How to Recruit Top-Quality Executive Assistants
As an executive, CEO, or HR Manager, finding the right candidate for an executive assistant job is an essential part of you being able to run the day-to-day of your job effectively.
Executive assistant jobs, however, can often be one of the hardest positions in your company to hire for. With the current economic situation, and an unemployment rate of around 8%, your hiring strategy could be attracting hundreds of applications.
Are you finding it hard to attract the talent you need for your vacant executive assistant role? The best candidate may be buried inside that mountain of applications. That’s like finding a needle in a haystack. Worse, the most talented candidates may not apply.
In this article, we discuss why the best candidates may not be sending you their resumes. And we examine what you can do to make sure they do, and to reduce the number of unqualified candidates who do apply to you.
Why Aren’t the Best Candidates Attracted to Your Executive Assistant Jobs?
The best executive assistants know their worth. They don’t simply apply to every advertised role in their job search. They are looking for a role in which they can learn, grow, and will enjoy.
If you are finding that you are not receiving applications from high-caliber candidates, the following reasons could be why.
· Your Job Posting Is Not Compelling
The first step in hiring an executive assistant is writing your job description. If you have advertised previously and intend to use this job description as a template, it’s important that you adapt it for the current role.
Composing a great job description will help you attract the right type of candidates. You must be highly specific about what you want from a candidate. A generic job description leads to many underqualified candidates. Additionally, a poorly written job description will deter the candidates you desire if they believe the role will not be interesting enough or that they are overqualified.
· Advertising Your Position
To attract top-quality candidates, you must put your job posting in front of them. Once you have crafted your killer job description, start thinking about the best place to post your job.
Advertising internally can be a great option for larger companies. According to data from CareerBuilder, around 8 in 10 companies consider employee referrals to be a great source of top-quality candidates.
LinkedIn is another resource that recruiters and hiring companies use, though to do so effectively you should build a presence on the platform first.
· Know What to Offer Your Applicants
One of the biggest problems that employers face in attracting top-quality executive assistants is knowing what to offer them. A fair and competitive salary is a must, but many of the best candidates are looking for more than a paycheck.
A lack of career progression is a big motivator for changing jobs – use this to your advantage by highlighting the personal growth that your company offers its employees.
You should also think about the whole compensation package – the benefits and perks that you offer, as well as consideration to flexibility of hours. Work/life balance is a motivating factor for many.
· Building Your Company Reputation
This step is something that will take time. One reason you may not be attracting quality candidates could be your reputation as an employer.
Does your company have a reputation for inclusive company culture? Are your employees happy? What is your rating on Google reviews, Yelp, and other online review sites?
Creating a positive work environment that your current employees enjoy is a huge part of attracting high-quality executive assistants. Top candidates will do their research before applying to a role. If the information they find about working for your company is not positive, you need to develop a strategy to change this.
Seek the Help of Hiring Professionals
These strategies take time to put into place, and require continued effort. Many organizations don’t have the time or resources to commit to a dedicated hiring strategy. This is where you could benefit from the experience and market reach of a dedicated staffing agency.
Partnering with Lakeshore Talent will help you penetrate the hidden depths of talent in your search for key executive assistant roles. We’ll match your needs with the qualifications, experience, and career desires of suitable candidates, reducing your workload and helping you hire successfully and more quickly.
For help recruiting a great candidate for your executive assistant job, contact Lakeshore Talent today.