Here are some best practices to consider: Choosing a Reliable Background Check Provider: Select a reputable and compliant background check provider that adheres to industry best practices and complies with all relevant laws and regulations. Ensure the provider uses reliable sources and adheres to strict data security measures. Types of Background Checks: Criminal Background Checks:  Conduct criminal background checks at the federal, state, and county levels. Credit Checks:  If permissible and relevant to the job, conduct credit checks and ensure compliance with all applicable laws. Employment and Education Verification:  Verify employment history and educational credentials with previous employers and educational institutions. Professional License and Certification Verification:  Verify professional licenses and certifications for relevant positions. Adverse Action and Notice Requirements: If a candidate is not hired due to information found in a background check, the employer must provide the candidate with a pre-adverse action notice. This notice should inform the candidate of the adverse action and provide them with an opportunity to dispute any inaccuracies in the background check report. If the employer decides to proceed with the adverse action, they must provide the candidate with an adverse action notice. Interviewing and Selection Processes The interview process is a critical step in the hiring process. To ensure fairness and compliance, employers should: Developing Structured Interview Questions: Design interview questions that are job-related and avoid discriminatory inquiries. Use consistent scoring methods to evaluate candidates objectively. Document all interview notes and decisions. Avoiding Unlawful Inquiries: Avoid asking questions that could reveal a candidate's protected characteristics, such as: Age Marital status Pregnancy National origin Religious beliefs Disability status Creating an Inclusive and Bias-Free Hiring Process: Implement blind resume reviews to minimize unconscious bias in the initial screening process. Use diverse interview panels to ensure a variety of perspectives and reduce the potential for bias. Promote a culture of inclusion and diversity within the organization to attract and retain a diverse workforce. I-9 Employment Verification All U.S. employers are required to verify the employment eligibility of all new hires using the Form I-9. Completing and Maintaining I-9 Forms: Ensure all new hires complete the I-9 form within three business days of their start date. Verify employment eligibility within three business days using original documents. Maintain accurate I-9 records for at least three years after the employee's date of hire or one year after the employee's date of termination, whichever is later. Avoiding I-9 Form Errors: Understand the different types of acceptable documentation for I-9 verification. Implement a system for reviewing and correcting I-9 forms to ensure accuracy. Stay updated on any changes to I-9 regulations, as they may be updated periodically. E-Verify Program: The E-Verify program is a web-based system that allows employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their new hires. While not mandatory for all employers, some states and federal contractors are required to participate in E-Verify. If your organization participates in E-Verify, ensure compliance with all program requirements. Data Privacy and Security Protecting candidate data is crucial to maintaining trust and complying with relevant regulations. Protecting Candidate Data: Implement robust data security measures, such as firewalls, encryption, and access controls, to protect candidate information. Limit access to sensitive data to authorized personnel on a need-to-know basis. Comply with data privacy regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).    Maintaining Confidentiality: Maintain the confidentiality of all candidate information throughout the hiring process. Use secure communication channels for all hiring-related correspondence, such as encrypted email and secure file transfer protocols. Develop and implement data breach response protocols to address any potential security incidents. Staying Informed and Updated The regulatory landscape is constantly evolving. To ensure ongoing compliance, employers must: Monitoring Regulatory Changes: Stay informed about changes in employment laws and regulations by subscribing to relevant industry publications and newsletters. Regularly review and update hiring policies and procedures to reflect changes in the law. Regularly Reviewing Hiring Policies and Procedures: Conduct periodic audits of hiring practices to identify and address any potential compliance issues. Provide ongoing training to HR staff and hiring managers on compliance requirements. Conclusion Navigating the complex regulatory landscape of the banking and finance industry requires a proactive and diligent approach to hiring. By understanding and adhering to key compliance considerations, employers can minimize legal risks, protect their brand, and ensure a fair and equitable hiring process. Remember, this information is for general guidance only and does not constitute legal advice. It is essential to consult with legal counsel to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. By implementing these best practices and staying informed about regulatory changes, employers can create a compliant and successful hiring process that attracts and retains top talent while mitigating legal and reputational risks. Disclaimer:  This information is for general knowledge and informational purposes only, and does not constitute legal, investment, or financial advice. Note:  This blog post aims to provide general guidance and may not cover all specific requirements in every jurisdiction.

The financial services  industry is evolving rapidly, and this evolution has created a pressing need for exceptional talent. Asset and wealth management , along with investment banking, are foundational areas within this sector. These fields require professionals with both technical expertise and the ability to adapt to ever-changing market conditions. However, recruiting in these areas comes with its own set of challenges, from high competition to shifting candidate expectations.  Understanding the evolving talent demands , recruitment challenges, and strategies for attracting and retaining top professionals in these competitive sectors is crucial for firms aiming to succeed in today’s financial services landscape.  Evolving Talent Needs in Asset and Wealth Management   The world of asset and wealth management has undergone a significant transformation in recent years. Technology advancements , evolving client expectations, and a heightened focus on sustainability have redefined the skills and attributes firms seek in professionals.  1. Tech-Savvy Professionals:   Digital platforms have become the cornerstone of asset management. Firms are increasingly seeking candidates skilled in data analytics, machine learning, and fintech solutions. These tools enable better client insights, portfolio management , and risk assessment. Professionals who can interpret complex data to create tailored investment strategies are in high demand.  2. Personalized Client Services:   Modern clients expect more than just financial returns; they want personalized strategies aligned with their long-term goals. This is particularly true for high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs), who require bespoke services tailored to their unique needs. Asset managers must provide customized solutions , addressing tax optimization, legacy planning, and wealth preservation strategies.  3. Focus on ESG Investing:   Environmental, Social, and Governance ( ESG ) factors are reshaping investment strategies. Asset managers must understand the nuances of sustainable investing, from identifying greenwashing risks to navigating regional regulations. Professionals with expertise in ESG frameworks and a commitment to ethical investing are invaluable in today’s market.  4. Catering to the Needs of Millennial and Gen Z Investors:   The younger generations, especially millennials and Gen Z, are reshaping the investment landscape. These groups are more likely to embrace digital platforms and prioritize investments that align with their values, such as ESG-conscious funds. Candidates  who can navigate these preferences and offer tailored investment strategies will be crucial in meeting the expectations of these clients.  5. Managing Generational Wealth Transfer:   As wealth transitions from one generation to the next, firms must equip professionals  with the knowledge to guide clients through generational wealth transfer and succession planning. This includes crafting wills, trusts, and tax-efficient strategies that preserve family wealth across generations. By understanding these complexities, firms can strengthen relationships with high-net-worth families and ensure their financial legacies remain intact.     Recruitment Challenges in Investment Banking  Investment banking has long been synonymous with prestige and high rewards, yet the industry faces unique recruitment hurdles. From evolving job expectations to shifts in work-life priorities, here are some of the challenges recruiters  encounter:  1. High-Pressure Environment:   The demanding nature of investment banking requires candidates with extraordinary resilience. Professionals must navigate intense workloads, complex transactions, and tight deadlines—all while maintaining their  performance . Identifying candidates who can thrive under pressure is a persistent challenge.  2. Balancing Technical and Soft Skills:   Investment banking roles require a blend of financial acumen and interpersonal skills. While technical abilities like financial modeling and valuation are non-negotiable, client-facing roles also demand diplomacy, negotiation, and relationship-building . Striking the right balance in candidates is a consistent struggle.  3. Competition from Other Industries:   As tech and other sectors offer lucrative roles with better work-life balance, investment banking has seen an exodus of talent. These industries often appeal to candidates who prioritize flexibility and innovation over traditional prestige, intensifying the competition  for top professionals.     Leveraging Technology in Recruitment  Technology  has transformed the recruitment landscape, equipping firms with tools to identify and engage talent more efficiently. Embracing these innovations can provide a significant competitive advantage:  1. AI and Data Analytics:   Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing how recruiters screen candidates. Predictive analytics can identify candidates with the right skill sets and cultural fit by analyzing resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and other data sources. This speeds up the recruitment process  while ensuring precision in hiring decisions.  2. Virtual Recruitment Tools:   Remote hiring solutions, including virtual interviews and online assessments, have become standard. These tools allow firms to access a global talent pool without the constraints of geographic location. Additionally, virtual recruitment  minimizes costs and expedites decision-making.  3. Gamification and Interactive Assessments:   To evaluate problem-solving, adaptability, and decision-making skills, firms are increasingly using gamified assessments. These engaging tools provide a better understanding of candidates’ abilities while offering a positive candidate experience.     Attracting and Retaining Top Talent  In a competitive talent market, attracting and retaining the best candidates  requires intentionality and innovation. Firms must go beyond compensation to create a compelling value proposition:  1. Competitive Compensation and Benefits:   While competitive pay remains critical, firms are also focusing on non-monetary benefits. Flexible working arrangements, comprehensive wellness programs, and initiatives supporting work-life balance are becoming standard expectations for many professionals .  2. Employer Branding:   A strong employer brand can differentiate a firm in a crowded marketplace. Firms should highlight their unique culture, growth opportunities , and commitment to innovation. For example, showcasing success stories, employee testimonials, and community engagement efforts can create a lasting impression.  3. Mentorship and Upskilling Programs:   Retaining top talent requires continuous investment in their development. Mentorship programs, leadership training , and opportunities for skill enhancement ensure that employees remain engaged and see a clear path for growth within the organization.     Diversity and Inclusion in Recruitment  Diversity and inclusion  (D&I) are no longer optional—they are integral to fostering innovation and achieving sustainable success. Firms that prioritize D&I reap the benefits of diverse perspectives and enhanced problem-solving.  1. Building a Diverse Talent Pipeline:   Proactive efforts to reach underrepresented groups are essential. Partnerships with universities, professional networks, and community organizations can help firms build a pipeline of diverse candidates .  2. Addressing Unconscious Bias:   Implementing blind hiring practices, such as anonymized resumes, and providing training to recruiters on unconscious bias are key strategies to create an equitable recruitment process.  3. Fostering an Inclusive Culture:   Recruitment is only the first step. Firms must create an environment where employees from all backgrounds feel valued and included. Regular surveys, feedback sessions, and inclusion-focused initiatives can help sustain a positive workplace  culture.  Conclusion  Recruiting for asset and wealth management and investment banking is no easy task. These industries demand professionals who excel in technical expertise, adaptability, and relationship-building. By leveraging technology, fostering diversity, and investing in employer branding, firms can position themselves as attractive destinations for top talent .   At Emerge , we specialize in helping firms navigate these challenges. Our deep understanding of the financial services industry allows us to connect you with exceptional candidates who align with your goals. Let’s work together to build a team that drives success and sets the foundation for a thriving future.

In the fast-paced and ever-evolving world of wealth and investment  banking, building the right team is more crucial than ever. These industries operate in high-stakes environments where every decision impacts growth, client satisfaction, and innovation. The ability to secure top-tier talent is not just important; it’s the foundation for sustained success and competitive advantage. From asset management firms to large investment banks, attracting and retaining the right professionals can make or break an organization’s long-term performance.  The challenge of assembling these teams has become even more complex as firms strive to create diverse and inclusive workplaces in sectors historically dominated by similar demographics. Tackling these challenges  requires more than just reactive hiring practices—it demands a forward-thinking, proactive approach that aligns recruitment strategies with the long-term goals of the organization. Strategic workforce planning ensures that hiring efforts contribute not just to filling immediate vacancies but to sustainable growth, innovation, and alignment with the company’s core values.  The Talent Gap: Challenges Facing Wealth and Investment Banking   The talent gap in wealth and investment banking is not just about the shortage of candidates ; it is about the rapidly changing nature of skills required to thrive in these sectors. As the financial landscape becomes more complex, firms need to stay ahead of evolving trends and emerging needs. Addressing these challenges requires a deep understanding of the industry and an ability to recruit beyond traditional methods.   Increased Demand for Specialized Skills   Modern wealth and investment banking extend far beyond traditional financial expertise . Today’s professionals must possess specialized knowledge in areas like Environmental, Social, and Governance ( ESG ) investing, digital banking, blockchain technology, and navigating complex global regulatory landscapes. As sustainability and ethical investing continue to rise in importance, having expertise in ESG investing is no longer a niche—it is a necessity. Firms that can target specialists in emerging fields can not only stay ahead of trends but also ensure they are meeting the increasing demands of investors who are focused on ethical considerations.  Moreover, the rise of digital banking and fintech has introduced a need for professionals with tech-savvy backgrounds who can bridge the gap between finance and technology . Recruiting professionals with a strong understanding of AI, machine learning, and data analytics is key to staying competitive in a rapidly digitalizing industry.  Aging Workforce and Leadership Succession   Another significant challenge is the aging workforce. With many senior leaders in wealth and investment banking nearing retirement, succession planning has become a top priority. The challenge , however, is twofold: not only must firms identify potential future leaders from within their ranks, but they must also find fresh, ambitious talent to fill those roles.  The importance of proactive succession planning cannot be overstated. Identifying and developing emerging leaders early on ensures a smooth transition when senior roles become vacant, avoiding leadership gaps that can impact client relationships and internal operations. Developing a pipeline of future leaders allows firms to maintain continuity while fostering a culture of innovation  and mentorship.  Global Competition for Top Talent   The global competition for exceptional talent has reached an all-time high. With financial markets increasingly globalized and firms operating across borders, the demand for top-tier professionals  has intensified. To stay competitive, wealth and investment banks must find innovative ways to attract, recruit, and retain the best candidates.  Leveraging global talent networks and utilizing targeted recruitment strategies can help firms stand out in an overcrowded talent marketplace . Reaching out to passive candidates—those not actively seeking new opportunities—through personalized approaches and tailored outreach is becoming a crucial strategy. By doing so, firms can tap into a broader talent pool and identify the best candidates who may not be actively searching for new roles but are open to the right opportunity.  Diversity and Inclusion Imperatives   Fostering diverse  teams is no longer optional—it is essential. Diversity in wealth and investment banking is not just about numbers; it’s about creating teams that bring a variety of perspectives and experiences to the table. A diverse team is more likely to generate innovative ideas, make better decisions, and meet the needs of an increasingly diverse client base.  Achieving diversity requires intentional and sustained efforts. Firms must implement equitable hiring practices, provide mentorship and leadership programs, and ensure there are clear career progression paths for individuals from all backgrounds. This commitment must be reflected in the firm’s policies, day-to-day practices, and corporate culture to create a truly inclusive work environment .  How Strategic Recruiting Bridges the Gap   Strategic recruiting offers a solution to the challenges posed by the talent gap in wealth and investment banking. By taking a tailored, forward-thinking approach, firms can address their immediate needs while positioning themselves for long-term success.   Targeted Talent Acquisition Strategies   One of the most effective ways to find the best candidates  is by looking beyond active job seekers. Traditional methods of recruitment often focus on applicants who are actively seeking new opportunities, but some of the best talent is passive—professionals who are currently employed and not necessarily on the job market. By using advanced recruiting tools, databases, and networks, firms can uncover hidden gems and connect with candidates who may not have applied through traditional channels but are an ideal fit for specialized roles .  In addition, leveraging recruitment agencies with industry expertise can significantly speed up the hiring process. These agencies have a deep understanding of the market and can identify candidates with the right skills and experience much faster than traditional methods.  Customizing Recruitment for Firm Culture and Goals   The key to successful recruitment lies in aligning candidates not just with the roles they will fill but also with the organization’s culture and long-term goals. It’s not enough to simply find someone who is qualified for a job— candidates  must also share the firm’s values, work well within the company culture, and contribute to the overall mission and vision of the organization.  By customizing recruitment strategies to focus on cultural fit , firms can enhance employee retention, productivity, and overall job satisfaction. Firms with a strong, positive culture see higher levels of engagement and are more likely to retain top talent over time.  Employer Branding and Value Proposition   In today’s competitive job market, employer branding plays a crucial role in attracting top talent. A strong employer brand communicates what makes a firm unique, its values, and its commitment to employee growth  and innovation. Highlighting commitments to diversity, work-life balance, professional development, and employee well-being can help attract candidates who resonate with those values.  Firms that cultivate a positive employer brand also gain the advantage of attracting candidates who are passionate about their mission, leading to better performance and long-term success.  Streamlined Processes for Faster Results   In the fast-paced world of wealth and i nvestment banking , time is of the essence. Efficiency in the hiring process ensures firms can secure top talent without unnecessary delays. Streamlined workflows, optimized hiring pipelines, and the use of data-driven tools allow firms to accelerate recruitment while still maintaining quality standards.  By reducing bottlenecks and improving communication during the hiring process, firms can offer a better candidate experience, keeping top talent engaged  and preventing them from being poached by competitors.  Real-World Impact: Success Stories   A mid-sized investment bank faced challenges in building an ESG-focused team. By partnering with a strategic recruiting firm, they sourced highly specialized talent from diverse industries . These hires not only filled crucial knowledge gaps but also brought fresh perspectives, which led to innovative investment strategies and a boost in client satisfaction. Tailored recruitment approaches like this one show how targeted efforts can drive results and make a significant impact.  Looking Ahead: Trends in Talent Acquisition   Talent acquisition in wealth and investment banking is rapidly evolving. As technology  plays an increasing role in the recruitment process, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation are becoming key tools for sourcing and engaging candidates. These technologies can analyze resumes , identify the best matches, and even predict candidate success based on data-driven insights.  Additionally, improving the candidate experience has become a top priority. Firms are now focused on making the hiring process smoother, more transparent, and engaging. By enhancing the experience  for job seekers, firms increase their chances of securing top-tier talent while also building a positive reputation in the job market.  Conclusion: Partnering for Success   Addressing the talent gap in wealth and investment banking is critical for success. Strategic recruiting offers practical solutions to these challenges, ensuring that firms have the right people in place to meet both current and future demands. Partnering with recruitment experts who specialize in these industries can help firms attract top talent, streamline hiring processes , and foster diversity and innovation.  In today’s competitive landscape, success depends on assembling exceptional teams. Strategic recruiting is the key to bridging the talent gap and positioning firms for long-term growth and success. Connect with us to discover how we can help your team thrive in an ever-changing financial  world.