LinkedIn is a great tool for all seasoned recruiters and hiring managers use to identify potential talent. But, like a resume, LinkedIn profiles are a self-promotion tool, not a list of accomplishments, results, failures, and lessons but rather a marketing tool, limited to career highlights used by people to promote themselves. Just like a resume, LinkedIn profiles are marketing pieces used by candidates to stand out.
Leadership Candidates often hire consultants to create content for their LinkedIn profiles. You only see what people want you to see on their LinkedIn profile. These profiles are limiting and you can’t assess a whole person from what is presented in a LinkedIn profile alone.
Resumes suffer from the same limitation -they are tools to market ones’ skills. While there may be some truth to what is written, it needs to be investigated and verified when you meet in person.
A phone interview will give you some indication of capacity, energy, how the candidate communicates and thinks. Yet, this too is a partial assessment.
An in-person interview, allows you to assess chemistry, learn how this person communicates, how they think, solve problems, and work within a team. You will be able to assess energy level, judgment, and some leadership capabilities. You need to meet candidates more than once and in different circumstances to be able to assess them fully. References are often the best source of information.
This is why it is important to meet people in person and formally interview and evaluate them. You want to have a feel for WHO they are as a person.
Items to Investigate in the interview:
- Timelines – Did the candidate perform well at their previous position?
- What challenges did the business overcome? What specific contributions did the candidate make?
- Investigate the details of what the person actually did with whom and what resulted.
- How does this person specifically motivate and lead?
- What accomplishments are they most proud of?
This is part of the value a seasoned recruiter brings to you and your company. We understand how the right people influence the success of a company. We follow strong performing companies and their key players.
Strong recruiters also develop relationships with great leadership performers, much like following top athletes on professional sports teams. Furthermore, recruiters spend most of their time vetting and calibrating talent. We assess people and vet them to separate the wheat from the chaff, and only present top performers to our clients.
