Author: Rhys Metler

Counter offers are a candidate’s current employer’s effort to keep them – some offer, raise, or perk that might entice them to stay after they’ve already accepted a new job at another company. As headhunters we see this all too often, and unfortunately, it is usually the best, most senior candidates that are the most likely to be presented with a counter offer. Here are our 3 best tips companies can use to avoid losing their best candidates to counter offers.

Topgrading, developed by Dr. Brandford Smart, is one of the best screening methods on the market. In fact, it’s the go-to technique for some of the top companies in the world, including GE and Microsoft. Click below to hear Sales Headhunter Rhys Metler break down what Topgrading is, and how we at IQ PARTNERS use it to help identify the best candidates for our clients.

Kevin Walker, Director of Employee Insights at Indeed.com shared a great example of just that. He explains, “A company was advertising a position using the title ‘Marketing Coordinator 3’”, a vague title that could really mean anything. “By changing the title to ‘Marketing Event Coordinator’, the number of candidates that looked at the full job posting increased 300% for the organic listing, and 1000% on the sponsored listing”, said Walker.

To improve the effectiveness of interviews, you need to ask the right questions to properly vet candidates and assess their fit for the position you are trying to fill.

Making real change and helping your organization evolve and renew its organizational culture starts with hiring new talent.

You have a limited amount of time to learn as much as possible about a potential candidate – you don’t want to waste time asking questions that are not going to help you find the right candidate.

LA-based mobile entertainment company, Scopely, offers the following to new recruits:
$11,000 signing bonus, in bacon wrapped cash
A year supply of beer
A custom made tuxedo
A spear gun

Hiring managers have lots of options when it comes to finding top quality talent. You can leverage your personal network, employee referrals, social media (LinkedIn), online job boards, using HR, and of course… an excellent headhunter.
To help you decide, keep in mind that 2 things will never change:
1) The best candidates are not “looking” for a new career;
2) A poor hire is extremely costly to your organization.
… So you’ll need to invest some resources, whether they be time or money. Here are 3 points to consider when deciding, “should I hire a headhunter or just use HR?”

As a headhunter, I screen and interview candidates regularly, so I know first-hand about putting candidates on the spot with difficult questions… and how stressful it can be! The only way to handle tough questions is to be as prepared as possible. In this post I’ve outlined the 13 toughest questions interviewers almost always ask, and provided guidance on how to answer them.