Executive Recruiter

The company is going to get this information, period. They can ask your last employer for title, compensation and tenure. The Recruiter needs to ensure you are “in range” for the position. If you are $100,000 and the job is $300,000, you are probably not senior enough. If you are $200,000 and the job pays $100,000 the Recruiter won’t be able to meet your compensation requirements. Do not lie! Give your base salary and total compensation. Do not spin. Do not embellish. I guarantee you this...you will get caught.

The more senior the position, the more important it is to know about the candidate’s qualities that will impact his or her leadership style: is the person well adjusted and happy, or is he or she a company zealot?

Discuss hobbies or pursuits that interest you, such as sports, clubs, cultural activities, and favorite things to read.

Avoid dwelling on any political or religious activities that may create conflict with those of the interviewer.

Be honest! If you have applied to the hiring company in the last 12 months, the Recruiter CAN NOT REPRESENT YOU. And don’t ask them to “do you a favor” and recommend you. At the end of the day, this is a for-profit business. Another big tip - if you are applying to online job postings, don’t contact a Recruiter. We get paid very well to find the best of the best, not executives that spam their resume. If you are applying to a $50 LinkedIn ad, the hiring company has no reason to pay a Recruiter.

Major challenges a recruiter faces are:

☛ - Lack of candidates in some particular domain

☛ - Changing trends of the market

☛ - Lack of self motivation

☛ - Lack of agility in the process

☛ - Lack of job prioritization

☛ - Lack of proper job analysis

This helps gain deeper insight into candidates’ motivation for their work.

Their answers can help gauge where their interests may align within the scope of the open position, in terms of the immediate needs of the role, and how their strengths can prove effective over the long term.

Recruitment is a time and money consuming activity. In order to maximize the ROI through recruitment activities, a company should keep following things in mind:

☛ - Clearly define the achievements you expect from the recruitment process. Establishing the clear goals doesn't leave a place for confusion in the system.

☛ - Develop effective ways to measure critical results.

☛ - Precise estimation of time and cost of recruitment.

☛ - Ensure that the people working in the recruitment process are well trained.

☛ - Estimate the tangible and intangible benefits that have come from the recruitment exercise.

Very few applicants indicate their salary requirements on the front end for fear that they’ll overprice themselves and be ruled out. But, if possible, I try to at least get them to give me a salary range. This way, if they’re way over my budget, I don’t waste my time or theirs.

This question helps us understand the candidate’s people orientation. We specifically focus on employee handbook type rules, not safety, risk, or other rules that should never be broken. If they’ve never broken a rule for an employee, chances are they don’t deal well with ambiguity and look at the world very black & white.

Many interview questions often focus on key skills for the position on offer, so make sure that you have prepared examples of your ability for all key skills that the job requires. Once you have prepared your examples, practice them aloud to enable yourself to speak confidently during the interview.

This question helps us understand if the candidate has a high degree of self-awareness. It’s a great indicator of emotional intelligence – does the person really know how they affect people around them.

This question helps us understand the subjects the interviewee cares most deeply about, and also provides insight into where they feel their strengths lie.

If I have one more guy tell me his Brother is an Attorney and his non-compete is not valid...I’m going to cry. There is exactly one thing a Recruiter can get sued for - knowingly placing an executive that is in violation of a non-compete. We don’t do it, ever. If your non-compete is geographic (Nevada or Las Vegas for example), you will be relocating if you want to make a career change. If there is any ambiguity, I let the hiring company General Counsel review the verbiage and make the call.

This question is intentionally vague. Most leaders will answer this question in a way that demonstrates their core values or the way in which they lead.