constructive challenge
the ideal candidate
Initial discussions with a client are easily the most important part of a successful search. Building the ideal candidate profile requires stonefort marine talent to knit together the following:
Job description. We often (but not always) have a job description. It can feel generic and we’ll work with clients to build in specifics (first year targets, team size, access to leadership and so on).
HR. We usually have several conversations with HR. Nailing down the overall package is important but HR can also provide significant detail around company values, progression opportunities and the availability of development, coaching etc.
Hiring managers. A vital discussion. It’s only very occasionally the job description manages to capture the ‘essence’ of what the hiring manager is after. Hearing from the horse’s mouth, ‘this is what I want’: invaluable!
Senior management. For critical roles, views of senior management are also important. Sometimes, these views may vary significantly from the hiring manager’s views. We need to understand why, and what that means for the candidates.
The danger of reflecting all of the above indiscriminately is that we may end up with a superhero version of the successful candidate! Someone who is: (1) very rare; and (2) probably unaffordable.
constructive challenge
Which is why we offer constructive challenge and provide candidate slates that provide real, and often surprising, choice for our clients. Three simple tests:
Firstly, what’s the ‘bread and butter’ stuff? The basics that every candidate must be able to deliver with their eyes closed.
Secondly, what’s the ‘jam today’ required? Is it change? A step up in leadership capability? New technical insights? Great communication?
Thirdly, what’s the ‘jam tomorrow’ we’d love a candidate to be delivering in one-to-two years?
By finding candidates with outstanding potential that sit outside the normal demographic (sometimes, this means younger) - and challenging perceived wisdom that every candidate must have the third circle from the outset - we’re able to offer left field, as well as more mainstream, choice to our clients.
Stonefort marine talent is well-placed to provide competency/experiential based challenge because of our own proven track records in both undertaking & hiring for many of these roles in the industry.
the proof is in the eating
This isn’t just theory. In the last few months, successful stonefort marine talent candidates have been firmly in the younger, “diverse”, ‘high potential’ categories (so, circles one & two today with a willingness to accept ‘jam tomorrow’ in circle three). Our clients are confident that, within a couple of years, these candidates will have comfortably outstripped the delivery of more ‘traditional’ choices…
If you’d like to find out more about stonefort marine talent’s innovative approaches to recruitment & search, please contact mark.fortnum@stonefortmarine-talent,com.