“Our recruiters are only responsible for identifying and screening talent.”
Sean DeDeyn is a Managing Partner at The Axel Group, LLC. The Axel Group is a full-service staffing and recruiting firm that focuses on recruiting top talent in the Architecture, Engineering, Environmental and Construction industries. Their team is full of talented and dedicated recruiters that take pride in helping their clients find the best talent the industry has to offer.
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Sean: “I think it’s pretty funny when I talk to a lot of companies about the amount of money they’ll spend on different things. They won’t spend money to attract the top talent, which is going to deliver their product and interface with their clients and whoever’s buying their product. So from the get-go, there has to be someone that’s dedicated to this process.”
Sean: “In a perfect world, your human resources individual is partnered with someone on the leadership team of the company. That individual in human resources, they’re excellent at a lot of different things, but they’re not always interfacing with a client. They’re not selling your product. They’re not out on the ground floor kind of doing that. Have someone involved that is going to be managing the people that you hire, working day-to-day with the people that you hire is very important in addition to that.”
Sean: “Then, it’s about the experience from the second that candidate walks into the door until you’re finished with the interview process. If they come in here and they’re waiting for 15 minutes in the lobby, then they’re waiting for 20 minutes in the conference room, then you’re running late and your partner who’s supposed to be with you walks in five minutes later, they don’t get a good experience. Why are they going to leave their job and risk the devil they know for the devil they don’t, in a sense, without a good experience?”
Sean: “Really getting your energetic people there that are passionate about your business and that are really driving what you guys are trying to accomplish is very important to you in the interview process.”
Sean: “All of that plays a part because right now in the market that we’re in, the candidate is really driving the experience because it’s up to them if they want the job. There’s a shortage of qualified people, and it’s extremely difficult to attract talent.”
How can candidates prepare for an interview?
Sean: “We spend a lot of time with our recruiters prepping them and teaching them how to give people advice on different interview scenarios. So it’s all the little things I think that our clients are looking for. Are you dressed properly? Are you there on-time? Are you prepared with your resume, and your portfolio, and maybe a couple of questions? Are you engaged in the conversation? Did you do research prior to the interview on the company and on the individual?”
Sean: “Then, follow up from that, just how you’re keeping communication. Do you send them a thank-you note at the end? Whether it’s handwritten or whether it’s an email. I think those things are what’s going to separate you from your competition.”
Sean: “Generally speaking, if you’re at the table for an interview, you have some of the skills that that company is looking for on paper. Then it’s all about the intangibles. Are you going to elevate the level of employee that we have internally? Are you going to move us forward? Are you going to help us get where we’re trying to go? Those little things tell that story.”
