Looking for an executive to work at your company can be a difficult process. While you want someone that knows what they’re doing and is experienced in their field and can bring a new element to your company, you also want to make sure that they are still teachable and can learn new things that are specific to your company. If you are having a hard time finding that balance in someone then it may be time to look in to hiring an outplacement consulting firm like executive HR search firms. These talent acquisition firms weed out applicants and find the best ones that will help your company and have your business’ best interests in mind. If you are particularly looking into hiring someone to be in your human resources department, there are some personality traits and skill that need to be in place. Let’s look at a couple of the characteristics that executive HR search firms looks for in their candidates.
Preparation
One of the main things that executive HR search firms look for in candidates is how prepared they are. Preparation and organization is a huge part of being on the human resource team and it will show in an interview. Hearing a candidate ask questions like how big the company is or how far the reach is, is a red flag, because they should have looked all of these things up online before coming to the interview. They should have careful questions and ideas that are specific to the job and not the company; nothing that can easily be found on the company’s website.
References
Even though a candidate has the option to pick their own references, it still says a lot about them. You’d be surprised at how many references are called and end up telling the employer that they never gave permission to the candidate to use them as a reference. References should not only be positive but they should already know that they are a reference. If you hear a negative reference, this is huge because the candidate should only want positive references and if this is the best they have to offer then that could indicate a big problem.
Respect and Honesty
There needs to be a certain element of people skills to work in an HR department. You need to be able to respect those around you and be honest about your work. There is a lot of trust placed in HR employees as they handle very sensitive information. During the interview this will be apparent as they express their thoughts and opinions regarding human resources and their ideas about the department. This may be a good time to find out how creative the candidate is as well, by asking them for ideas to better a certain area of the department. The honest factor comes in when you ask about weaknesses. If someone can learn from their mistakes, this is positive. If someone thinks they don’t make mistakes, this is a problem. On the other hand, someone who confesses all of their mistakes to you may seem like they don’t really care to learn from them.
Positive Attitude
You don’t want someone who badmouths their old job. If they do and they ever leave your company, chances are they will do the same to their next potential employer. When asked why they are leaving their current job, their answer should be factually based, not emotional and have an upbeat vibe. They should be concerned about moving onward and upward not pulling the past with them. Everyone has bad experiences but there’s no reason to drag anyone else into it. Being a team player means you have to have an attitude that gets along with other people. If they harbor bad attitudes and grudges, this doesn’t make for great teamwork once disagreements occur, as they so often do in these situations.
You want your candidate to be able to fill the position as far as skills are concerned but you also need to take a look at their character and make sure that they will be able to make a good impact on the company. Proper utilization of executive HR search firms will ensure that you get the best employee.
