Blogs

Whilst recently conducting a series of interviews for a senior position, I was struck by the two types of candidates we had in the process and the difference between those who were just ‘OK’ and those who were exceptional. The thing that divided them was quite simple but amazingly insightful. This prompted me to go back over several recently successful executive search proje...

Lessons in business from the front of the grid: Previously we’ve wrote about the cornerstone success habits of the leading teams in F1 motorsport, based on over twenty years of research conducted by Dr Mark Jenkins, Professor in Business Strategy at Cranfield University. Mark kindly shared his latest findings with us following the launch of the third edition of his book Perf...

Top 5 tips to improve your interview body language Will your body language prevent you getting your dream job? Last night saw 5 candidates lined up to debate for the top job in UK politics. Whilst this isn’t a typical technique used to select for most jobs, it demonstrated the importance of body language. Our top tips for improving your body language to get the job you want:...

Owners and Directors of small businesses often ask us to help them to recruit high performing people but then worry about keeping them. This is a common problem and as we often say “Mountaineers need mountains”. As the analogy suggests climbers want to climb but such structures are often absent from smaller organisations. If you want your business to grow then bringing in br...

Whether it’s an internal promotion, a call from a search consultant or you have heard about it on the grapevine, when the opportunity presents itself will you be prepared for it? Lack of preparation is one of the main reasons you will miss out on your next senior appointment, and similarly, if you are match fit when the time comes to leave the subs bench and get on the pitch...

If feedback is the breakfast of champions then there is nothing more difficult to swallow than the reason why a top performing employee would want to leave your business. Ideally you want to nip a good person leaving in the bud before it happens but sometimes losing a good person from your business is inevitable and the best you can hope for is to learn from the experience. ...

“She was nervous to start with but got better once she settled in”. This is the first impression on an interviewee and a quote I have heard many times during 20 years in recruitment. Going for an interview can be nerve-wracking for many reasons, if it’s the job you really want or you have a lot riding on the outcome then it is expected that you will be nervous. You do not ho...

In uncertain times you might think that you could be forgiven for having ‘realistic’ goals and settling for survival, but even to remain as you are, requires you to have more ambition than your competition. If you don’t believe me then next time you are interviewing someone, tell them in your blandest voice that your business has remained static for the past 3 years and that...

It’s not unusual for companies to sift through hundreds of CV's. So, how do you make yours stand out amidst the paperwork overload? These four CV-writing tips are easy to implement, and will maximise your chance of being called for interview: 1. List personal achievements in the context of company achievements Many CVs that come into our inbox will list a period of employmen...

I meet a lot of athletes and leading sports people, with several close friends who have reached the pinnacle of their chosen sport. I am always asking them questions which I can use to help my business and my client’s businesses. Learning from the most successful people in sport and applying it to business is nothing new but often there is a disjoint between what you hear fr...