Archives
Making The Most of a Candidate-Short Market.
Posted on January 26, 2022
I have a milestone birthday tomorrow. A big one. The sort that really makes you reflect, and feels like the culmination of years of counting down to it. The gravity of this milestone was heightened by a new search we won and commenced last week – a fantastic MD role for an eCommerce fashion business, […]
The War For Talent Goes Cultural
Posted on January 25, 2022
2022. Three weeks in and already it’s the year of [alleged] illicit parties and the Chinese ‘James Bond’ (who turned out to be a 58-yr old female solicitor). It’s also the start of the most candidate-driven market place I’ve seen in 25 years, with more people working than ever and more job vacancies than job […]
Boardroom clear-outs. A new epidemic? Investors become Dons.
Posted on July 1, 2020 13 Comments
Tom Hagen was removed as Consigliere by Don Michael Corleone, replaced by Michael’s father, the former Don, Vito, soon after Michael assumed the lead of the ‘family business’. “You’re not a wartime Consigliere Tom” was Don Corleone’s reason to his adopted brother. Godfather analogies are rife through business leadership & advice, from “Go to the […]
First Impressions. 13 tips & why you should look at your feet when meeting someone.
Posted on September 27, 2018 28 Comments
“You have less than 30 seconds to make a first impression”. An old adage that everyone got taught as soon as they were expected to make an impression. Is it right? Or is it 7 seconds like my old school careers guidance counselor repeatedly repeated? (whilst wearing hush-puppies and a corduroy jacket with at least 20 […]
Recruitment Grid Girls?
Posted on February 16, 2018 8 Comments
Last week signalled the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote in the UK, thanks to Manchester’s Emmeline Pankhurst. A landmark moment in sexual equality, arguably THE greatest landmark in UK history. It paved the way for the first sitting female MP in 1919, and the first female Prime Minister in 1979, all of which […]
Pay Peanuts, Get….Old Etonians
Posted on April 12, 2016 18 Comments
Fat-Cat pay stories took an unusual twist over the last week in the wake of the Panama Papers leak and the UK media’s determination to find a story worth reporting. Having seen that both the Prime Minister & Chancellor of the Exchequer have declared all income, and paid all due tax (in excess of 40% […]
What’s your WHY?
Posted on March 1, 2015 15 Comments
This question was posed to me last week. It hit me harder than the best shot I took in the boxing ring last year. It is possibly the best question, and response ever. The question poser was a former advisor to 3 different FTSE-100 CEOs and one of the most enigmatic leaders I have ever […]
Get Serious (or buy a Jester hat)
Posted on January 23, 2014 1 Comment
For weeks on end, for 10 years, millions of TV viewers have watched Simon Cowell and his successors publicly berate dozens and dozens of people, all with a quest to exploit their talent in the name of success. Many people proudly stride onto the X-Factor stage, convinced their talent is world class only to be ripped to shreds and […]
Interviewing. 20 Questions That Could Make All The Difference
Posted on January 8, 2014 21 Comments
For all its flaws, the interview is still the best means of assessing individuals for a specific role…..but only if done properly. Let me start by saying there is no definitively perfect interview. My approach and style certainly isn’t, and thus what you read below is wholly subjective. However, the way I conduct my interviews, […]
21 reasons why there is more to Head-Hunting than using LinkedIN
Posted on January 7, 2014 3 Comments
“We’ve decided not to appoint a headhunter, we’re going to have a look on LinkedIN instead.” Possibly the most increasingly common thing I have heard from businesses with a need to recruit in the last year or so. LinkedIN has, without doubt, revolutionised people’s ability to network and to forcibly expand their own networks of contacts (much as the premise […]
CV Tips: 20 Things to do…..20 Things to avoid!
Posted on January 2, 2014 10 Comments
Let’s start by blowing a myth away. The 2 page rule is nonsense. Do NOT try and fit 20 years into 2 pages by using font size 4 and margins measured in millimetres. Follow the below rules and your CV will be the perfect length, whether 1 page or 7. Your CV is your Sales Document, […]
Dark-Art of HeadHunting?
Posted on December 30, 2013 8 Comments
A Dark Art? Not really. True Head-Hunters will typically have approaching 20 years commercial experience, often far more. Their knowledge base of high-performance individuals and key leaders is typically immense and when married to an ability to map, research and approach unknown individuals in target organisations becomes a compelling skill. True and effective Head-Hunters are great […]
An Interview on Interviews
Posted on December 20, 2013 25 Comments
Interview skills are probably the hardest and most underestimated part of the recruitment process. It is the biggest area we have to train our clients, and something everyone thinks they can do…until they are faced with doing it. This is the transcript of a recent interview I did on Interviewing for an Exec Search Publication: […]
Bale and Able?
Posted on September 3, 2013 18 Comments
Yesterday, Gareth Bale stood proudly in the Santiago Bernabéu stadium wearing his Real Madrid shirt. He showed his ball control skills, until he dropped the ball. But is he the only one? The move has been on the cards for months, and has had universal approval (even from most at White Hart Lane given the […]
Thatcher & Women on Boards
Posted on April 15, 2013 20 Comments
Last week saw the passing of one of the most influential figures in the Women in Business argument, controversial Women’s Libber, Margaret Thatcher. It also saw the stark news that Lord Davies’ Women on Boards agenda was faltering. Thatcher was a self-declared non-feminist, famously stating “The feminists hate me, don’t they? And I don’t blame […]
Priority seating for Pregnant CEOs?
Posted on July 25, 2012 39 Comments
Last week, Yahoo appointed their 5th CEO in 5 years. They have chosen an outstanding candidate. Two degrees in Computer Science from Stanford, glittering, revered career with Google and value backed-up with the fact that at just 37 years old, the new CEOs remuneration will be significantly in excess of $1million per month. As you’d expect, […]
Pick on the Big Guy(s)
Posted on May 16, 2012 24 Comments
We’ve currently got four FTSE C-Level searches live; three FTSE-100, one FTSE-250; two CFOs, two CEOs. It’s a great coup, but the stories behind them are also very telling of the market. Last year we saw what was branded as ‘Arab Spring’; the uprising in several ‘Arab’ nations, entire populations typically fighting against tyrant leaders, leading […]
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