As it turns out, creating the perfect hiring process is fairly difficult. Who knew? Since 2007, we've been on a quest to bring you the most useful tools for every kind of hiring situation, and for every stage of the hiring process (including virtual interviews).

In other posts, we've examined the evolution of the executive search industry, and what services a modern search firm should offer. 

If you work in an association or other nonprofit organization, it’s risky to think of recruiting as an HR function. It’s not.

By telling HR to “Post a job ad, get some resumes, and then I’ll starting interviewing,” you are making a career-limiting mistake, one that puts your personal reputation at risk.

Whether you are the hiring manager or the candidate being interviewed, hiring is personal, now more than ever. Candidate behavior has changed more in the past 5 years than at any time in the past 30 years, but few employers have updated their hiring practices. This creates some real challenges on both sides of the interview desk, and more than a few opportunities to gain a real competitive advantage.

Big data in hiring is all the rage, but don’t be fooled into thinking that big data is just for Silicon Valley technology companies or large organizations. The use of data and science to make management decisions benefits small organizations every bit as much as large firms. The only difference is the higher amount of press coverage large firms get for their innovative HR decisions.

Aside from throwing your money into a bonfire, one of the fastest ways to sabotage your business results is to hire the cheapest HR professionals you can find. When you saddle your executive team with under-staffed (or under-skilled) HR support, you hobble their performance.

Current employees, disgruntled former employees, even job candidates who were not hired can go online to Glassdoor.com and anonymously post anything they feel like saying about your organization.

And they are. Glassdoor is now bigger than CareerBuilder, and it's the fastest-growing career site.

A year ago, most CEOs I spoke with didn’t seem to know or care about Glassdoor. But now more than half of the CEOs I speak with mention their Glassdoor reviews in our first meeting. They are all suffering from a case of sudden onset "Glassdoor angst" -- the kind of public accountability that makes most CEOs profoundly uncomfortable.

IBM is laying off thousands of employees in what the company calls "resource actions." These actions will take the largest toll on those who are laid off, but there are also bound to be questions from existing staff as to what their new roles and responsibilities will be.

In an attempt to lower criminal recidivism, various states and municipalities around the country are enacting new legislation that changes how employers can ask about an applicant's criminal history. Asking if someone has been convicted of a crime on their initial application for employment is still currently a common part of the employment application process, but DC has already changed their policy, and other local governments around DC are also considering it (don't worry, it's not being eliminated altogether - but the timing of when you can inquire is changing).

In a high-stakes hiring situation, it’s common to invite the finalist to interview with an objective external expert. In our searches for top financial executives, the CEO often wants the finalist to meet the chair of their Finance Committee. When the board is not involved, the CEO might want the candidate to interview with the company’s outside auditors.

One of the fastest ways to sabotage your business results is to hire the cheapest HR professionals you can find. When you saddle your executive team with under-staffed (or under-skilled) HR support, you hobble their performance. Here’s why: