Talent Acquisition Manager

The candidates that use critical thinking as opposed to dismissing the question as silly are the ones you want to keep around. I once had a candidate jump up to the whiteboard and mathematically find his way to an answer that was within 100 feet. Needless to say, he was the type of person that we wanted on our team.

In a recent position, I helped my company implement talent acquisition efforts through social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter. This initiative helped increase the hiring of young, driven and technologically savvy employees and helped us research potential employees more thoroughly before conducting interviews. I am also very interested in the growing interest in remote work and believe that there are great possibilities and benefits for business to be found in hiring remote workers.

Many of my past managers and clients have been high-powered, busy individuals who needed me to be attentive, intuitive, on-time and meticulous about keeping commitments. I keep a tight calendar with planned appointments and meetings. In the past I have also made it a habit to schedule regular meetings or phone calls with clients to build the consultant-client relationship and stay up-to-date on their talent acquisition needs. I also make myself available after working hours when needed, and I have a self-imposed two-hour response time whenever possible for phone calls and emails.

This question will be 90 percent of my evaluation. I want candidates to walk me through, in detail, the steps they take to alert the stakeholder and make a plan to get the project back on track. Hitting deadlines is the most important issue in my industry. In fact, it’s the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth most important thing.

This may seem like an odd question, but it can give you great insight into what traits the candidate values. By asking them to describe someone they know personally, you’ll be more likely to get a genuine answer. Ask for specificity. Answers to this will vary, but you are looking for a candidate who values the same traits you and your company value. Do you have a great method for identifying the best candidates to lead your sales team? We’d love to hear from you in the comments!

A large part of a sales manager’s job is to hire a staff of high performing sales reps. What constitutes a high performing rep can vary from company to company based on the product they’re selling, as well as the mission and values of the organization. This question can give you great insight into the candidate’s hiring abilities. You’ll get an idea of what they value in a sales rep, whether or not their management style is a fit for your company, and perhaps even a foreshadowing of what kind of sales team they’ll end up building.

I love this question because it allows the candidate to show if they are aware when they are overwhelmed. You can learn if the candidate gravitates toward being tight (follow the blueprint, no matter what) or loose (wait too long to address their own confusion). Lastly, it shows whether the person knows how to ask for help, whether that’s for coaching or resources.

LinkedIn is a key tool for us in terms of sourcing talent. For creative positions, we also rely on specific platforms where it’s possible to review the portfolios. New digital tools have really revolutionised our working style over the last ten years and allowed us to expand our talent pool and reach a bigger audience.

In my previous position, I conducted monthly workshops on various company culture and talent acquisition topics at my workplace. On a client’s request, I also gave a workshop on employee retention and implementing employee appreciation programs. I have since given the same talk several times at business associations and groups in my town as well as in various workshops and seminars across the nation. Lastly, I have always had jobs that required me to present on results in front of clients and managers.

I wouldn’t say that we research candidates using social media because that can get very sticky. We use social media to present job opportunities. I’m searching LinkedIn and I see you might be qualified for a position, I’ll share a link to the job. But you have to be careful on how deeply you probe. Information you discover might be protected information.

You have to have some desire to be helpful to others. Even if you’re an IT person, you have to care about the health and well being of others.

That being said, health care is a challenging industry to work right now. We are becoming an incredibly competitive field, which is challenging for for some who left the for profit world to seek an opportunity in the not for profit world. We’re more businesslike than before: cost control, cost optimization, market share, etc. You need to be flexible and adapt quickly.

That you have to be a clinician to work in healthcare. We have IT, fundraising, marketing, PR, finance, HR, we have sales and business development.

☛ What would be my primary responsibilities?

☛ What would I be expected to accomplish in the first six months on the job? In the first year?

☛ What are some of the department's ongoing and anticipated special projects?

☛ How much contact or exposure does the department and staff have with management?

☛ Tell me about a time when you made a mistake that cost you a great candidate.

☛ What type of challenges do you face when dealing with recruitment agencies? How do you resolve them?

☛ Tell me about your experience with onboarding.

☛ Have you ever helped someone in improving their work?

☛ Tell me about the talent management project that you are most proud of.