Hiring - the art and science

April 6, 2011 - PRLog -- “For a recruiter it is a routine, for line managers it can be a challenge: hiring a new employee. Mr Stegemann, what are your recommendations?”

Jorg: “A bad hire can cost between 2 and 12 salaries and apart from direct costs for the recruiter, there can be a negative impact on team morale, customer retention or productivity to name a few.

Recruiting a new employee is a challenging task for a line manager. That newcomer will not only have to perform but also adapt into the existing organization. Checking the skills may seem relatively straight forward, however – this is the science of the hiring process. You may check for inconsistencies in the CV, run tests or take references to determine if the candidate is technically able to fulfill the tasks.

A good approach is to look for contradictions. Think of Lieutnant Columbo’s quote “I always ask the same questions but I often get different answers”. This is the approach I take, by asking the same question again throughout the process. If the answers are different (e.g. on current salary, individual results or reasons for leaving), this can mean that the candidate is not tell the full story.

Eventually it is the years of experience, gut feeling and sixth sense that is most important for me – the art of the hiring process. Once I have ascertained that the candidate is fully capable for the role, I ask myself ‘ Is this person able to function as part of the existing team, can I imagine coming into the office and see this person interacting with my team?’ The answer is one of the most important indicators to me during the hiring process.

There is also great benefit in having the new team member come in and get to know what is expected and how the new team works. This serves to better involve both parties in the evaluation process and allows both the technical and personal skills to be verified. An informal meeting can be arranged with the team once the official interview is done. Getting the team involved with the evaluation of the candidate kills two birds with one stone: (1) the team will be more committed to facilitate the potential integration and (2) you, the employer, gain a better idea of the candidate from a potential asset to the new team.

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JobThoughts.net | Career advice from a headhunter

Jorg Stegemann has been working in professional recruitment for the past 10 years, has coached thousands of professionals from entry to C-level and found a new job for approximately 350 candidates. He has held various managerial and corporate functions with two major players in this industry and worked in four countries.

Jorg has his own blog on and publishes one new posting every Monday morning

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