Hi I’m Maurice Gilbert, and I am the CEO, President, and Founder of Conselium Executive Search. My company’s main focus is placing legal, regulatory, and compliance professionals with companies that are seeking their specific expertise.
I’m going to be talking about taking and understanding job criteria with a client. This happens to be one of the most important aspects within the search cycle because if you don’t have a great understanding of what the client’s expectations are, it is difficult to hit the mark.
So one of the first things we do when we are talking to our clients is figure out the answer to this basic question: What is it you would like this professional to have accomplished within the first 12 months of employment? It goes beyond asking other basic questions about their education and experience. Focusing your research around that basic question is much more effective then knowing other miscellaneous details about a candidate’s background. Then you back into what are the specific criteria the professional will need to become successful and have a great performance review at the end of the initial 12-month period.
Once you get beyond the technical proficiencies, then the most difficult challenge is matching the professional with the corporate culture. As much as 80% of a candidates hiring potential is based upon what we call the soft skills: the presentation skills, the leadership skills, the ability to sell your ideas because we are placing executives and the executive must be able to articulate and sell your ideas throughout the organizations. Once we get beyond the soft skills, we are looking at what is going on in the company environment itself because that can have a tremendous impact on the profile we are looking for.
One example that comes to mind was trying to place a prime candidate with a client that was going through a corporate integrity agreement. While some potential candidates are averse to taking on a responsibility when a company is in trouble, you have other professionals that would relish the thought of stepping into a challenging environment and bringing that company up to speed. So that’s one example of why a company environment is a crucial part in the job criteria.
Moving on, you have of course, leadership, where you are looking to understand how many people this candidate will supervise, what types of background will these candidates be and will the candidate you’re hiring be the one who will hire his/her staff. Another thing you want to consider when visiting with a client are career growth opportunities. Whenever we present an opportunity to a professional, we are presenting them with the immediate opportunity. Any professional is already thinking, if I come in and do a good job, what then, what are my options for career growth within that company.
So those are some of the dynamics that we pay attention to when we are developing criteria with a client and I look forward to visiting with you again on other steps throughout the search process.
Corporate Compliance Search – Compliance Hiring Process – Criteria
Published by Conselium Executive Search, the global leader in compliance search.
