Beating Competitors
Helping a Business to Beat Their Competitors
Situation
This SME supplier of office furnishings and interiors had attempted to recruit directly for a Sales Administrator using a variety of job boards. The line manager received 16 applications, invited 5 for interview of which only 3 attended and none were suitable to fulfil the vacancy.
She then tried a local recruitment agency who provided 3 CV's. She met with 2 of the candidates but both were unsuitable.
Challenge
The client was frustrated that her own efforts and those of an organisation that specialised in recruitment had failed. She believed that the agency didn’t listen to her ultimate requirement where attitude and cultural fit was more important than experience, but more difficult to assess.
Two months had passed without finding the right person to support their busy sales team.
Methodology
The hiring manager learned of us following a well-timed call from a consultant who arranged a meeting so that we could see the working environment and meet the team as well as get a firm understanding of the needs of the business. She valued the face to face interview process that Clarity run as part of the service and asked us to help.
We proceeded with a hiring campaign which was followed by a thorough telephone screening process to ensure a clear understanding of the role and the organisation, then a face to face meeting to ensure that candidates had the right experience as well as a cultural and personality fit. We concluded that only one person truly fitted our client’s needs and submitted their CV. Our client arranged an interview with that candidate following our strong recommendation.
Result
Because of the thorough screening, the hiring manager felt confident to offer the candidate a job immediately following her interview. We organised a further opportunity for our candidate to go back into the company to meet with the team and have a morning working in the department so both parties were 100% happy before she started formally. We also kept in touch with both the candidate and the client frequently through the process to ensure a smooth transition.
Conclusion
We had a delighted candidate and client who felt that they were a perfect fit for each other and the process was quick and painless. The successful candidate has become a strong administrator to the sales team, supporting the business to continue with its growth plans. Two months later we were approached to discuss a future need for a Sales Person.
