Picture a jigsaw puzzle! Then think about the next candidate you are going to interview. This candidate is like the jigsaw puzzle you just pictured, a human being put together by many different shapes and forms of puzzle pieces.

Imagine for a second that you only have one single puzzle piece and are asked to guess what the complete picture is. Likely an impossible task, wouldn’t you say?

Assessing a candidate’s profile to determine the fit to your hiring needs is not done by just reading a resume once. It’s not done by just one telephone screening and nothing else. It’s not done by a short or one-time in-person interview. It would certainly be a risk to decide whether to hire, or not, if the only thing you did was call a previous employer for a reference check. (more…)

There are now about 300 third-party recruiters in Thailand who are licenced to help recruit Thais for jobs in Thailand. Not many know this, but the recruitment industry in Thailand is extremely regulated and is governed by the Job Seekers Protection Act enacted in 1985 (31 years ago). Recruitment companies must submit a monthly report to the Ministry of Labour showing the names and details of the candidates they have helped place with their clients.

Tom Sorensen is a 14-year veteran head-hunter in Thailand, now at Boyden, one of the longest established players in the executive recruitment business. In the world and in Thailand. We asked Tom Sorensen to discuss the changing face of recruitment and the role of recruitment professionals. (more…)

Picture a jigsaw puzzle! Then think about the next candidate you are going to interview. This candidate is like the jigsaw puzzle you just pictured, a human being put together by many different shapes and forms of puzzle pieces.

Imagine for a second that you only have one single puzzle piece and are asked to guess what the complete picture is. Likely an impossible task, wouldn’t you say? (more…)

Why is it such a surprise that many employee and employer relationships end in what I call “recruitment divorce’: Employee Leaves Employer.

It is said that 50% (or more) of marriages end in divorce. That’s a scary prospect that makes many think hard before proposing or walking down the aisle.

Love at first sight during the interview process often turns sour because the assessment was artificial and the employer fell for the candidate’s well-practiced dance.

Too many get duped into assessing presentation over performance. You have just been outmaneuvered by a candidate who had prepared better than you. Basically, you have fallen victim to the 4A syndrome. (more…)

If recruiting talented people is one of your top priorities (and it should be if you want to stay a top manager), then spending an hour of your time with your HR Department or your preferred Headhunter is critical to the success of the hiring process.

I’m always puzzled when executives don’t take this briefing more serious because it leaves your hiring partner (whether HR or Headhunter) with a lot of guessing to do. When your hiring partner is left to fill out the blanks with their own ideas on what the job really is, you probably have a better chance of winning in the lottery than getting the best candidate for the job.

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If you are open to an argument about why it’s better to partner just one recruitment agency at a time, and not three or four, this article is for you and a must-read!

There are three good reasons why hiring companies multi-list their job orders and expect recruitment agencies to fight it out over the very same job vacancy. If the hiring managers just knew, this madness would end sooner rather than later. Here is why.

Mistake 1:

Do you believe you are increasing your chances of filling the position by 300 to 400 percent if you engage and work with several recruiters at the same time? You may think that the three to four recruiters have different databases with their own unique candidates, and the recruitment agencies each press a magic button to unveil never-ever-to-be-seen candidates. The truth of the matter? (more…)

If you think all situations are black and white, it is obviously a simplification of what happens in the real world. There are always exceptions to the generally accepted rule of how agency recruiters make their money. On the other hand, famous author Tom Peters said: “Perception is reality”. You be the judge this time.

1. Don’t use a recruiter who will not meet you

Recruitment agencies typically charge a fee, which is based on the placed candidate’s compensation, somewhere around two to three months’ salary and allowances; but charged in full only after you have hired their candidate.

You can compare the recruitment agency’s work as playing a lottery. They are not paid if their client does not hire their candidate. The consultant does not receive any commission, if the client chooses a candidate from another agency.  As a client has no obligation to the agency whatsoever, except to pay if they hire a candidate, the client will often engage several agencies at the same time for the same position. They do so because it’s free, nothing to lose and because they think each agency has their own pool of candidates (which in fact they don’t; most candidates register their resume with many recruiters, so the pool is pretty identical no matter where you go). (more…)