Top 10 Recruitment Tips

Top 10 Recruitment Tips

One of my clients is getting ready to open a brand-new convenience store. It’s such an exciting time, but he contacted me concerned that he was going to be unable to staff the store ahead of his impending opening date. I am looking after his key roles, but he asked me for some advice to help him through his upcoming staff recruitment drive.

It prompted me to put together a list for this months article of my top ten tips when recruiting staff for a retail job. Obviously, this list varies slightly with each role, but below are some nice guidelines which some may find useful.

Advertising – when you are writing a job advertisement , whether it’s for a shop front window or an online job board you should quantify the role clearly. Make sure to state the tasks, hours, location, salary and contact details and how to apply. It may seem simple but with over 1500 retail jobs on just one of the job boards as of today, it’s worth ensuring yours has the information potential candidates look for! You should seek to include details which will matter most to prospective employees such as pay and shift pattern, rather than use this space to over elaborate on what the role entails and what you are looking for.

Sell the job – ensure your advert is going to attract candidates to apply – rather than dissuade them from doing so. Oftentimes, retailers compose a job advert which is similar to a wish list of their perfect candidate. Listing endless skills and experience they must have in order to apply. This can lead to few or no relevant applications. Write the advert with the potential candidate in mind – think “WE OFFER” rather than “YOU MUST HAVE!”

Advertise in your locality – Local noticeboards, public spaces, libraries, and community colleges are all great sources of local talent and have the added bonus of hitting the exact demographic you are looking for. With “shorter commute times” one of the top reasons for making a move cited by jobseekers, it is well worth advertising locally to appeal to local hidden talent!

Look at your online job boards paid and unpaid options – these can be worthwhile to attract a decent volume of candidates, but remember they are only as good as the job advertisement you write. Make the role something YOU would like to apply to! When writing a job advert to go online ensure you are using phrases which a job seeker is likely to type into a search bar. “Sales Assistant” will always attract more applicants than “Sales Executive” and “Deli Assistant” will appear in far more searches than “Fresh Food Counter Hand.” If your store is part of a retail brand it is also worth reaching out to see if they can post the advert on their website directly for a wider reach.

Social media – This can be a really useful tool – use your company’s Facebook account and share your job (with a picture) with dedicated groups – such as job fairy boards – but remember to keep an eye on your comment section as well as inbox for responses.

Referrals – Past employees, current employees and customers can be great advocates for your business and you as an employer! Get networking!

Use an agency – (ahem, shameless plug here) Recruitment agencies are professional recruiters – At Excel we have a database of over 85,000 retail candidates and a team of specialist recruiters who understand the industry. This can be a particularly useful option when you are looking for management or specialist candidates as it can be challenging to find the right expertise on your own.

Move with urgency – in this current market you need to respond quickly to candidates who meet your criteria. It goes without saying – still go through your screening and vetting process – but it’s recommended doing them slightly quicker than before!

Job offers – when you are offering the job to your preferred candidate – offer the full package – list every available benefit and include them in your job offer letter. From free parking to free coffees, pensions and holidays – get it all down so that you can relay it to your chosen candidate and get them excited to join your business!

Retain your talent – following a survey of our database we have listed the top reasons candidates choose to remain with their current employer – the more of these you can offer to your team – the less likely they are to leave your business!

→ Career opportunities

→ A voice in the workplace

→ Progression

→ Flexibility

→ Fair pay

→ Fun perks

→ Work life balance

→ Additional Annual leave days

→ Inclusive Culture

Happy recruiting and good luck! For more information call us on 01 814 8747 or email nikki@excelrecruitment.com

You can view all of our live jobs here

How to work as a refugee in Ireland

How to work as a refugee in Ireland

Want to work as a refugee in Ireland?

If you are a refugee and want to work with Excel there are a couple of required documents that we need before we can get you started with us.

– Temporary Residence Certificate (Blue Card)

– Permission to Access the Labour Market letter

These documents must both be in date in order for you to work in Ireland.

You should apply for renewal 8-12 weeks before the renewal date.

For TRC (blue card) renewals you must apply separately. All TRC renewal requests should be sent to the International Protection Office info@ipo.gov.ie. For all Permission to Access the Labour Market letters email Lmauapplications@justice.ie

You can apply via email or by post.

Applying by email is advised with the word “renewal” in the subject line.

If you work without a valid permission, you shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a class D fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 month, or both.

Please click here for more information.

Why use a recruitment agency

Why use a recruitment agency?

Having grown up in the world of independent retail, our Director of Grocery Retail, Nikki Murran, has first-hand knowledge of the difference employing a recruitment agency can make in the quest for good staff. Highlighting the advantages in the article below.

With many retailers still reeling from the cost increases they have shouldered in the last couple of years it’s understandable that they may take pause before committing to paying a recruitment fee for a new hire. Now, I may be biased, (actually I am definitely biased) but, from over a decade of experience and client feedback I absolutely see it as money well spent. Here are the reasons why:

Industry experts and market insights

When you partner with an agency, you should choose one who are specialists in their field. Or, have a specialist department that recruit for your field. My team all come from grocery retail. We all know a good store manager when we see one, we all know the difference between a deli manager and a deli supervisor, a scratch baker, and a confectioner. In the same way that my colleague who runs the fashion department can recognise the difference between a high street retailer and a luxury one! It’s what we do!

Having an industry expert recruiter on your side means they always have a read of the current market. They should keep you updated on salary trends in the market or what candidates are looking for to make a move. They should give you direction, guidance, or feedback when you register a job, making sure you are putting your store in the best position to attract the best candidates. This is surprisingly rarely about money – often it’s some flexibility around shift patterns, contracted hours, job titles, or review periods. But the point is, a good recruitment partner will help you frame your job to make it as attractive as possible, without forcing you outside of your budget!

A good rule of thumb here is if a recruitment agency hasn’t compiled a salary survey specific to your industry each year for the past couple of years, they are unlikely to be a real expert in that field.

Employer branding

With the Irish market hovering around the perfect unemployment mark the last couple of months – now is more important than ever to make sure your brand as an employer is landing well. A good agency will likely have a read of the market perceptions about your brand and will give you some honest feedback when asked. A great agency will help shape your employer brand message and project it out into the market.

We make it a point to find out all the great things about your store and role and use these to help attract the best candidates for you.

Talent pool

If you are advertising for your current open role, chances are you are confined to candidates who are job-seeking this week, candidates who are applying for roles that match their experience, candidates who are applying to the salary range you have on offer, and candidates who managed to find your job ad amongst 100’s of others. It’s a pretty narrow field when you think of it like that.

Excel Recruitment has over 90,000 candidates on our database. The vast majority of placements we make, come, not from candidates who apply at the right time, for the right role. Rather, they are from candidates who applied over the last year or so and spoke at length to a recruiter about their experience and skill set and what they are looking for in their next move. When we get the right role in – we then reach out to the right candidate – it’s like a jigsaw! So, we deal with a much larger pool of candidates for your job than you could likely hope to.

We also love the saying “Great people know great people.” Most of my own placements come through recommendations, clients recommend me to each other, and candidates do the same. In fact, most of my conversations seem to start with “such and such” passed me on your number!

Bang for your buck!

I grew up in the world of independent retail. When our family store was looking to recruit a new store manager, maybe 15 years ago now, I knew the money to cover that was coming, not from some head office fund, but out of the store’s bottom line. With this in mind, I was sure that we should try to find the right candidate ourselves before trying an agency.

We spent a considerable amount of money on advertising; in a newspaper, two online job boards and on a radio station. We spent hours sifting through applications and met every applicant who had ever worked in retail management. It was all a waste of money and time. When we reached out to Excel Recruitment (plug, sorry – but we did!) they had candidates for us within a week. The guy we hired increased the margin within 6 months, and more than covered the fee we had paid.

Really, in a management or specialist role, when you compare the cost of the placement to the value that candidate will bring to your bottom line it’s a no-brainer! Especially considering if you don’t hire someone you don’t pay anything!

Hassle-free

Time is the one thing every retailer I know is short on. Using an agency means that after one detailed phone call, you have a team of recruiters working on your role. They will advertise your job, source candidates, sell them the benefits of your business, set up interviews, follow up on feedback, offer the job at your direction, deal with messy counter offers, and complete verified reference checks. They basically take most of the pain out of the recruitment process for you!

You can check out this feature in the most recent edition of ShelfLife Magazine here. For more information call us on 01 814 8747 or email nikki@excelrecruitment.com

You can view all of our live jobs here

childcare in retail

The realities of juggling childcare while working in retail

With the summer holidays upon us, our Director of Grocery Retail, Nikki Murran, reflects on the realities of juggling childcare while working in retail and looks at what the government could do to help parents and carers in this situation

This summer we planned out our childcare for my 8-year-old – it was like a military operation; involving spreadsheets, booking summer camps (these can be harder to secure than Taylor Swift tickets!), carpool agreements with neighbours, and roping in of grandparents to make up the difference. It was going to be a balancing act, but we were confident we had it covered and my kiddo would likely be a football star by the end of it. (Based on the number of hours he would be playing and the amount of money we were spending anyway!)

The first day of the first camp started with thunderstorms and a cancelled camp. Thankfully Nana was happy to help, and we figured it was a once-off. Day 2 he fractured his wrist. After the doctor explained it was 4-6 weeks of downtime my devastated son asked in the car – what about football camp? GAA camp? Golf camp? Hurling Camp? Athletics Camp?  “What indeed!” I thought!

We went back to the spreadsheets, back to the grandparents, and back to our bosses. We both shifted our summer to add a little working from home and within a few hours – problem solved.

It made me think, though – what if I was still working in retail? Working from home would not have been an option. What if we both were? What about the 300,000 people working in retail in Ireland this summer? How many of them have kids? What do they do on thundery days or when an arm gets fractured, or a chickenpox appears?

In a recent survey conducted by Excel Recruitment, it was found that 6 in 10 workers feel the cost of childcare is unaffordable. The survey also found that 58% of couples with children said their partner had to give up work due to the cost of childcare – and in 62% of these cases, the person that left the workforce was female.

My 3-year-old daughter is in a wonderful creche – they love her, she loves them, they paint, dance, go to the beach, the park, and plenty more. It’s expensive, like a second mortgage expensive, but they have early drop-off and late collection. However, it still means that one of us does a later shift so we can drop – and the other does an earlier shift to be back in time for collection. If one of us worked in retail, I can’t help but wonder how we would manage.

How do single parents, working in retail or hospitality juggle it all? How do they find childcare at the weekend? In evenings? On Christmas Eve? New Years Eve? All these peak trading days?

With a continued staffing crisis, and Ireland reaching its lowest level of unemployment in 20 years it’s imperative that all is done to ensure those willing to work are given the opportunities to. But with the current cost of childcare and the lack of childcare outside office hours, we are blocking a large cohort of available talent from the retail sector.

The government should do more, it should fall to them to make childcare more affordable, give better support to childcare providers, incentivize more flexibility from employers, and look for more novel approaches to combat this issue.

However, the government moves slowly, and the staffing crisis is upon us now, so it falls to retailers to look for workarounds. In recent months, more and more of my clients are adjusting their hiring practice to welcome part-time staff for full-time roles. I have placed a handful of Deli Managers working 4 days, an Assistant Manager who needs Wednesday nights and Thursday mornings off while his partner (a Nurse) does her long shift, and a Store Manager who needs most Saturdays off as he coaches his daughter’s GAA team. These candidates would have been unplaceable a couple of years ago, during a time when retailers were demanding full flexibility from employees. But the time has arrived where it is now employees demanding this flexibility from employers!

The main tool retailers have in their arsenal to tackle this issue is their store rota. What is working for many retailers is doing the rota weeks in advance, rather than just for the following week – often this extra notice is enough for parents to adjust childcare needs. I’ve also heard of successes with partnering, particularly in local stores – where a role is divided between two staff members – both with kids in the same school – here, they split their job, and both worked a 3-day week – covering the store for 6 days rather than 5 and they minded each other’s kids on the respective days off – it was a win-win for all.

From the feedback we have gotten from retailers making these adjustments – the best advice on offer seems to be open-mindedness – ruling nothing out and spending just a little longer on the scheduling and giving staff more input into the rota from the outset. These tweaks may cost a little time each week, but ultimately may result in a more dedicated, loyal workforce – seems a worthwhile trade to me!

You can check out this feature in the most recent edition of ShelfLife Magazine here. For more information call us on 01 814 8747 or email nikki@excelrecruitment.com

You can view all of our live jobs here

 

Online Interview

How to ace an online interview – Nikki Murran, Director | Grocery Retail

Post-Covid, online interviews have become a much more commonplace occurrence. Here, our Director of Grocery Retail Recruitment, Nikki Murran, shares her top tips to ensure you create a positive impression during your online interview

There have been many residual factors left in our post-Covid lives, from the normalisation of working from home to a nostalgic fondness for homemade banana bread. One of the main shifts we saw in the recruitment industry was the acceptance of online interviews.

Pre-Covid I can’t think of one client who would have been satisfied to move to the job-offer stage without looking the candidate in the eye and shaking hands. But now, we still have about 35% of our interviews held online. Of that number, 20% of those are concluding their process, whether it be an offer or rejection, without having ever met the candidate face to face.

In March 2020 I was scrambling to understand the world of Zoom and Teams. I had used them previously but was by no means an expert. One of the first interviews I had set up was for a candidate who was amazing at baking and could run a high-volume, fast-paced bakery with his eyes closed but could absolutely not work email. I had to talk him through every step, and this was his first ever time using a laptop – I promise we laughed more than we cried but I think we have all become so much more proficient around online meetings now! (He got the job by the way!)

So, it would seem that online interviews are here to stay, in some capacity anyway. In many ways, they offer countless benefits to the recruitment procedure. They allow candidates to interview on lunch breaks or shortly before or after their shifts, they speed up the entire recruitment process, and they cut down on travel time and cost. But is there a downside? Do candidates who travel to interviews and attend in person have an upper hand over those who log on? Our figures would show that they do. Often the candidate attending in person has made more of an effort and thereby indicates more of an interest in the role and ultimately, in a potential hire, this is always more attractive.

So, the question remains – Do candidates really get a full chance to get their skills, experience, and personality across through a screen? I think this really depends, so, over the last couple of years we have been compiling the following tips for online interviews to help candidates bridge that gap between the real world and the digital one!

Suited and booted: When it comes to what you wear, the same rules apply as an in-person interview – well at least for your top half!

Profile picture: This is your new handshake! Make sure it is appropriate as this will be your first impression while they wait for you to log on!

Accept invitations: If the interviewer sends you an invitation on MSTeams – click to accept in a timely manner – not mere moments ahead of the interview. It confirms your attendance and interest. You can also add a note when replying saying thank you for the invitation and that you are looking forward to meeting them.

Can you hear me? This is frustrating for everyone – test out your platform (Teams/Zoom etc) with a pal and make sure you are up and running on audio and video beforehand. Technical issues nearly always cause candidates to fluster and throw them off before interviewing.

Technical issues: If you do have technical issues – don’t get flustered. If they can see you are trying to log on most interviewers are happy to bear with you while you get sorted or re-arrange if you can’t. Just be sure to contact them in real-time to let them know you are trying to log on.

Eye contact: It is very tempting to watch yourself or your interviewer during an online interview, but looking directly into the camera is the only way to appear as though you are keeping eye contact.

Backdrops: Ideally choose a neutral backdrop, a plain wall without lots of pictures, try not to sit in your childhood bedroom with your boy band posters surrounding you, or opt for the space backdrop with shooting stars behind you! If you have no blank wall – just opt for the blurred background setting.

Close all other apps on your computer: Getting email notifications during your interview is distracting and can make noise causing you to lose sound. Close everything!

Prepare, prepare, prepare: The level of preparation that is done for an in-person interview is the same level that should be completed for an online interview. Investigate who you will be interviewing with, research the company via their website and be aware of the latest news about them. Visit their stores and their competition. Have a copy of your CV, the job description, and questions you would like to ask. Be prepared for questions about your salary expectations, reasons why you are leaving your current role, length of your notice period, your motivation to move on (if employed), your career ambitions, etc. (Know your CV!)

Bad habits: Don’t eat, chew gum, smoke, or vape – this is still an interview!

Avoid interruptions: Be sure all pets and small children are locked up. Well, no, but perhaps ensure you have a quiet space where you will not be disturbed or distracted by snack requests.

Body language: Don’t slouch or squirm too much (it comes across as disinterested) even if your chair is uncomfortable.

Pick a comfortable chair.

Before you say goodbye: Ensure you’ve expressed your interest in the role and thank them for their time – oh and keep your fingers crossed!

You can check out this feature in the most recent edition of ShelfLife magazine here. You can view all our live jobs here. For more information call us on 01 814 8747 or email info@excelrecruitment.com

killer interview questions

The best ways to tackle those dreaded ‘killer questions’ in an interview

Despite today’s candidate driven market, thorough interview preparation remains vital for prospective employees. Our Director of Grocery Retail Recruitment, Nikki Murran, advises how to answer classic ‘killer questions’ with ease  

Last week I got a call rejecting my candidate from a role he had interviewed for, and I was perplexed. He had done a similar role, was in the right location, right salary range, and was actually a great guy and perfect culture fit! What could have gone wrong?

Then I got the feedback from the interviewer and immediately understood. When the candidate was asked what he liked about the brand, he admitted he hadn’t visited any stores or done much research. The candidate really wanted this job. I had recommended to him that he visit a couple of stores beforehand and I had sent him plenty of information, but he was busy in his current role and never found the time. So, he never got the job!

In this candidate-driven market, one could be forgiven for thinking the same level of preparation as in previous years is no longer required in interviews. But as I witnessed last week, this is absolutely not the case. With higher salaries on offer and more benefits available than ever before, employers want to see candidates present themselves in the best light possible to warrant these ever-improving packages!

With that in mind, below are some questions, which, when prepared well, can make all the difference in landing that dream job:

Why us?

One of the most common questions in an interview – and one of the easiest to answer – is “why do you want this job”. This is an opportunity for you to be honest with what motivates you and to make sure this is what is in line with what your potential new employer is offering. It is also a great opportunity for the interviewer to determine how well you have researched and understood their vacancy and their business. I always recommend visiting the store and its competition in the local area beforehand, speaking to people who work within the brand and can tell you more about the culture, and to have a good trawl through Google to see what you can find out. Not only will you come across as more engaged, but you will have a much better idea if this is the right role for you!

Talk me through your experience or tell me about yourself

This is my favourite interview question. This is not the moment for you to tell the interviewer how you enjoy long walks, and once won a chicken wing eating contest, but rather an opportunity for you to highlight your successes in your career to date. Do this by chatting through each role you have held, and more importantly, about the achievements you have had in each of these roles, include stats and figures to back it up where you can. Think of it as a highlight reel rather than a CV summary! This question often comes up early in an interview and if you have prepared a couple of points of your career successes it can be a great way to settle into your interview, while also using the time to tell the interviewer how great a candidate you are!

What would you say is your weakness?

Everyone hates this question. To be fair, it is an awful question, and for that reason, I never really recommend answering it. Rather, when asked about what your weakness is, I would suggest sharing a weakness you used to have, and an example of how it is now one of your strongest points! For example, “I used to be somewhat disorganised, however, a couple of years ago I started a system where I prioritize my tasks each evening for the next day and now, I would say organisation is one of my top strengths!” I know it’s a bit of a politician’s answer – but as I said – it’s an awful question!

Teamwork

Most roles involve either managing teams or working within a team. So, it’s realistic to expect a question on this in any interview. Whilst you can’t prepare an answer for every potential question, I would always recommend having a couple of examples of your management skills, leadership style and team development at the front of your mind before the interview. This means you are ready to discuss them when the topic arises.  Developing the team around you so that they are empowered, motivated, and progressing is no easy feat – so if you have been doing this successfully be ready with stories to share about how you are achieving it.

Listen and stop talking!

Whilst this is not technically a question – it is good advice nonetheless, so I have included it! Many candidates rush to answer questions in interviews. In doing so they end up not understanding the question or worse, jumping into an ill-thought-out answer that runs off on a tangent that they can’t claw back from. Take a couple of seconds after the question is asked to make sure you heard it correctly and, to decide on your answer before launching into it. No one ever lost a job because they took a couple of seconds to put their answer together! If anything, it shows that you are thoughtful and deliberate.

Next – stop talking! The aim of the interview is absolutely not to fill all the silence, or have the interviewer need to interrupt you to ask their next question. Once you have answered the question – stop talking! Be quiet and wait for the next question. Often, interviewers need to cover certain topics in order to assess your suitability. If you don’t give them the opportunity to control the interview you are taking the risk that you won’t cover what is needed to decide if you are the right fit for them.

Other than that – be yourself and good luck!

You can check out all our live jobs here. For more information call us on 01 814 8747 or email info@excelrecruitment.com

Cost of replacing employees

The True Cost of Replacing an Employee

Our CEO, Barry Whelan, featured in the April edition of ShelfLife magazine to discuss the true cost associated with replacing employee’s. Check out what he had to say below:

Encouraging an employee to reconsider their decision to resign from a company, can help save a great deal of time and money further down the line, writes Excel Recruitment’s Barry Whelan.

Ireland is in the midst of the “Great Resignation” with employers witnessing a higher churn in employees then most can recall. We know there is a staff crisis in hospitality, but there is also a looming crisis for labour in the retail, industrial, warehousing, transport, and health sectors. Workers are leaving their jobs in record numbers and new roles, due to demand with the re-opening of society, are being registered at a faster rate than we have ever witnessed in Excel. This is leaving businesses scrambling to replace employees, often at a major cost to the business.

Job postings consistently rising

The trajectory of job postings for the retail sector is on a consistent upward trend, having more than doubled from 1,578 in February 2021 to 4,258 in February 2022 (data courtesy of Indeed). Retail will be the next sector to be faced with a serious and damaging staffing crisis, akin to that currently being suffered in hospitality.

The industry data paints a stark picture – between 2019 and 2021, the number of retail job seekers per retail job vacancy had been increasing year on year. However, since then it has dipped significantly and in February 2022 there were 39 job seekers per job, down from 78 job seekers per job in February 2021. What’s more, the number of employers with active retail job vacancies has now nearly tripled in the 12 months to February 2022 when it stood at 1,360 employers – up from 488 employers in February 2021.

Re-evaluating priorities

Over the course of the pandemic many people were out of work and/or on reduced hours – they had more time on their hands to really look at their careers and their life, and what they want from both. As a result, we’ve seen thousands of workers change careers, upskill in their current industry, and/or just make the decision to strive for a better work-life balance.

That dynamic, combined with the fact that the industry has also missed out on approximately two years of new candidate intakes – due to workers either leaving the sector during Covid because of lockdowns and working restrictions, or indeed leaving the country – has left supply as a major issue, which continues to deteriorate.

The true cost

Depending on the complexity and seniority of a role, the actual or real cost of employee turnover can be estimated to be between 33% to a whopping 200% the employee’s annual salary.

Before allowing an employee to resign without any effort to get them to reconsider, employers should be aware of all the possible costs of replacing an employee.

The more obvious costs such as advertising, the recruitment process, executive and human resource professionals’ time spent interviewing, recruitment agency costs, background or reference checks, rejection of unsuccessful applicants or indeed interim temporary workers hired to plug a hole, all add up to a considerable number of man hours and burn rate interviewing.

But these are not the only costs; you must consider lost productivity, lost sales, lost turnover, lost knowledge, and new hire learning errors along with training time. These are the hidden costs of losing good employees.

Whiplash changes

The talent market has undergone whiplash-like change in the last 18 months, with companies shedding their workforce last spring and then spinning into a hiring frenzy this summer. It’s no surprise that many employees are looking for new opportunities or at least revaluating their career priorities.

Oftentimes, when an employee looks to leave, they should not be retained, as fresh talent can often add unmeasurably to a business. However, management need to understand the total cost of ownership in employee disengagement and attrition before making a decision not to try to retain talent.

‘Stay’ interviews

There are two recent trends that are worth looking at. The first is the ‘stay’ Interview. Here, instead of the usual six-monthly appraisal, companies engage with employees asking them why they continue to work for them and what they need to continue to do so.

Intercom, the Irish-founded tech communications platform with more than 800 employees, is a great example of this, with managers holding special meetings with each of their team members encouraging them to stay.

Boomerang employees

The second trend is boomerang employees: employees who return after leaving a company. A new LinkedIn Workforce Insights survey shows that this keeps rising.

Boomerang recruits amounted to 4.3% of all job switches last year, up from less than 2% in 2010, according to LinkedIn data. Fully trained, culturally compatible employees returning to their employer can’t be a bad thing!

If you would like to check out the full April edition of ShelfLife magazine you can do so by clicking here.

Advice for Employers: How to Conduct an Interview

A new hire is one of the most significant business decisions you can make and a face to face interview is hands down the best way to decide on the right candidate but are you making the most of it? We take you through the best questions to ask a potential employee to gain the most knowledge possible about the person behind the CV.

We at Excel do the leg work in terms of finding exceptional candidates that have the right experience, qualifications and skills match your specifications and we ensure the candidates we present to you are the best of the best but ultimately, the final decision is yours.

By the time you’ve decided to interview someone we, and you, will have screened their CV thoroughly and decided that their experience and qualifications are suitable for the role, but is their personality and style? You know best the type of person that would be the most successful fit in your business.

The best interview questions tell you about the person rather than the CV and gain an insight into the candidate’s personality, strengths, weaknesses, skills and abilities. The most successful questions benefit the candidate and give them opportunity to speak to details that might not fit on a standard CV.

Tell me about yourself.

This question is probably the most obvious on the list, but with good reason. This question is a great way to start your interview and put your candidate at ease, as they will obviously know a lot about themselves. It gives you an opportunity to see their communication skills, confidence and personality from the get go.

From everything you’ve learned about this role, me and the company, tell me how you feel you could contribute to the business?

This question sorts out those that are serious about the role from those just chancing their arm. Those who have really prepared and want to work with you will be delighted to have a chance to show it. Those who don’t really want the job or those who are simply too lazy to Google you will either try and bluff and fail or falter completely.

Describe a time when something went wrong at work and how you dealt with it.

This question is ideal for learning about how your potential hire will handle the pressures of life and conflict in your office. The candidates answer will demonstrate their interpersonal and problem solving skills and help you determine whether they would fit well into the culture of your business.

Why should we hire you?

As we said earlier by the time you meet a candidate for interview, we at Excel have already established that on paper, they are right for the job but this question can help you hugely when deciding if they’re right for your business. Realistically you’re interviewing a number of candidates, all with similar qualifications. This question asks the candidates to define what sets them apart from the rest. An interviewee who does a great job explaining how her unique experience, education, industry credentials, and personal interests will power your business will do the same thing for your company once hired.

How would your boss/ coworkers describe you?

This question essentially ask what are your greatest strengths/weaknesses in a way that can cause interviewees to be more reflective in their answer. A good candidate will know there is no point in spoofing and will use real-life examples or quotes from their boss/ performance reviews that reflect the attributes they’ve already mentioned in the interview.

What kind of manager and colleagues have you had the most and least success with, and why?

This is a great question to ascertain the personality type of the candidate sitting in front of you. By asking this you’ll be able to figure out how they work best, and whether this fits in with how your team works best, or whether they seem to have a lot of conflicts with people or personality types.

Advice for Employers: How to Conduct an Interview

A new hire is one of the most significant business decisions you can make and a face to face interview is hands down the best way to decide on the right candidate but are you making the most of it? We take you through the best questions to ask a potential employee to gain the most knowledge possible about the person behind the CV.

We at Excel do the leg work in terms of finding exceptional candidates that have the right experience, qualifications and skills to match your specifications and we ensure the candidates we present to you are the best of the best but ultimately, the final decision is yours.

By the time you’ve decided to interview someone we, and you, will have screened their CV thoroughly and decided that their experience and qualifications are suitable for the role, but is their personality and style? You know best the type of person that would be the most successful fit in your business.

The best interview questions tell you about the person rather than the CV and gain an insight into the candidate’s personality, strengths, weaknesses, skills and abilities. The most successful questions benefit the candidate and give them opportunity to speak to details that might not fit on a standard CV.

Tell me about yourself.

This question is probably the most obvious on the list, but with good reason. This question is a great way to start your interview and put your candidate at ease, as they will obviously know a lot about themselves. It gives you an opportunity to see their communication skills, confidence and personality from the get go.

From everything you’ve learned about this role, me and the company, tell me how you feel you could contribute to the business?

This question sorts out those that are serious about the role from those just chancing their arm. Those who have really prepared and want to work with you will be delighted to have a chance to show it. Those who don’t really want the job or those who are simply too lazy to Google you will either try and bluff and fail or falter completely.

Describe a time when something went wrong at work and how you dealt with it.

This question is ideal for learning about how your potential hire will handle the pressures of life and conflict in your office. The candidates answer will demonstrate their interpersonal and problem solving skills and help you determine whether they would fit well into the culture of your business.

Why should we hire you?

As we said earlier by the time you meet a candidate for interview, we at Excel have already established that on paper, they are right for the job but this question can help you hugely when deciding if they’re right for your business. Realistically you’re interviewing a number of candidates, all with similar qualifications. This question asks the candidates to define what sets them apart from the rest. An interviewee who does a great job explaining how her unique experience, education, industry credentials, and personal interests will power your business will do the same thing for your company once hired.

How would your boss/ coworkers describe you?

This question essentially ask what are your greatest strengths/weaknesses in a way that can cause interviewees to be more reflective in their answer. A good candidate will know there is no point in spoofing and will use real-life examples or quotes from their boss/ performance reviews that reflect the attributes they’ve already mentioned in the interview.

What kind of manager and colleagues have you had the most and least success with, and why?

This is a great question to ascertain the personality type of the candidate sitting in front of you. By asking this you’ll be able to figure out how they work best, and whether this fits in with how your team works best, or whether they seem to have a lot of conflicts with people or personality types.