FrontRunner Consulting group

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Module 9 - Recruitment strategies

Key outcomes

Identify the correct time to recruit an assistant or sub-writer
Define the key responsibilities of an assistant or sub-writer
Identify effective interview styles to recruit an assistant or sub-writer
Identify appropriate interview questions to ask
Understand how to evaluate responses from applicants

The top producer on this CD is Ed Nixon - Principal of Loans Approved

Ed Nixon is the principal of Loans Approved Pty Ltd.

He has been helping individuals and organisations get the finance they need for over 13 years, including 11 years in Commercial Finance.

Ed's area of expertise is "structuring multiple loans for continued borrowing". He runs occasional seminars on this subject for various investor and industry groups.

He lives in Canberra with his wife and two children.
www.loansapproved.com.au

The top producer on this CD is Mark Rogan - Phoenix Financial Solutions

Over 20 years combined experience in residential, commercial and leasing finance, ensures Phoenix Financial Solutions delivers solution-focused finance. We promise a professional, responsive and personal approach to obtaining the best financial solution for you.

We have established relationships with over 30 lenders, representing more than 300 products to choose from. Whatever your need we are confident that we can provide the right financial solution under one roof. Phoenix Financial Solutions' experience, approach and systems aims to make the process stress-free and get the right result for you.

www.phoenixfs.com.au

The top producer on this CD is Dave Coulton - Scope Financial

Scope Financial Services is a provider of owner occupied home loans, investment loans, personal loans and insurance. We see ourselves as advocates for our clients, and will save you time and effort by sourcing the right loan for you.

Our goal is to make the loan process simple, stress-free and seamless. We take pride in offering a superior level of customer service both while we organise your loan and on an ongoing basis. This, coupled with our honest and knowledgeable approach to your unique borrowing needs, means that we have built a large and loyal client base over the years. We are happy to say that all of our business comes in the form of referrals and repeat business from our satisfied clients.

www.scopefinancial.com.au

Like all aspects of our business, we should have a plan for the recruitment of staff. Where you will look for them, how you will decide on who to employ, how you will compensate the employee or contractor and the major responsibilities of the role all need to be decided before you embark on the recruitment process. These things can be amended on the way but you will need a clear picture of what you need for your business rather than have your new person decide. All of this will take time.

A simple model to follow will be to work out what the main skills required for the role are and look for them to demonstrate these in the recruitment process. Demonstration is much better than talking about theory and testimonial evidence.

If the role requires a staff member to speak to clients on the phone, write and send emails and letters and have face-to-face presentation skills a suggested interview process will be as follows;

Review resume to determine whether the applicant has the experience and skills to do the job you want filled.
1st interview - by phone (you make the call) - ask a few questions from the interview guide (download form) to determine whether you want to proceed to the next stage.
2nd interview - by email - send 3 or 4 questions asking the applicant to outline their experience in handling difficult customers, their career goals and why they are applying for your role. You are looking for their written communication skills and their ability to use email. You may ask them to save the answers in a word document or present them in a PowerPoint presentation (if these skills are required) and send them to you. Make sure you give them a short time frame to respond to ensure that the applicant doesn't get someone else to complete their answers for them.
3rd interview - face to face - complete the questions in the interview guide and focus on areas of potential concern or weakness in the application.
Reference check - if you haven't done so already, try to find someone you know who would know this person professionally for an independent reference. These will stronger than the referees the applicant provides.
Decision - hopefully you will have at least two candidates to compare. Take a logical approach in your decision and work out who is likely to be better for you and your business in the long term. Remember, you may have to spend up to 8 hours per day with this person so be sure of your decision.

Questions to expect in Interviews

Preparation is the key to successful performance at interviews. There are many questions that can be asked during an interview but there are only a limited number of responses that you can give - they relate to your experiences, strengths, capabilities and goals.

When responding to interview questions, ask yourself 'what is the interviewer trying to find out?' and consider the best way to respond. Also, keep your responses concise - if the interviewer wants more information, they will ask.

Common Questions