0203 026 3870
Newsom Consulting
Delivering Leadership Talent
Newsom ConsultingNewsom Consulting
  • Sectors
    • Rail
    • Aviation
    • Highways
    • Power & Utilities
    • Buildings
    • Defence
    • Major Projects
    • Transport Operators
    • International
  • Our Services
    • Executive Search
    • Talent Mapping
    • Leadership Assessment
    • Outplacement
  • Opportunities
  • Testimonials
  • Insights
    • Blogs
    • Reports & Guides
  • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Contact Us
  • Sectors
    • Rail
    • Aviation
    • Highways
    • Power & Utilities
    • Buildings
    • Defence
    • Major Projects
    • Transport Operators
    • International
  • Our Services
    • Executive Search
    • Talent Mapping
    • Leadership Assessment
    • Outplacement
  • Opportunities
  • Testimonials
  • Insights
    • Blogs
    • Reports & Guides
  • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Contact Us

5 ways to lose the perfect candidate

Candidate leavingBuilding a relationship is a two way street. It is easy as the employer to assume that candidates are queuing up to work at your company, why wouldn’t they want to work there?!

Even if you are the greatest company in the world, it is important not to ask too much from candidates right off the bat. Yes, you want to separate the time wasters from the cream of the crop. But remember, with the vast majority of executive or senior directorship roles, you have approached them. You have carefully selected them, they are not actively job hunting. If you start making them jump through many hoops to gain an audience with you, they won’t hesitate to turn around and walk away.

All too often we see companies sourcing the best talent, candidates who would fit the role like a glove, only to sabotage the relationship by assuming the candidate would go to any length get the job.

Here are the main five reasons that we see candidates pulling out of the recruitment process:

 

1. A misleading job description.

We have previously discussed how important a clear and concise job description is to attracting talent. It is the first tangible contact between the candidate and the company. It needs to relay the requirements of the role whilst demonstrating the culture and brand of the company.

Yes, this is a lot to ask of an A4 piece of paper, but it should never be overlooked. As a hiring manager, you obviously want to attract the very best person; so there can be a tendency to exaggerate the roles responsibilities to sell the opportunity to someone that is potentially over qualified. Equally, you need to be clear on what experience you view as essential.

Inaccuracies will always come to light at an interview and then you have just wasted your own time interviewing someone not right for the role, and the candidate’s time by mis-selling the opportunity.

 

2. Interview scheduling nightmares.

It’s never easy finding a time that you and however many other Directors are all available to interview a shortlist of candidates. But bear in mind that you aren’t the only busy person in this process.

It is very rare that a candidate for a senior role will be sitting at home waiting for you to invite them in for an interview. More likely, they will also be in stressful, demanding jobs with very booked up diaries. Offering a single one hour slot for the next 4 weeks is not going to cut it.

Block off dates for interviews right at the start of the process and inform potential candidates that these are the interview dates during initial discussions. This gives everyone plenty of warning to make themselves available, even if you don’t end up progressing with that candidate.

Streamline the process. Do five different people need to interview them before they make it through to judge’s houses? The more people and stages involved, the more challenging it becomes logistically and the more chances the candidate will back out. We would suggest no more than three separate interview stages.

Likewise, rescheduling interviews, particularly at short notice, looks unprofessional and disorganised. Candidates may have gone to some lengths to rearrange their diaries to accommodate the meeting and rescheduling can leave a bad taste.

 

3. Making them wait.

Candidates don’t like to be left hanging. Long delays between first and second interviews or after final interview, are a sure fire way to lose your preferred candidate, particularly if they have other offers on the table.

Sometimes delays are unavoidable due to diary conflicts, especially if you have a lot of candidates that you want to first interview. If this is the case, then make sure to put a phone call through to your preferred candidate after a week or so to explain the situation and reiterate the position to them. This keeps your company fresh in their minds and lets them know you are still keen if their interest is wavering.

 

4. Bad interview experience.

Getting the candidates to the interview is only half the battle. Once they are in the office, you have one chance to impress them.

Be prepared so you can make the best use of the time available. Greet candidates promptly in reception when they arrive, don’t leave them sitting there for half an hour because you are running late.

Make an effort to show that you are interested in them and have read their CV thoroughly prior to the meeting. You would expect the candidates to have researched the company so you should show them the same respect.

Don’t dodge questions posed to you, give the best answer you can or relay the question onto someone who can give a better answer. Ensure the candidate meets interviewers who are positive ambassadors for your business.

The best candidates will be interested in the long-term career development prospects, you should be ready with positive examples and options.

The interview experience should demonstrate your company’s culture to the candidate, you can’t undo a disjointed interview so don’t make that the lasting impression your candidate walks away with.

 

5. An unrealistic offer

candidate agreeing a package

Even if you have nailed the recruitment process, all of your hard work can be so easily undone by making an unattractive offer to the candidate.

Recruiting managers or executive search firms such as ourselves will have discussed salary and benefits packages with candidates prior to this stage so the package required to motivate them to move shouldn’t come as a shock.

Quite simply, if you don’t have the budget agreed to meet their requirements, don’t pursue the candidate. You will just be wasting everyone’s time.

Money is rarely the main motivator and most candidates will be slightly flexible (if they are sold on the opportunity) to a certain extent, but you must take into account their current full salary package; including pension and annual bonuses and be able to offer something realistic, if you stand a chance of winning them over. Generally expect to offer a 10-20% increase for the candidate to move. Any less and you risk losing them to a counter offer from their current employer.

 

To discuss how we can help you find the perfect candidate for your senior hires in transport and infrastructure click HERE

By Jim Newsom8th May 2017

Author: Jim Newsom

Jim Newsom leads our work in construction and infrastructure having worked in executive search since 1998, recruiting for both public and private sector companies in infrastructure, transport, engineering and construction. Prior to forming Newsom Consulting, Jim spent 11 years working for the one of the UK’s largest independently owned executive recruiters and then two years at a boutique search firm. Jim is a graduate in civil engineering from Liverpool University.

Post navigation

PreviousPrevious post:Movers and Shakers in Transport & Infrastructure – the headlines from AprilNextNext post:Culture Shock – what’s important to top talent in the Transport & Infrastructure sector?

Related posts

Movers and Shakers in Transport & Infrastructure – The Headlines from December 2021
7th January 2022
Movers and Shakers in Transport & Infrastructure – The Headlines from October 2021
1st November 2021
Movers and Shakers in Transport & Infrastructure – The Headlines from September 2021
11th October 2021
Movers and Shakers in Transport & Infrastructure – The Headlines from August 2021
6th September 2021
Movers and Shakers in Transport & Infrastructure – The Headlines from July 2021
5th August 2021
Movers and Shakers in Transport & Infrastructure – The Headlines from June 2021
7th July 2021

To recieve our weekly blogs please fill in your details below:

Recent Posts
  • UK Major Projects Pipeline Update – May 2022
    17th May 2022
  • 3 lessons learnt from Crossrail for future Major Projects
    9th May 2022
  • Movers and Shakers in Transport & Infrastructure – The Headlines from April 2022
    3rd May 2022
Testimonials

Thanks for supporting us in securing some of our industry’s leading talent. Your candidates are always excellent and I find you a pleasure to work with. Looking forward to furthering our partnership in the new year.

Managing Director (Transportation), Faithful+Gould

Over the last few years CAF Rolling Stock UK has worked closely with Jim and Richard of Newsom Consulting to recruit several leadership roles across the business. We have found Newsom to be effective in providing high calibre candidates. We would recommend Newsom for recruiting key leadership roles.

Chief Operating Officer, CAF Rolling Stock UK

UK Power Network Services recently partnered with Newsom Consulting to recruit a key strategic appointment. They provided us with a targeted candidate search and shortlist of candidates from which we were able to make a successful appointment. Throughout the engagement there was senior involvement from Newsom Consulting and they demonstrated deep knowledge of the sector and market. They were patient, thorough and professional throughout the search.

 

Ian Smyth, Director of UK Power Networks Services
Newsom Consulting
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Footer Menu

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Newsom Consulting
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.