March marks the launch of March Madness. Throughout the month, the NCAA hosts a Division I basketball tournament where 68 college teams from across the nation have the chance to battle it out for the right to be crowned the next national champion. The madness stems from filling out brackets and ranking teams against each other. Recruiting top talent operates in a similar fashion – “brackets” are made of candidates competing for a position and they must advance through a strenuous vetting process to be chosen as the “right hire”.
The Beginning of the Recruiting Tournament
A quality agency will utilize all its resources to source a large pool of candidates both actively and passively seeking a career change. For this round, you are choosing your initial bracket by conducting an “eye test” or assessing candidates by a certain set of criteria that can be seen on paper. For the NCAA Tournament, this criterion is often stats such as the team’s win/loss record. Similarly, candidates must pass the eye test and meet certain criteria to advance to the next round of the hiring process. Then, over the span of a couple of days, the vetting process will begin.
The Sweet 16 of Interviewing
Even if you don’t follow the NCAA Tournament, you’ve probably heard of the term “Sweet 16”. This round is when individuals truly invest in the teams they chose. Similarly, a phone interview is conducted at this stage of the hiring process. A phone screen is an important step to make sure that those who can talk the talk on paper can articulate their experience and successes in conversation. An experienced recruiter will dig deeper into the candidate’s resume by asking pinpointed questions to explore their soft and hard skills to weed out those that aren’t the correct fit for the position.
The Elite 8 of the Finalists
The Elite 8 consists of those that you believe can make it to the end. They could talk the talk but who can walk the walk better and make it into the Final Four? At this step of the hiring process, initial in-person interviews with the recruiter will slim down the bracket by ensuring that the candidates look as good as they sound. This is where a recruiter can really dive into the candidate’s personality and get a better understanding if they are a proper culture fit for the company or will be knocked out of the running for the championship.
The Final Four Cut
Typically, these teams (or candidates in this case) consistently look good on paper and in action. The recruiter should be confident in presenting these four to the company. These Final Four will be scheduled in-person interviews with the company hiring managers. You may have four superior candidates, but only one will be crowned the champion and land the position.
The Championship of Winning the Offer
Ultimately, the key to March Madness success, whether it’s hoops or hiring, is dedication, diligence, research, and hard work. Sometimes, selecting the champion can be easy… but often it can be tough when presented with 4 highly skilled and qualified candidates. The right hire is the one who has surpassed expectations and demonstrated that they will be the best fit for the team. Consider if the candidate articulated how they’d help advance the company, asked informed questions, or shared relevant industry news during the interview process. Sometimes, the candidate least expected to make it to the final round of interviews comes out on top in the end.
Finding the top talent to fill your bracket can be long and strenuous but it doesn’t have to be. A partnership with an established talent acquisition agency like AccruePartners can take the guesswork out of hiring by providing 4 precisely matched candidates right out of the gate instead of a dozen candidates that sort of match up to the job.
Play smarter when seeking your next opportunity or hiring your next employee by partnering with the champions of Charlotte staffing at AccruePartners.
The success of any company boils down to its ability to accomplish two critical tasks: bringing top talent into the organization and keeping them there as long as possible. The pages of every issue of our HR Insights Magazine contain advice and guidance from industry thought leaders that can give your company a leg up in managing all aspects of the employment lifecycle within your company.
Sure, companies that stick with conventional recruitment and retention strategies can still build connections with candidates and employees. But as new technologies and practices continue to alter the hiring landscape, organizations that don’t change with the times may find themselves falling farther and farther behind. Want to explore new possibilities for your company? Reach out to AccruePartners – we can help!
AccruePartners has landed Forbes America’s Best Recruiting Firms List!
Forbes worked with analytics firm Statista to compile the list of America’s best-recruiting firms. AccruePartners is proud to announce we have landed on the Best Professional Recruiting Firms list for our second year in a row. The list ranks 250 professional search firms, nationwide, which place employees in roles with less than $100,000 in annual income.
To conduct its research, Statista first consulted with sources like trade organizations and company databases, identifying about 4,000 recruiters in each of the two categories. Then it invited thousands of recruiters, employees who have worked with recruiters over the past three years, and H.R. managers to take an online survey. The survey asked them to recommend up to 10 recruiting firms (excluding their own), and it gathered a total of 20,000 recommendations. View the full list here.
This great achievement stems directly from our tagline: Building People, Companies and Careers. For us, this is more than our tagline, this is our promise to our candidates and our clients. Our beliefs, philosophies, and core values all center around that promise. By coming alongside clients and candidates alike, fostering relationships that surpass the norm, we become a cornerstone for mutual prosperity. A culture of staffing excellence, built on a solid foundation for success, we’re so proud to be honored on this list.
As a staffing and recruiting firm focused on finding top talent for a wide range of industries, we have pioneered talent workforce solutions and the methodologies needed to deliver success to every client. Our approach allows businesses to receive quality service and industry expertise as one would from a boutique staffing firm, all in a seamless, efficient, and valuable manner.
In response to our methods and persistence of unparalleled performance, AccruePartners was awarded a spot as a Clutch leader for staffing and recruiting services, out of the 50+ most highly reviewed firms for corresponding services. Clutch analysts thoroughly evaluated each company on their market presence and expertise, services offered, and ability to deliver exceptional results for their clients. AccruePartners achieved 3rd for top staffing companies and recruiting companies, respectively.
Most valued was our clients’ feedback and our expertise in the industry. Clients provided valuable insight into our quality of work, value for cost, and best attributes as a service provider. Through Clutch’s research and our persistence to stay at the forefront of HR, we achieved the prestigious position as one of the strongest performing staffing and recruiting agencies in the world.
Here’s a remark one of our clients mentioned on our Clutch profile:
“Quality, responsibility, and service are their strengths.” – IT Director, Tech Firm
A huge thank you goes out to our dedicated, hard-working team and our incredible clients for making this award possible.
Are you in the job market? Looking for new opportunities but coming up short looking on your own? Unlock the opportunities AccruePartners can offer you!
Made up of a team of subject matter experts that have extensive experience in their dedicated practice areas, we take pride in giving unique opportunities to top talent by taking the time to understand the needs of both the client and candidate. Powered with insightful market intelligence and an unrivaled depth of expertise, we are positioned to provide clients, candidates, and consultants with actionable results. Our Recruiters have visibility to job openings you may not be able to find on your own, professional connections at sought-after companies you may be trying to work at and offer top of the line career and job-seeking advice.
Unfamiliar with partnering with a staffing firm? Help us, help you! Here are a few things you can do to strengthen your profile and ensure our team finds you:
- Apply on our website and join our Talent Network – accruepartners.com
- Join LinkedIn if you don’t already have an account – www.linkedin.com
- Join groups: “Charlotte Business Professionals,” Network Charlotte,” etc.
- CONNECT, CONNECT, CONNECT
- Add specialties: Excel, Concur, SAP, Salesforce, vendor management, procurement, financial analysis, SOX compliance, etc.
- Put a photo up
- Include your contact info – mobile number and email address
- Follow Networking Groups and attend local events
- Continue individual professional development (CPCC, UNCC, Lynda, Skillpop)
Some friendly reminders to keep in mind while working with one of our Recruiters:
- We treat all candidates equal, regardless or skillset
- We work for our clients to find the most qualified candidates that align with their requirements
- There is no standard timeline for placement
- If you have already applied/been submitted to a company, we cannot submit you again.
Searching for a new job is a fulltime job in itself. Get a competitive edge, partner with AccruePartners!
Forbes has released their 2017 list of America’s Best Recruiting Firms and AccruePartners has landed number 15!
Forbes worked with analytics firm Statista to compile two lists of America’s best recruiting firms. To conduct its research, Statista first consulted with sources like trade organizations and company databases, identifying about 4,000 recruiters in each of the two categories. Then it invited thousands of recruiters, employees who have worked with recruiters over the past three years, and H.R. managers to take an online survey. The survey asked them to recommend up to 10 recruiting firms (excluding their own), and it gathered a total of 20,000 recommendations. The companies with the most recommendations ranked highest.
With thousands of recruiting firms in the US, we’re honored to make this list and so thankful to have a dedicated team who continues to make it happen.
Need help in the interview process? Let AccruePartners coach and guide you through the entire interview and on-boarding process! Our recruiter are experts in their fields and can help you find and land the perfect job for you!
Five words you shouldn’t use to describe yourself in an interview:
1. Intelligent
2. Likable
3.Successful
4.Obsessive
5.Humble