Partner Article

Navigating the Recruitment Minefield

By Bryan Bunn, Managing Director, Nortech Staffing Solutions.

Whatever industry you are in, recruiting new members of staff can be one of the most difficult jobs you ever do in your business. In these tough economic times, making the right decision is more important than ever.

Although we specialise in recruitment for the oil and petrochemical industries, the following tips will apply to all types of business and organisation:

1. Write an accurate job specification for the role you’re recruiting for. Ensure that it is relevant to your business needs.

2. Be realistic about what is essential and what is desirable. Emphasise the ‘musts’ and be clear about the ‘wants’. You’re unlikely to find a candidate that ticks every single box, so remember which skills are necessary from the start and which can be developed over time.

3. Identify an individual person specification for each role. What are the basic skills you require? How will they ‘fit’ into the existing team and your business ethos?

4. Take time to review your processes to ensure you do not make any rash decisions.

5. Work to a standard interview process on all applicants – telephone screen, psychometric test, first interview, second interview, if required; include a related test for that role e.g. a sales presentation for sales people.

6. During each interview, ask plenty of competency based questions. What has the applicant achieved in their current role? What have been the career highlights? Establish their weaknesses and what they have done to overcome any weaknesses.

In the engineering and energy industries, we have the additional challenge of sourcing recruits who are highly skilled but who are also going to be reliable ambassadors for our companies wherever they are deployed. So, it is crucial that at the recruitment process level, we make the right decision every time. In any business or organisation, however, it is vital that the right decisions are made at the outset.

An engineering design and project management company, Nortech Solutions has the capabilities to provide a fully integrated technical service through the life cycle of a project from concept through to completion. The company has successfully implemented projects on behalf of a multitude of industrial heavyweights. This year, Bryan Bunn also set up Nortech Staffing, a specialist recruitment company, to service the recruitment requirements of the oil and petrochemical markets, particularly the international offshore oil and gas markets, based in Aberdeen. Its headquarters is based at Wynyard Business Park in the Tees Valley in the North East of England.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nortech Solutions .