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recruitment and careers

The perils of overanalysing body language in interviews

Last Modified: November 28, 2023

body language in interviews - image of a woman with slumped posture and closed body language

Where do you stand on body language? Hopefully not slouching and with your arms crossed? Body language has become big business. There are many “experts” appearing on TV and in the press who analyse body language in interviews. They tell us what a particular celebrity or politician was thinking, but not saying. In a business […]

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Does the truth matter anymore?

Last Modified: January 18, 2020

Does the truth matter? Businessman with pinocchio nose

Does the truth matter? Mark Twain once wrote “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” That’s a fine attitude for a fiction writer, but for most of us who work, run businesses, or are in public life, it has generally been considered that being “economical with the truth” is not […]

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The truth about “great” interview questions

Last Modified: January 7, 2020

Great interview questions - Why written on paper

There’s a lot of nonsense spoken, and written, about interview questions. A recent LinkedIn post about how “great” the “sell me this pen” question is, had accumulated 36,513 likes and more than 2500 comments at the time of writing this. Of course, it’s not a great interview question – unless you want to hire someone to […]

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Leadership: how important is looking the part?

Last Modified: August 14, 2023

looking the part

How important is looking the part when applying for a new leadership job? This is a subject that comes up often when working with employers during recruitment projects and with individuals who are seeking new roles. We all know that clean and pressed clothes for an interview is a basic requirement, but does it go […]

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Are your interview questions a strength or a weakness?

Last Modified: April 19, 2017

interview strengths and weaknesses

One of the most used interview questions is “What are your stengths?” This is closely followed, of course, by the inevitable, pointless, question about weaknesses. These stock questions reveal little about candidates, who are mostly well-rehearsed and trot out equally stock answers… How many times have you heard that your candidate is “a perfectionist” or […]

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First interviews: 6 tips for the perfect match

Last Modified: May 3, 2017

valentine's day perfect match

It’s Valentine’s Day and there’s no rest at bfpeople towers as we continue our work in finding leaders and developing talent – creating more perfect relationships in the workplace. The path to the perfect long-term hire, like the path to true love, is rarely easy going and it’s often said that the first interview is like […]

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Are your candidates committing CV fraud?

Last Modified: September 7, 2023

CV fraud - image of candidate with a mask

There is a lot of CV fraud around… Tonight, the BBC Apprentice show has its infamous Interview round where candidates are grilled about their career history and business plans. Audiences delight in the fiction exposed in the candidates’ CVs and their boastful brags being shot to pieces as the candidates squirm and try to explain […]

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How do we plug the creative skills gap?

Last Modified: July 18, 2020

skills gap

Matt Hancock, the government minister responsible for the creative industries, spoke recently (read his full speech here) about how important the sector is to Britain’s future. He promised ongoing commitment to the industry and this is good news, of course. But his speech comes at a time when skills are diminishing and good people are […]

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Spending your recruitment budget wisely

Last Modified: November 28, 2020

spend your budget wisely

“Do you use Powerpoint?” “Yes. I do.” “Great. Because this job really needs an advanced knowledge of Powerpoint to design and make presentations to staff and the board. Um… Er… How are you on Employment Law?” It was at this point that I splashed my coffee in the lounge of a well-known Business Centre just […]

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Recruiting a full sales team

Last Modified: August 28, 2023

recruiting sales team

A B2B supplier of high value, capital goods asked us for support in recruiting a team of sales people for a specific project. The business was launching a new range and needed to rapidly increase awareness and achieve penetration in its target market. We were asked to support the company in recruiting a full sales […]

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Why is it so hard to recruit good candidates?

Last Modified: May 16, 2017

recruiting sales team

Despite the economic uncertainty, some notable business failures in the industry and the vast increase in candidate registrations on CV database websites, many organizations find it difficult to attract and recruit good candidates. This is nothing new.  Companies have always had to compete for the best, but there was a time, when I started as […]

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Creating a talent pool

Last Modified: August 31, 2023

creating a talent pool

Creating a talent pool of staff to save time and money A UK university had an ongoing requirement for high quality administration staff. They were needed for the various faculties and departments across the large organisation. It found it was advertising for the same types of skills in the local press every week. There was considerable duplication […]

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Are you “untouchable” at work

Last Modified: September 3, 2017

jose mourinho - untouchable

Jose Mourinho has said today that none of the Chelsea football team should think they have a permanent place in his team selection, saying “At this moment I don’t have untouchables.” Mourinho has been talking about “untouchables” for at least 9 years: in December 2006 he said: ‘Claude Makelele is untouchable because of the way […]

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A tight recruitment brief

Last Modified: December 5, 2019

recruiting for your business

When a client needed specific skills in their new appointment. A high profile Business to Consumer service organisation was recruiting a Director of Communications and Customer Services into a “lion’s den” of an appointment. The company was making the headlines for all the wrong reasons, there were significant industrial relations issues and customer satisfaction was […]

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Recruitment Lessons from the Scottish Referendum

Last Modified: December 6, 2019

recruitment lessons from the referendum

In 48 hours or so, I (and around 4 million others) will cast our vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum. A simple “Yes” or “No” stating whether we believe Scotland should be an independent country. I make binary, Yes or No decisions every day. Many are important – my decision whether to reject or shortlist someone […]

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