Higher-level jobs are known for being a recruitment challenge, however, it doesn’t need to be! If you take the time to plan and prepare thoroughly, you will find outstanding hires. This blog will give you our best senior-level executive recruitment strategies and steps, make sure you’ve got the position’s job description handy!

Define your strategy

Most jobs, especially executive-level positions need to be advertised on the market. You should take time to decide how long the role will be up there and when will the interviews be held to ensure it can all run as smoothly as possible. Similarly, think about and decide where the job will be advertised; will it be just online or in print, or even both? You might be lucky enough to have some recruitment support in your company, perhaps through HR, but you must remember that at the senior executive level, many external recruitment agencies can offer the most valuable help.

Make your applicant resources

After you’ve sorted the job advert, your next step is to create a pack of resources that will be given to candidates. These resources will explain exactly what sort of person you would like, and other important details such as the job description and information on the company. Top tip: list criteria as essential or desirable, candidates themselves will then easily be able to see how they fit in and what gaps they have.

Discuss the role with relevant parties

When sorting out specifics, ensure you talk to all relevant parties, such as specific departments and individuals in those departments such as managers to make sure you are clearly capturing the essence and details of the role. This will help you gain a better understanding of the role that needs to be filled, as well as the type of person that they would like to fill it.

Start to attract candidates

Now all the details are sorted, you need to put your plan into action. There are many ways to attract candidates such as the typical online and print advertising, however, for a senior-level role recruitment agencies and executive searches can really help to create more interest and find the most suitable candidates. Furthermore, social media can be a really effective way to find candidates; even using your own social channels will generate interest, and similarly, having the role clearly presented on your website is great too; everything about the role is there easily accessible.

Respond to enquiries

Make sure you are replying to any questions and enquiries in a timely manner. The best candidates might get snatched up quickly, so make sure you are communicating clearly and regularly, always keeping candidates informed.

Sort through applications

Once the applications have started to come in you need a way to sort through them effectively. As mentioned earlier, the desirable and essential criteria can come in useful for this, as well as any other factors you think they can be sorted on, this will vary from job to job.

Interviews and tests

After sorting through the applications you should have a list of candidates you can take to interview. Here, you’ll be able to ask more specific questions and learn more about them and their experience. You can also add psychometric tests at this stage to see if candidates have some of the skills you desire.

Final interview

For the final stage interviews, you should set a task or project that you would like them to prepare for based on a specific topic. This can be chosen based on your company and the role. These final interviews should be more in-depth and should hopefully leave you with a successful recruit. Also, remember to provide feedback for unsuccessful candidates.