As a recruiter with 8+ years of experience I have built my expertise in recruitment for the African continent, and India. During my last 8 years, I have handled end to end recruitment for mid to senior levels across verticals and domains.  With hands-on experience in headhunting, talent search, client management and database search, and referencing, which plays a major role to attract the right profile. 

Out of my tenure, I have been working with Nikunj Shah (first at Datum Recruitment Services and now at Select Global Solutions) for 5 years. He has given me a dynamic, creative, and challenging environment where I am not only working but enjoying both the work and growth of my role, which has helped get the best out of me.

I believe recruitment is a very holistic profession, where I can connect with people’s minds, hearts, and sometimes with family. I am happy to help people get their dream jobs across the world.

Learning is a continuous process of an individual’s life and It has helped me learn negotiation, counselling, building relations, a thorough understanding of various industries as well as profiles.

My journey with this wonderful sector started in the year 2004 and it has been a reputable 16 years. An experience of working in both Domestic and International markets has increased my reach to connect with people beyond the borders and nationalities. This has been an enlightening experience as has broadened my knowledge of various sectors, countries and skillsets. 

Often ‘soft skills’, such as the ability to communicate effectively, manage your own time and succeed under pressure are the most valuable. Recruitment is a people-focused career, so being able to build rapport and establish strong relationships is essential. It's also worth noting that the industry’s fast-paced and competitive atmosphere demands individuals with resilient attitudes - with targets to hit, phone calls to be made and candidates receiving counter offers at the last minute - having a positive mindset and strong-will to carry on is vital. 

Last but not the least the impact you can have is extremely rewarding. Whether it is finding someone their dream job or helping a client hire the perfect person to grow their business, recruiters have a huge impact on people’s lives. I still get the same buzz of excitement placing someone in a job now as I when I began my recruitment career.

Jyoti Hinduja, talks about how the recruitment industry has changed with the advent of better communication and technology.

I have been working in the recruitment industry for 18 years and I have seen many changes and an evolution in how recruiters work. With an improvement in technology, the use of job portals and social media, we are able to quickly advertise positions, compared to when I started my career and we used to advertise in newspapers.

Communication methods have also improved and until about 10 years ago we were using landlines and fax machines to communicate with clients and candidates, we also used to have candidates walk-in to our offices to submit their resume.

With the use of technology, my job has become significantly more efficient and the industry is able to source and screen candidates much faster, leading to cost savings for our clients and efficiencies in our teams.

With the use of whatsapp, skype and other communication tools, we are able to provide timely feedback to both candidates and clients, which has improved our relationships.

I have been doing international recruitment throughout my career, and one of the key challenges is to educate candidates on different countries that they may potentially be applying for jobs to. Now, we can direct them to websites, forums, videos of the country, the supermarkets and the Indian restaurants!

My career has been challenging and I have adapted throughout the changes in technology and communication, and I feel this has led to my success. I expect the industry to keep changing, and for our team at Select Global Solutions to be at the forefront of international recruitment.

I have been working with Nikunj Shah both at Datum Recruitment Services and at Select Global Solutions for the last 10 years, and we have worked across several continents and countries, serving over 400 clients globally! Every day is different in my career, and I love the challenges of a career in recruitment!

After I completed my MBA from Australia and moved back to India, I started my career as a recruitment consultant for Datum Recruitment Services, led by Nikunj Shah, who now leads us at Select Global Solutions. Many (like me) say they 'fell into recruitment'. Although that may be how some of us began our recruitment careers, for me it is the varied nature of the work and rewarding benefits that made me realise recruitment was the right career choice.

Being in recruitment you are responsible for helping people find the right job, which could actually be a life-changing opportunity for them. So functionally and emotionally, it is very satisfying when you get it right, not only for you but for the person that you placed and the team you just strengthened with new talent.

Everyday is a different day simply because you're dealing with people, by their very nature, are quite unpredictable and most of what everyone does is driven by their emotions. Therefore, there are a lot of moving parts in recruitment and things can, and will, go wrong which are beyond our control.

Luckily, I have the full support from the whole team towards sucess. Indeed It is a demanding career but, without a doubt, a rewarding one.

I am a working professional and a full-time mother at Select Global Solutions, an Executive Search and Recruitment firm. I joined the firm 10 months back and I can say that it was the best decision I took.

Select Global gives you the opportunity to grow independently,  the authority to work on your own and flexibility. Being a mother, it was important for me that I chose a company that allows me to put my family first.

As the world is affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the majority of offices have given work from home option to their employees, which we have been doing for the past 6 months and delivering results to our clients in the same way as before. Management has faith in us and does not micro-manage, which is something I admire and appreciate the most. You can fly high if you have an open sky in front of you. 

Being at home, it is difficult to manage work and family, however I have the support and guideance of management, and therefore work becomes easy and enjoyable.

The Covid-19 pandemic has created a huge amount of disruption to careers as employers and employees grapple with the financial and health impacts of the pandemic on their lives. 

Employees have found themselves faced with both crisis and opportunity as companies rapidly resize to adapt to the new normal. In addition to career considerations, they are also re-evaluating the risks associated with where they work and re-assessing their priorities to determine what they want to do with their lives. 

Expatriates, often miles from home, found themselves in a particularly difficult situation when it became clear that the virus was going to bring unprecedented disruption to life. Being separated from their families and suddenly unable to travel home led many to despair as they found themselves stuck and often facing a tough financial situation.

Having spoken to many individuals who are facing these challenges, we look at the key considerations to take into account when making decisions during this period of disruption.

Our advice is to keep calm and take time to come to prepare yourself before coming to a decision. This is important for every decision in the process of looking for a new role.

1. Should you look for a new opportunity during this time? Many companies have instituted salary cuts for their middle and senior management and many candidates are looking to move as a result. In some extreme cases, they have been laid off.

2. In the case of pay cuts, it is important to consider what the long term prospects are for the company. If the organization is inherently stable then it may be better to ride out the storm rather than jump ship. Whilst there may be higher paid job offers available, do these companies provide the same stability in the long run? We will be publishing an updated salary survey soon.

3. If you have been unlucky and have lost your job, it is important to take time to prepare your CV and research the companies you want to work for or apply to. A shotgun approach to a job search is rarely successful. We come across many poorly written or prepared CVs which automatically puts the candidate at a disadvantage.

4. Finally, those candidates who do manage to land a new role may be at a disadvantage when it comes to negotiating for their salary and benefits because of the current labor market and economy. Again, it is important to take some time to determine whether to push for a higher package or accept what is on offer.

In the near term, negotiating could be harder for applicants as companies are working through understanding all the impacts of COVID-19 on their business. It is worth taking some time to see if milestone based increments are possible, or to try and negotiate some performance based incentives. 

In conclusion, it is important to think carefully about each step of the process and invest sufficient time to ensure that you can achieve the best outcome for your career in the long term.

For the latest jobs in Africa, do check our job openings page https://www.selectglobal.co.in/jobs4552.html?v=63. You can apply for jobs across Africa in various industries and sectors, from jobs in operations, jobs in marketing to jobs in sales and finance. Our team follows a rigorous search and selection process to ensure both candidates and clients find the best fit for their next career move.

Following the turmoil this year, we have been speaking to our clients and candidates across the world to try and make sense of what is happening and what may come next for hiring and managing talent.

Some common themes that have already been reported:

1. Work From Home (WFH) is here to stay, though perhaps not at 100%
2. Most companies have imposed hiring freezes and/or are going through painful downsizing or paycuts
3. There are multiple applicants for most jobs and many of the candidates are vastly overqualified for these roles
4. Graduates are in a really tough bind at the moment

And so on….

We also found some other trends that are less obvious and sometimes counterintuitive. Here we share some of the more surprising trends that we have been encountering;

Talent - It is getting harder to hire (yes, really!)
Given the earlier comments about multiple applicants for any job being posted, this statement seems a little daft. In reality, what we saw is that many good candidates are not willing to switch jobs at this time. Even those who had been forced to take a pay cut, were willing to stick it out with their current organisation.

Very few employees working with larger organisations and respected brands were willing to consider a change, despite being offered higher salaries. Those who had recently been let go were still wary of taking on a job with lesser known companies and preferred organisations perceived to be more stable.

Trepidation - Employees are worried about WFH
Many articles have predicted how organisations will be forced to allow employees much greater flexibility and freedom in working from home. In reality, many employees want to get back to the office. Apart from the obvious reasons (children, internet, air-conditioning, social interaction etc.) they are also concerned about the impact of WFH on their career prospects. Recent graduates worry about the lack of mentoring and visibility, more senior employees worry about how the next promotion will come through. Worries about job security and lack of contact with superiors were fuelling their desire to get back to the office.

Technology - Driving a new wave of hiring and firing
Despite the headlines around job losses across sectors and organisations, there is an increase in opportunities for positions that have been newly created by the adoption of new technologies. For instance, a UK bank was forced to re-engineer a number of their backend processes when lockdowns were imposed leaving their Indian back office redundant. There are likely to be significant job losses in India, however they are now looking to add to their technology teams globally to support the new tech enabled processes which they have deployed.

If you’re struggling with some of these issues and would like to think through some possible solutions, please get in touch. Our team is working remotely with business as usual, and have taken this time to improve and increase our service offerings in talent management solutions.

We would be happy to brainstorm with you and see if there is a way in which we can assist.

If you are looking for a new job right now, you will be using Linkedin to search for the latest opportunities. Many of these new jobs are advertised by recruitment firms, or headhunters. In this blog, we provide tips on how to approach recruiters or respond to job adverts, for success.  

Most recruitment firms like our team at Select Global Solutions, are being bombarded with requests for jobs at this difficult time during COVID19, therefore it is important that candidates standout during their applications and messages to us.

Some tips below:

1. While replying to any posted Job Advertisement on LinkedIn, do not just write “Interested” or “visit my profile”. To catch the recruiter's attention, put in the effort to visit the Job advertised and if it matches your skill sets or present portfolio that you are handling, reply highlighting the key attributes of the Job that you are handling with the years of experience. Refrain for showing interest in every role that has been advertised.
2. A strict no-no is typos, spelling mistakes and grammatical goof-ups. Such errors are a big put-off for recruiters, who see the candidate as a person who does not pay attention to detail.
3. A working LinkedIn account and significant number of connections in the industry also indicate a genuine profile.
4. If you send a message to a recruiter, keep it brief! Sending a 2 page intro through LinkedIn doesn't work!
5. Do not hound recruiters, this comes across as unprofessional, and will be more of a deterrent. Instead, follow up at regular but sensible intervals, with a short message, or understand their response and act accordingly.

In a series of blog posts, we are sharing our ideas and suggestion on how candidates can optimise their profile and visibility to better attract recruiters. During this time, we have many candidates reaching out to us for job opportunities, in order to filter through the high volume of enquiries we receive, it is important that a candidate's Linkedin profile stands out. 

How to optimise LinkedIn profiles to attract recruiters
 

1. Use a good formal display picture. This should be a professional picture, high resolution, clearly showing your face. Holiday pictures or other casual versions are a big NO.
2. Complete your profile at 100% capacity in terms of details.
3. In designation, you can mention differently named designations for the same role.
4. Use proper keywords to describe your jobs. When a recruiter is looking to fill a position, they will search for candidates using keywords as career/industry specific keywords. As a job seeker, ensure that your profile is fully optimized by including keywords in your headline, summary or about section or throughout your job experience.
5. The summary section should talk about the skills and your experience. One should choose the right words, highlight education & career achievements, career choices in context and few positive personality traits. It strengthens the first impression of the profile.
6. Your profile should also mention the rewards and recognitions received from the organizations. Sometimes it’s easier to explain your impact or achievement using an image, video, or an article — don’t be afraid to add media to your profile and tee it up in your summary.
7. Request recommendations.  Recommendations from people you have worked with carry a lot of weight. To a potential employer, a LinkedIn recommendation is like a reference in advance. Another way is to recommend people you know or work with, they will most likely reciprocate if you take the time to recommend them.

Capital City- Dakar: Dakar is the capital and largest city of Senegal. It has 14 hospitals with basic health facilities but given the Dakar's population, the capital is far from having necessary infrastructure, facilities and health personnel. Also, other regions of Senegal are far from well in terms of infrastructure, facilities and health personnel. Gambia, Mali, Guinea, Mauritania are neighbour countries of Senegal.

Cultural and Social Environment: Although safer and more secure than many other West African nations, Senegal has low  rate of petty street crime, including theft, robbery, and scams but one will find that most people are friendly, welcoming, and hospitable to expatriates and non-local residents living in Senegal. There are temples, Indian restaurants, Indian supermarkets are available for expats. 

Educational Facilities: The Senegalese education system is based on its French equivalent. Education is compulsory and free up to the age of 16. According to UNESCO, an adult literacy rate of 51.9%, In contrast with other neighbouring states Senegal has a low literacy rate. Majority schools are French, only one English school is available. 

Medical Facilities: Healthcare in Senegal is of a good standard, particularly in the Dakar and other developed, urban areas. Senegal has both a public and private healthcare system available to expats working and living in the country, but it may cost heavy and expats are suggested not to take treatment in Senegal and travel to their country.

Major Industries: The main industries include food processing, mining, cement, artificial fertilizer, chemicals, textiles, refining imported petroleum, and tourism. Exports include fish, chemicals, cotton, fabrics, groundnuts, and calcium phosphate.

Political Environment: Senegal has a democratic political culture; the chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. It has strong track record of political stability. Senegal has a mixed economic system in which the presence of the state in the economy is considerable, but there is limited private sector freedom.

Job Opportunities for Expats: Dakar is a hub for expats who come to build their career in Senegal, most of their travel and stay are organized by their employer as the cost of living independently is quite high. The Average cost of renting a house for a middle working class is about 55000-100000 (200 USD) and for food it is 55000 CFA per month (90 USD)

Capital City: Luanda is the largest city in Angola and World’s most expensive city. It is an Industrial Centre majorly manufacturing beverages, automotive products, and cement. Also, Agricultural products produced in the Luanda include coffee, cotton, sugarcane, oilseeds, and palm oil and kernels; cattle raising is locally important.

Cultural and Social Environment: The Overall security in Angola and Luanda city has improved markedly and the crime rate is much lesser than the other African Countries for the expats residing. There are Beaches, Temples, Indian Restaurants, Indian Supermarkets. Recently, the Indian Movie (Dabbang 3) and Telugu Movie are released and Indian Channels like Sab TV, Sony TV, Zee TV Etc. are also telecasted.

Educational Facilities: Luanda has many American and Portugal schools around the city. The international schools are available till higher secondary, but syllabus and quality of education is only good enough till 5^th grade. Also, education is very expensive (Nursery school fees for a child is approximately 500 USD per month.)

Medical Facilities: There are only Portuguese Hospitals in Angola, doctors and medicines are available to some extnet, but it may be expensive, and Expats are suggested not to take treatment in Angola and travel back to their home country.

Major Industries: The Industrial Sector is dominated by Four Major Industries- Aviation Industry, Mining, Food & Beverage and Hotel & Tourism.

Political Environment: Angola adopted new constitution in 2010, since then Angola has stable, quick and responsive government mostly dominated by Socialist Principles, but the economic stability is not at par.

Job Opportunities for Expats: Luanda is a hub for expats who come to build their career in Angola. These expats in Angola form insular committees in Luanda where most of their travel and stay are organized by their Employer as the cost of living independently is quite high compared to the neighboring, Average cost of renting a house for a middle working class is about 500 USD.

Over the past few weeks, as everyone was winding down during the holidays, we had some interesting discussions with senior leaders across the world. Many of them were introspecting on their careers and trying to chart their future paths.

Here are some of the key themes that emerged:

For Senior Leaders in Corporates

• A desire to spend the next and perhaps final stage of their careers doing something that really excited them rather than continue running on the same treadmill which they had been on for the past few years.
• To stop answering to someone else and become their own boss, and start on their own.
• To accept lower earnings and the uncertainty of running their own business so that they could take control over their destiny.

For Owners of Businesses

• A desire to prepare their organisations for the next generation and take a step back from their responsibilities.
• The realisation that they had not been able to develop a succession plan within their organisations and that there was a real shortage of senior management who could mentor the youngsters to take over the reins in the future.
• Being trapped in their current roles and unable to relinquish the responsibilities they were bearing.
• A conscious recognition that they wanted to get out of the way of the next batch of leaders and that by staying on they risked getting in the way of progress.

Challenges of Change

Whilst many of the individuals we spoke to knew that they wanted to make a change, most of them were struggling to work out how to make the change. Having been consumed by the demands of their jobs, they had been unable to explore how to shift gears and start working on their new projects. The few who had successfully made the transition had all taken deliberate steps to set aside time and leverage their networks to help with the change.

We found that many organisations were reluctant to let their senior leaders move on, even though there was a desire on both sides for a change. This often led to a lose-lose situation where neither party were happy with the status quo, but somehow there was not sufficient impetus to force the change.

Push through to Prosper

It was encouraging to hear that the leaders who had persevered and been able to make the transition were generally happier and more enthusiastic than they had been before. One of the most common comments was that they wished they had taken the plunge much earlier in their lives! They found that they were able to leverage their skills in exciting new sectors and work with very different challenges. Just the change of environment itself was rejuvenating and reinvigorating.

We have been working with a number of senior leaders who are looking to make a change in their careers. If you would like to explore some options, please feel free to reach out and we can help you start the ball rolling!

Select Global Solutions provide Executive Search and Recruitment services to clients across Africa, India and the Middle East. Over the last 10 years we have developed an expertise in multi-cultural recruitment of senior talent across multiple industries. We specialise in sourcing both expatriates and nationals. To find out more about our talent acquisition solutions, get in touch with us at info@selectglobal.co.in 

In our last article, we looked at how to manage your reputation through the recruitment process in order to attract better candidates.

A number of our clients are facing an equally difficult challenge as they resize their organisations to face new economic realities. How do you maintain your company reputation whilst downsizing?

Can a company fire well to hire well?

There are multiple internal and external company stakeholders to consider, as well as other interest parties such as competitors, regulators, etc. A poorly designed and executed retrenchment exercise can be tremendously damaging to the company's brand. On the other hand, companies who manage the process well can turn a potential liability into a long term asset.

Employees
We have seen various strategies used by companies to ensure that employees who are being let go continue to view the organisation positively and remain brand ambassadors for years to come. Apart from the financial compensation associated with redundancy, companies should also think about the other softer aspects associated with the retrenchment.

A common theme amongst all the strategies, is ensuring that there is a fair and transparent process to handle the employees’ exits. Some of the critical aspects of ensuring that the process is perceived to be fair are;

1. Communication - One of the most critical aspects of handling the exit well is to have an effective communication process in place. Having a frank and honest conversation with the employees about the reasons for the retrenchment will go a long way to ensuring that trust is maintained.
2. Timing – in the case of a redundancy or retrenchment exercise, giving an employee sufficient notice is vital to ensuring that they maintain some goodwill towards the company.
3. Support – if at all possible, helping employees find alternate employment either through informal networks or where possible through outplacement services helps minimise the pain of the transition. Many companies also provide access to coaches to assist employees during their transition and help them get over the immediate shock of the retrenchment to focus on their next opportunity.

Outsiders
Managing the narrative with external stakeholders as well as the perception amongst consumers and competitors is equally important to handling a large retrenchment well.

Competitors will use the period of uncertainty created by the retrenchment to try and poach talent. Given the general uncertainty created within the organisation during a retrenchment exercise, employees are particularly vulnerable to an approach at this time, and it is important to ensure that the employees being retained are reassured during this time.

The image of the organisation amongst customers and the general public is also important to manage during the retrenchment process. For example, it may be better to have one significant round of retrenchments rather than multiple smaller rounds given the potential for bad news to keep circulating in the press.

We have assisted a number of organisations who have planned to downsize by engaging with the employees who are being let go to see if alternative roles can be found for them. Regardless of whether these efforts bear fruit, these initiatives have helped maintain the organisation’s brand and eventually allowed them to continue to attract good talent despite their short term challenges.

If you find yourself facing these challenges, please feel free to reach out and we can discuss how we may be able to help.

This article is written by Nikunj Shah, former founder and CEO of Datum Recruitment Services, and now founder of Select Global Solutions. 

Select Global Solutions provide Executive Search and Recruitment services to clients across Africa, India and the Middle East. Over the last 10 years we have developed an expertise in multi-cultural recruitment of senior talent across multiple industries. We specialise in sourcing both expatriates and nationals. To find out more about our talent acquisition solutions, get in touch with us at info@selectglobal.co.in 

In the war for talent, are you struggling to attract the right candidates? Despite a slowdown in many emerging economies, a number of our clients are still struggling to attract the right candidates. A key reason appears to be the image and reputation of the company amongst the candidate pool.

As Warren Buffet said:
It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you will do things differently"

In this age of instant communication, candidates quickly learn about any issues at a company. Forums such as Glassdoor, Whatsapp groups and other forms of social media now make it very easy for a disgruntled individual to share negative opinions.

As everyone knows, bad news gets the most press!

Organisations need to actively think about how they treat their potential, future, current and past employees. As a recruiter, we often come across clients who are battling to overcome negative perceptions about their organisation in order to find talent.

Image
The challenges for a company start with the recruitment process. When a role is first advertised or a search initiated, the way in which the position is promoted itself creates an opportunity to frame the company’s reputation. A poorly drafted advert can lead to assumptions about the professionalism of the organisation. Companies employing multiple recruitment consultants risk damaging their reputation if a candidate receives multiple calls from multiple recruiters, as this leads to a perception of desperation.

Speed
The speed at which a company proceeds with hiring can also affect their reputation. Once a candidate has been engaged it is imperative to conclude on the process and close the loop in a reasonable period of time.

In one instance, the inability of the company to conclude on a role created its own feedback loop, and future candidates were reluctant to apply as they worried why the role was taking so long to fill!

Feedback
Many organisations do not have processes in place to provide feedback to candidates who have applied. Whilst the company focusses on the few shortlisted candidates, the rejected many rarely receive any communication, let alone constructive feedback on why their candidature was not taken forward. These spurned candidates often have reason to vent their frustrations out publicly and nowadays can do so anonymously so have little to fear in terms of repercussions.

These reputational effects linger for long periods of time, and once established it becomes an uphill battle to change perceptions.

A client in a niche industry found that some disgruntled ex-employees had spread such a negative image about them, that even years after the employee left, they were still unable to attract quality candidates.

Over the years, we have found many creative ways in which to help clients overcome these challenges.

If you find yourself facing these challenges, please feel free to reach out and we can discuss how we may be able to help.

Summer has arrived. Time to wind down, spend time with family and friends, head for the hills, and set the Out of Office message for a couple of weeks as you recharge and refresh, unburdened by the worries of work. Having left your work in your colleagues’ capable hands, you relax, knowing that all will be in order on your return.

Is this truly your reality? Actually, you are probably still connected, checking emails and messages, and generally still engaged with whatever is going on back at work. The concern that the wheels may fall off the bus in your absence, or at the very least a need to know what is happening in the background, mean that you are unable to switch off completely. This inability to let go has many unintended consequences, but are you really indispensable?

Apart from the negative impact on your well-being, which numerous studies have already explored, the inability to let go may also affect organisational performance both in the short and long term. In the long run, this could impact your career and growth potential as a leader.

In the short term, knowing that you are available at any time, allows your team to avoid taking decisions and abdicate responsibility. By staying in touch, you send a signal that you still wish to be involved, despite not being around. Allowing the team to take ownership of decisions in your absence could have some significant benefits.

Firstly, the team dynamics in your absence could help identify the high potential candidates in your organisation. Which of the team stepped up and took on extra responsibility? How well did they cope without your direction? Who took the time to slack off? After a couple of weeks away, it is often easier to determine how the individuals in the team are all performing.

If problems do arise, these could help identify gaps in your strategy or organisation, which can then be addressed. Some organisations enforce a compulsory two week holiday annually, which allows them to check that their systems are working well and that the organisation is not overly reliant on one individual.

In the long run, this could impact your career and growth potential as a leader. Career growth demands that there is someone else able to fill your shoes. Building a team that is able to perform without you is a great way to free yourself for bigger challenges.

So, take the plunge and have a break – not only have you earnt it, your team needs it!

This article was written by Nikunj Shah, the former founder and CEO of Datum Recruitment Services, and now founder and leader at Select Global Solutions, an Executive Search and Recruitment Firm providing solutions across Africa, India and other Emerging Markets. To speak to Nikunj and the team about your talent requirements, get in touch at info@selectglobal.co.in

When you are hiring to fill a role, how do you screen for attitude?
 
Leadership blogs and management guides are full of advice on how to hire the best talent. A multitude of articles have been written about how attitude matters more than simply having the technical skills for the job.  Successful recruiters wax lyrical about finding hidden gems during the recruitment process.
 
As the story goes, despite the candidate having a terrible resume, these enlightened leaders identify some innate characteristic in the candidate and offer them a job on the spot. Over the years this individual turns out to be their most valuable employee, repays the opportunity they were given by performing miracles, and single-handedly drives the organisation to performance Nirvana!
 
Beyond providing inspiration, do these tales really hold true in real life? How can you find these diamonds in the rough?

Are recruiters really enlightened, or is there still a ‘tick box’ exercise in hiring?

Our experience of the reality is far more nuanced. Due to time constraints and the sheer volume of applicants for certain positions, most recruiters will filter candidates initially on simple criteria such as educational qualifications, previous roles and organisations a candidate has worked at, etc.
 
Very few organisations can afford to spend the time to interview all candidates and invest in face to face meetings to ascertain if an ‘off-beat’ candidate has the potential to be a star performer.

Typically, recruiters are under pressure to close roles, and incentivised to reduce the turn around time for hires. They have NO motivation to try and find candidates who are out of the ordinary. Can they really afford to take the risk of placing someone who didn’t meet the candidate profile, but has a slim chance of being a star performer?

Do Automated Tracking Systems (ATS) find the best talent?

An ATS, especially those now using some sort of machine learning to filter candidates, will tend to reject anyone who does not fit the prescribed job description and candidate profile and thus reduces the probability of anyone from a different background of getting through the initial screening round.

As the in-built bias in the recruitment process continues to reinforce itself through multiple iterations in the feedback loop, the risk is that the diversity of candidates shortlisted, reduces over time.

So, how does an organisation ensure that they can avoid these traps and bring in the diversity in talent that powers greater performance?  One CEO we met conducts all campus hiring personally and takes the time to interview all the applicants. How many others would have the time to do this?

There is clearly no simple answer, and the best solution will depend on the seniority of the hire, the size of the organisation and the role. Getting a recruitment consultant on board who understands the organisation’s goals, the culture and has an ability to think outside the box, may help solve this conundrum.

We are constantly striving to find unique, diverse talent for our most progressive clients.  We get to the heart of what a candidate is about.

To find out more about how we can help you with your talent acquisition requirements, get in touch.

This article was written by Nikunj Shah, the former founder and CEO of Datum Recruitment Services, and now founder and leader at Select Global Solutions in Executive Search and Recruitment solutions across Africa, India and other Emerging Markets. To speak to Nikunj about your talent requirements, get in touch at info@selectglobal.co.in

A shocking number of senior managers across emerging markets have suddenly found themselves unemployed. In regions where top talent is so scarce, it is amazing to find so many candidates who are struggling to find another job despite having impressive resumes and experience in leading companies. These candidates seem to be caught in the Top Talent Trap. 

Fat at the top?

One of the main causes of the lack of opportunity for senior managers is the withdrawal or downsizing of many multinationals from the region. Multinationals entered the market and quickly created a bonanza for employees as they poached candidates from local organisations and bid up salaries. With multiple employment offers, candidates found themselves attracting higher and higher salaries as companies struggled to hang on to their hard won talent. Despite the resulting cost pressures, companies accepted the impact on profitability, by convincing themselves that it would all be worth it in the long run.
 
Unfortunately, the recent economic downturn has led to a further deterioration in performance and a rapid rethink of prospects in the region. Faced with strong local competition, which is often owner managed and leaner, multinationals have quickly realised the need to rationalise their cost structures in order to compete.

The war for talent has quickly turned into a bloodbath as entire layers of the organisation are cut. Gone are the regional level managers, and companies have returned to country level management reporting directly to their head offices in an effort to stem losses by cutting costs.

Overpaid senior managers?

A number of senior managers with good experience still find themselves out of a job months after being retrenched or resigning. This is due to the mismatch between their last compensation package and the current market opportunities. When the multinationals entered new markets such as Africa in the early part of the decade, salaries for the lucky few ballooned as they were headhunted and offered substantial increments to switch jobs. As the need for talent intensified, salaries were bid up and soon reached stratospheric levels. Unfortunately, when the tide turned these very same stars found themselves left high and dry, as the jobs disappeared and the companies left behind found their packages to be unaffordable.  With salaries having been bid up in the past, companies have also realised that cutting a handful of senior managers from the organisation has a much greater impact on costs than trying to reduce workers at lower levels.

Many of the affected managers that we have recently spoken to, have expressed a willingness to take a reduction in compensation.  However employers are naturally cautious, fearing that anyone taking a cut will likely continue to be on the look out for better opportunities and therefore unlikely to be a stable hire. 

There are clearly ways to mitigate these risks and in our view this is the time for employers to take advantage of the availability of so much talent.

If you are looking for some great candidates, then feel free to reach out and we can help work with you to bridge the gap in expectations to find a win-win solution for both parties. 

This article was written by Nikunj Shah, the former founder and CEO of Datum Recruitment Services, and now founder and leader at Select Global Solutions in Executive Search and Recruitment solutions across Africa, India and other Emerging Markets. To speak to Nikunj about your talent requirements, get in touch at info@selectglobal.co.in 

The Long Service Award. Cherished by organisations as a sign of how great they are as employers. Sought after by employees as a recognition of their loyalty to the company (and hopefully to get a gold watch). Lauded by leaders as a sign of their excellent people management skills. But are companies and employees doing themselves a disservice by failing to part ways? Is it time to retire the long service award?

In the past, the loyalty of an individual to a company and vice versa has been measured primarily by their length of service in the company. However, in the age of millennials, is the longevity of an individual in the company really a good barometer of their loyalty?

As a leading HR professional said to me recently;

“the workforce is getting younger and younger, and for this population it is not considered a “great” thing to work for the same organization for years and to work one’s way up the ranks.  They will move whenever and wherever an opportunity presents itself -looking for the fastest way up the career ladder.  So we may have to re-think what loyalty looks like in the modern day workplace – can it be measured purely by length of service?”

There are clearly advantages of retaining the best individuals in a company for longer periods – lower recruitment costs, more committed employees, improved company morale, and hopefully a better organisational performance. However, are employees staying in the organisation because they are loyal, or simply because either they are too lazy to move or feel unable to find a better role outside? Are they staying simply because they don’t feel there is anywhere else for them to go?
 

Companies that have low levels of churn and very stable workforces are often admired for their ability to retain talent. On the other hand, are employees who jump ship every couple of years really disloyal, or do they allow for a continuous refreshment of ideas and enhancement of energy in the organisation? As the senior HR professional we spoke to mentioned:
 

“On the flip side, there are also those organisations that have become terribly risk-averse and do not want to take the risk of hiring new employees… one would say they are exceedingly loyal to their employees.  The employee turnover rates in those organisations are extremely low, which in turn leaves no room for new talent to come in and breathe fresh air into the organization”

In addition to the lack of room for new talent, the organisations with a very stable workforce also become unattractive to new talent. If there is no churn in the management structure of the organisation, where do employees find opportunities for career progression? In many companies, it would make sense to retire some of the older workers in order to attract fresh talent who could bring in new ideas and new energy to the organisation.

A number of our clients are increasingly struggling to find a balance between loyalty and performance in the organisation. How do leaders manage the very different behaviours between older workers and millenials? What is the right time for an employee to move on from a company? If employees are stuck in their roles, where are the opportunities for advancement amongst the younger workforce?

There is clearly no simple answer to the above questions, however it pays for leaders to think through the choices that they are making and understand the costs and benefits of each choice they make.

In our recent discussions with clients and candidates, an interesting pattern is emerging which may have some very serious consequences for companies' talent acquisition plans and for the careers of senior management.

Following years of robust growth in emerging markets, the war for talent amongst businesses resulted in boom times for employees. Skilled workers were constantly being headhunted as companies tried desperately to maintain their talent pool as they scaled. This led to frequent job changes and rapid increases in remuneration as employees took advantage of the environment. One of the biggest complaints we heard was about the lack of loyalty amongst their workers.
 
As economies have started to recover, companies are once again looking to rebuild their talent pools. However, they are wary of employing individuals who were previously moving from one organisation to another. On the other hand, employees are wary of taking up assignments with organisations that until recently were still reducing headcount. Hence, despite the number of excellent candidates in the market, and a number of very interesting opportunities, many roles are still left unfilled as the mutual risk aversion leads to reluctance from both sides to close the deal.
 
Recently however, companies in emerging markets have been faced with a number of headwinds. Economic growth is falling in a number of countries due to both local and external factors such as elections, fiscal tightening by governments and weak macroeconomic conditions.

Faced with these challenges a number of companies have resorted to downsizing programmes in order to maintain competitiveness. Many employees have found themselves suddenly unemployed. In a few cases, redundancies have taken place in only a few months following the appointment of the employee in the organisation.

These abrupt changes have left many workers scarred and therefore far more risk averse. Those still in employment have also been affected as they hear the news of their friends losing their jobs. There are a number of very highly qualified and talented people who are suddenly looking for work. At the same time, those currently employed are now ultra cautious about making a change. Now workers complain about a lack of loyalty from their employers!

Is your organisation facing a similar situation? What is the solution? Let's have a chat and see if we can help you bridge this gap. 

Work on your handshake: Don't offer up a flimsy or sweaty hand. Instead, when you meet with prospective employers or interviewers, offer a firm handshake, with one or two pumps from the elbow to the hand. It's a good way to illustrate your confidence and start the interview off on the right note.

Get serious: If you take a casual approach to the initial interview with a company, especially with a screening interviewer from the human resources department, you may be sealing your fate. Job seekers should treat every interview as if it's their one and only chance to sell themselves to the recruiter.

Practice makes perfect: Keep the aforementioned cliché in mind if you're offered an interview for a job you may not even want. Go on the interview anyway; you can make contacts for future job opportunities and get valuable interview practice. Who knows? You may even want the job after all.

Be enthusiastic: Bring a positive attitude to your interview. Most interviewers won't bring back someone who has a negative presence or seems like they almost need to be talked into the job. "You're selling yourself and part of you is the positive approach you'll bring to the office every morning," says Alison Richardson, a recruiter for several New York financial firms. "That smile and friendly demeanor go a long way."

Ask questions: When interviewing for a new position, it's essential to have a handful of questions to ask your potential employer. Some questions could include: What do you consider to be the ideal background for the position? What are some of the significant challenges? What's the most important thing I can do to help within the first 90 days of my employment? Do you have any concerns that I need to clear up in order to be the top candidate?

Tell a story: Your interviewer wants to know about your skills and experiences, but he or she also wants to know about you. Don't fire off routine answers to questions. Instead, work your answers into stories or anecdotes about yourself. People remember the people who are interesting. Prove your value by tailoring stories that address the main concern an interviewer may have: What can you do for us?

Show some restraint: During an interview, what you don't say may be as important as what you do say. As a rule, don't talk about money or benefits, especially during the first interview. You should already know if you fit the parameters. Don't badmouth about any of your past employers. Organizations don't hire complainers. Don't mention outside career aspirations or part-time jobs. Employers are looking for people who want to be part of their organization for the next decade and beyond.

You might be wondering why you should use a recruitment agency when you could instead adopt a more ‘hands-on’ approach by recruiting new personnel directly through a jobs listing site or via headhunting.

However, it would be at your own peril that you leave a recruitment agency out of the equation. Here are some of the problems that can easily arise when you choose not to use an agency.

Struggling To Stand Out From The Crowd

While nothing is stopping your company from just posting its vacancies on widely-used job listings sites, those additions could prove drops in an ocean where your competitors are also trying to edge their way in. Therefore, many job seekers might barely notice the vacancies you advertise.

Candidates might even decide that looking through vacancies on such a site is too bewildering, and therefore seek a recruitment agency's help instead.

Wasting Time Considering Unqualified Candidates

A recruitment agency can screen candidates to check that they have the experience, skills and qualifications your company needs. Your firm wouldn't have to fulfil that particular responsibility itself, as would be the case if you just allowed anyone and everyone to send their CVs directly to your hiring team.

There’s a lot of scope to waste precious time if you have to manually sift through candidates that do not meet your fundamental criteria. When you get a reputable recruitment agency on the job instead, you can trust them to separate the candidates to whom you will want to speak, from those that should be rejected out of hand.

Expensively Employing Too Many Bad Workers

For your company, it’s much better financially to avoid employing an ill-suited worker than it is to recruit them, only to later realise the mismatch. After all, the costs with regard to recruitment, training and reduced productivity can be heavy.

No employer wants to spend a penny more than it strictly needs to on the hiring of staff, which is why you may turn to a recruitment agency that is experienced and skilled in hunting out the best-suited candidates in response to a brief.

At Select Global Solutions we follow a rigorous search and selection process, only providing you with a shortlist of suitable vetted candidates. We provide bespoke solutions to align with your existing HR and recruitment processes, and provide you the most cost effective and efficient solution.

Kenya’s national long-term development blueprint is aiming to transform Kenya into an industrializing, middle-income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens by 2030. There are on-going construction and plans for public SEZs in Athi River, Naivasha, Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Lamu.

2018 is expected to produce numerous opportunities for job seekers and professionals. Finding a good opportunity is more competitive than ever. Trends like localization, employers being cost conscious, having specific job descriptions are changing the employment landscape, and impacting what skills and experience are most in demand.

Companies in Kenya are localizing. With the Paradigm shift in education levels, most of the multinationals and regional players want to hire more local talent to boost the economic level of the country. Going a step further, big multinationals are opening their doors to local talent from Kenya for their worldwide business.

We are hiring locals for Production, Finance & Accounts, Mechanical, and Marketing and Sales roles with a leading building material group, and also for plastics and chemical industries.   Interactions with local candidates is always a good experience as they are easily available, are very clear about their career goals, are easy to communicate with, time-bound and reply promptly to our queries. They are very humble, cooperative and of helping nature as they grow them as well others by giving reference of other suitable candidates.

There is good potential for recruitment in fields like Construction, Telecom, Insurance, Building Materials, and Hospitality etc. in the endeavour to redevelop the country in terms of economic strength and a better lifestyle.

We are currently working with Industries like Manufacturing (Steel. Building Materials, Plastics, Sugar etc.), Construction and Telecom. Recently we recruited, middle-level executives for production, Maintenance, IT, Marketing, Security, Accounts & Finance. Some C Level roles are also on the verge of finalization.

If you are hiring for your business in Kenya, get in touch to find out more about how we can help you with your recruitment needs to find local Kenyan talent.

Across Africa agriculture is rarely seen as a meaningful career for the youth. Considering the hard work, the challenges and the capital that it requires, many youths would rather migrate to the cities than stay in the rural areas to pursue a career in Agriculture.

Yet, there are many success stories coming from Africa; of successful youth agripreneurs, who, despite the hurdles have used their skills, creativity, and innovation and leveraged on technology to build strong, thriving agribusinesses.

In Nigeria for example, enterprising youth have started a successful farming business or are renting out equipment for other farmers to use, thus improving food security and making farming less labour intensive and thus attractive to youth.

In Kenya, an entrepreneur has set up an online platform helping young farmers to share their journey with other farmers; thus helping exchange their challenges, experience, and information; and igniting the interest of young Kenyans towards a career in agriculture.

Success stories of young people making a career out of agriculture while creating jobs in agriculture and boosting the income of farmers and the community as a whole are changing the negative stereotypes associated with agriculture and positively reinforcing the message that young people can succeed and make a living out of agriculture and have a meaningful career.

To build a thriving agribusiness, African youth need to tap into new technologies and digital tools. Thus, there is a market for innovation centres, vocational training centres and other institutions that are set up to train, support and meet the needs of African agripreneurs. The good news is that such initiatives are beginning to roll out.

Secondly, incubation centres that incubate agriculture-focused youth ideas help African youth to sharpen their ideas and further develop their management and entrepreneurial skills must be launched, and the existing ones need to continue to be funded.

Thirdly, it is important to provide platforms where rising African youthful agripreneurs can meet successful youth entrepreneurs who, despite the hurdles, have made a career in agriculture.

Making agriculture attractive and an easy sell to youth should continue to be among the top priorities for African countries and stakeholders in the agriculture value chain. The time to encourage many more young people to pursue agriculture as a career is now.

Select Global Solutions is a trusted and reliable executive search and recruitment firm in the agriculture industry in Africa. We are your one-stop solution for agricultural staffing and career opportunities. For executive hiring for agro jobs in Africa, get in touch. We are currently hiring for jobs in Agriculture in Senegal and other parts of Africa. For more information, go to our jobs page

There are 16 million unemployed in Nigeria in 2017 third quarter —National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, has said. As per NBS more men worked full-time than women, while a higher percentage of female worked part-time between 20-39 hours and below 20 hours per week.

The absolute number of male full-time workers, 34.85 million, was more than twice the number of female full-time workers, 16.21 million, in the third quarter of 2017.

Nigeria needs more women in the workforce, better education and skills for its young. Colleges have to take the initiative; help candidates with career services, campus placements for jobs with companies.

2017 was the best year as far as the Africa tech revolution was concerned, as investment in tech start-ups topped US$195 million over the course of the year.

The number of tech starts ups that received funding has increase from 125 in 2015 to 146 in 2016 and 159 in 2017; this means Investor confidence and willingness to back African tech ventures is increasing.

The total funding raised by these companies – US$195,060,845 – also marks a 51% rise on the previous year’s figures, taking investment into African start-ups to an all-time record high. This proves that the speculation on African tech starts ups is real and not just hype and is impacting all aspects of daily life and service delivery.

Tech starts up are coming in all fields from healthcare to home cleaning; but it is the fintech companies that received the best funding as seen since last 3 years. A few other sectors also saw success in 2017. Ecommerce for example grew 350% on the previous year to collect over US$16 million in investment over the course of the year.

Agriculture and farming being big in Africa, there has been investment in agri-tech space, with growth of 203% in 2017. Agri-tech and e-health being are also interesting for investors due to the scope and need  of innovative new solutions, and the substantial impact element of ventures operating in these areas, these investments offer both sizeable returns and impact.

South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya continued to solidify their position as the top three investment destinations in Africa, but there was also interest in Egypt, Ghana, Uganda and Morocco.

Africa’s tech ecosystem is bound to create a trend which will continue to develop as the continent carries on presenting high quality innovations and businesses, tackling Africa’s challenges, but also scalable across the world.

Talent is a top priority for all start-up founders and executives. Starts up need to hire recruitment agencies with executive search teams who know the hiring needs of an entrepreneurial venture. Start-ups should recruit highly motivated, self-starting, hardworking candidates, quick thinking candidates with good execution skills who share a common vision and are interested in a job in a start-up.

Some jobs pay extremely high remunerative packages worldwide. While master’s degrees will give you a slight edge over your competitors, being equipped with a bachelor’s degree in Kenya and hopefully in the correct field should give you high hopes of drawing some of the heftiest salaries in Kenya. The best paying sectors are banks, investment funds, telecommunication companies, and manufacturing sector companies.

So which are best paying jobs in Kenya?

Finance

They are some of the most important players in many companies. They literary watch over company funds. This also makes them part of the top management of all serious companies. Since the field is quite large, those who rise up to the position of Chief Finance Officer take not less than a million Kenyan shillings. Internal auditors make almost half a million while private practitioners could earn in millions.

Medicine

Medicine is a well-paying job with high market value, what with medical graduates earning right after internships. The absorption rates are high with graduates having a choice be between government and the private sector. Many could work regular jobs while running their own private clinics; so the earning potential in this field is very high.

Piloting

A pilot’s profession is a highly paid one. Though it may take some time to become to pilot it’s worth the wait; senior captain is known to earn not less than 1.1 million Kenyan shillings per month. But the cost of pilot training is expensive and hence prohibitive

Architecture

Architect design cities and homes with some of the best houses in the country being designed by Kenyan architects. This is a highly in demand and well paid job with architects earning more than two hundred thousand per month.

Politics

For those who can argue well, politics is a great career. Qualifications required are quite low: just a high school completion certificate and fluency in English and Kiswahili. The perks are amazing with allowances, interest-free loans like house loans, car grants, and other grants and great business contacts for a lifetime. But yes, there could be fierce competition

Actuarial Science

This is a rare and in demand skill in the finance sector. Some of the Actuarial Science professionals earn even better than their Chief Executive Officers. An experienced actuarial scientist can earn an upwards of five million Kenyan shillings.

Law

Want to be your own boss? Become a lawyer. Though it takes some time to establish yourself on the ground as a good lawyer, it will be worth the hard work. Established attorneys do make lots of millions of Kenyan shillings.

Engineering

With the right type of engineering course, these professionals earn up to Ksh. 550,000 shillings a month.

Media

Media personalities are raking money at a good pace. Once you become a top journalist, the amount could easily hit a million Kenyan shillings or more every month.

Lecturer

If you are patient enough to study for a Ph.D., it could bring great returns. Lecturers have flexible jobs: they teach when they have classes and catch up with their private businesses when they do not have classes to teach. They earn above two hundred thousand Kenyan shillings.

Source: Tuko.co.ke

The Mahabharata is the ultimate epic. The lessons taught by the Mahabharata are the best management guide one can ever have and are totally relevant in today???s corporate boardroom.

With his traits of wisdom, perseverance, dispassion, equilibrium of the mind, knowledge, memory, tactfulness, patience, ingenuity and determination, Shri Krishna is a great leader and the ultimate CEO.

What makes Krishna a great CEO?

Knowing his ultimate goal:

He wants the Pandavas to win the war. As most visionary leaders, Krishna began with the end in mind. A good leader is adept at the ability to envision in the mind what he cannot at present see with his eyes. Krishna???s message: If you don't make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default.

Strong organizational and managerial skills:

He had the clarity and the ability to be proactive, with the insight to properly delegate and track work. Krishna excelled in the art of getting things done through people, efficiently and effectively.

Business Strategy and situational leadership:

Krishna is the greatest planner and crisis manager of all time. He is a master strategist and tactful leader adopting different leadership styles according to the situation and the people he has to deal with.

Strong communication skills and interpersonal relations:

He had the ability to communicate clearly and honestly; a crucial quality for effective business leaders, as it can foster robust relationships and connections (again, both with employees and clients). A CEO must inspire confidence, a sense of belonging and a stronger connection with their staff and clients.

Negotiation and Influencing Skills:

From his early childhood onwards Lord Krishna displays superior communication and negotiation skills to deal with people ??? both friends and enemies. As an ambassador of the Pandavas in the court of Kauravas, he uses his communication, negotiation and diplomatic skills to avoid war

Tolerance:

Krishna tolerated Sisupala's misbehavior 99 times before showing his strength and power. He was able to show his tolerance and capacity for handling pressure. Senior Professionals should have the ability to remain calm, to meet challenges under high pressure and reach their goals and deadlines.

Motivating team members to succeed:

When Arjuna refused to pick up arms against his relatives and kill them, Lord Krishna stood up and motivated him by narrating the Bhagavad Geeta. This was instrumental in the Pandava victory.

Kindle & Build Team Spirit:

Under his leadership the Pandavas worked together as a team towards a common goal; 5 Pandavas were ultimately able to beat 100 Kauravas. What the Pandavas lacked in numbers, they made up with the right mentorship, unity, skills, intelligence and strength. A good CEO knows the importance of team spirit for success at work.

Know Every Member???s Potential:

Krishna was smart enough to use his team???s ability and potential to the maximum and allocated tasks accordingly.Under him, the Pandavas knew how to harnesses energies from each man in their army.

Individual responsibility and work distribution:

Each member of the Pandavas team was his own leader as responsibilities were divided; unlike the One-man leadership/ dictatorship strategy that didn???t work for the Kauravas. This is in line with the modern CEOS style: developing your employees into leaders.

Women empowerment & workplace diversity:

Krishna was well aware of the knowledge, and problem-solving skills of women during crisis management. The Pandava camp took advice from their women... Kunti, Draupadi, or Hidimba (Bheema's wife) and Subhadra (Arjuna' wife). Kauravas, on the other hand, followed a patriarchal structure and denied their women participation in decision-making. Having a diverse workforce consisting of unusual fighters like Ghatotkacha and Shikhandi paid off as they played important roles in turning the tide in favour of the Pandavas.

Summing it up, a good CEO would do well to relate and utilize Krishna???s management wisdom in the modern boardroom.

Here's how the story began 

When the Pandavas and the Kauravas were canvassing for support before the war of Kurukshetra, both Arjuna and Duryodhana came to ask for Krishna's support.

Krishna gave them a choice; one of them could have his army, the fearsome Narayani Sena, and the other could have just him -- unarmed and not fighting. Arjuna opted for the moral support of the lone, non-fighting Krishna without hesitation. Duryodhana smiled, thinking he had got the best of the deal -- what use was one unarmed man against an army of skilled warriors! But Arjuna knew that even the best of resources, such as the Narayani Sena, were useless without the strategic vision of Krishna. It transpired that the lone Krishna, serving as Arjuna's charioteer, was all the Pandavas needed to win the war of Kurukshetra, and Arjuna had chosen wisely. No prizes for guessing who made the best hiring decision!

Select Search Solutions is assisting leading organizations across multiple sectors with CXO hiring and board member recruitment.

Connect with us to benefit from our know-how on executive search in India.

The Mahabharata is the ultimate epic. The lessons taught by the Mahabharata are the best management guide one can ever have and are totally relevant in today???s corporate boardroom.

With his traits of wisdom, perseverance, dispassion, equilibrium of the mind, knowledge, memory, tactfulness, patience, ingenuity and determination, Shri Krishna is a great leader and the ultimate CEO.

What makes Krishna a great CEO?

Knowing his ultimate goal:

He wants the Pandavas to win the war. As most visionary leaders, Krishna began with the end in mind. A good leader is adept at the ability to envision in the mind what he cannot at present see with his eyes. Krishna???s message: If you don't make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default.

Strong organizational and managerial skills:

He had the clarity and the ability to be proactive, with the insight to properly delegate and track work. Krishna excelled in the art of getting things done through people, efficiently and effectively.

Business Strategy and situational leadership:

Krishna is the greatest planner and crisis manager of all time. He is a master strategist and tactful leader adopting different leadership styles according to the situation and the people he has to deal with.

Strong communication skills and interpersonal relations:

He had the ability to communicate clearly and honestly; a crucial quality for effective business leaders, as it can foster robust relationships and connections (again, both with employees and clients). A CEO must inspire confidence, a sense of belonging and a stronger connection with their staff and clients.

Negotiation and Influencing Skills:

From his early childhood onwards Lord Krishna displays superior communication and negotiation skills to deal with people ??? both friends and enemies. As an ambassador of the Pandavas in the court of Kauravas, he uses his communication, negotiation and diplomatic skills to avoid war

Tolerance:

Krishna tolerated Sisupala's misbehavior 99 times before showing his strength and power. He was able to show his tolerance and capacity for handling pressure. Senior Professionals should have the ability to remain calm, to meet challenges under high pressure and reach their goals and deadlines.

Motivating team members to succeed:

When Arjuna refused to pick up arms against his relatives and kill them, Lord Krishna stood up and motivated him by narrating the Bhagavad Geeta. This was instrumental in the Pandava victory.

Kindle & Build Team Spirit:

Under his leadership the Pandavas worked together as a team towards a common goal; 5 Pandavas were ultimately able to beat 100 Kauravas. What the Pandavas lacked in numbers, they made up with the right mentorship, unity, skills, intelligence and strength. A good CEO knows the importance of team spirit for success at work.

Know Every Member???s Potential:

Krishna was smart enough to use his team???s ability and potential to the maximum and allocated tasks accordingly.Under him, the Pandavas knew how to harnesses energies from each man in their army.

Individual responsibility and work distribution:

Each member of the Pandavas team was his own leader as responsibilities were divided; unlike the One-man leadership/ dictatorship strategy that didn???t work for the Kauravas. This is in line with the modern CEOS style: developing your employees into leaders.

Women empowerment & workplace diversity:

Krishna was well aware of the knowledge, and problem-solving skills of women during crisis management. The Pandava camp took advice from their women... Kunti, Draupadi, or Hidimba (Bheema's wife) and Subhadra (Arjuna' wife). Kauravas, on the other hand, followed a patriarchal structure and denied their women participation in decision-making. Having a diverse workforce consisting of unusual fighters like Ghatotkacha and Shikhandi paid off as they played important roles in turning the tide in favour of the Pandavas.

Summing it up, a good CEO would do well to relate and utilize Krishna???s management wisdom in the modern boardroom.

Here's how the story began 

When the Pandavas and the Kauravas were canvassing for support before the war of Kurukshetra, both Arjuna and Duryodhana came to ask for Krishna's support.

Krishna gave them a choice; one of them could have his army, the fearsome Narayani Sena, and the other could have just him -- unarmed and not fighting. Arjuna opted for the moral support of the lone, non-fighting Krishna without hesitation. Duryodhana smiled, thinking he had got the best of the deal -- what use was one unarmed man against an army of skilled warriors! But Arjuna knew that even the best of resources, such as the Narayani Sena, were useless without the strategic vision of Krishna. It transpired that the lone Krishna, serving as Arjuna's charioteer, was all the Pandavas needed to win the war of Kurukshetra, and Arjuna had chosen wisely. No prizes for guessing who made the best hiring decision!

Select Search Solutions is assisting leading organizations across multiple sectors with CXO hiring and board member recruitment.

Connect with us to benefit from our know-how on executive search in India.

The Mahabharata is the ultimate epic. The lessons taught by the Mahabharata are the best management guide one can ever have and are totally relevant in today’s corporate boardroom.

With his traits of wisdom, perseverance, dispassion, equilibrium of the mind, knowledge, memory, tactfulness, patience, ingenuity and determination, Shri Krishna is a great leader and the ultimate CEO.

What makes Krishna a great CEO?

Knowing his ultimate goal:

He wants the Pandavas to win the war. As most visionary leaders, Krishna began with the end in mind. A good leader is adept at the ability to envision in the mind what he cannot at present see with his eyes. Krishna’s message: If you don't make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default.

Strong organizational and managerial skills: 

He had the clarity and the ability to be proactive, with the insight to properly delegate and track work. Krishna excelled in the art of getting things done through people, efficiently and effectively.

Business Strategy and situational leadership:

Krishna is the greatest planner and crisis manager of all time. He is a master strategist and tactful leader adopting different leadership styles according to the situation and the people he has to deal with.

Strong communication skills and interpersonal relations: 

He had the ability to communicate clearly and honestly; a crucial quality for effective business leaders, as it can foster robust relationships and connections (again, both with employees and clients). A CEO must inspire confidence, a sense of belonging and a stronger connection with their staff and clients.

Negotiation and Influencing Skills:

From his early childhood onwards Lord Krishna displays superior communication and negotiation skills to deal with people – both friends and enemies. As an ambassador of the Pandavas in the court of Kauravas, he uses his communication, negotiation and diplomatic skills to avoid war

Tolerance: 

Krishna tolerated Sisupala's misbehavior 99 times before showing his strength and power. He was able to show his tolerance and capacity for handling pressure. Senior Professionals should have the ability to remain calm, to meet challenges under high pressure and reach their goals and deadlines.

Motivating team members to succeed:

When Arjuna refused to pick up arms against his relatives and kill them, Lord Krishna stood up and motivated him by narrating the Bhagavad Geeta. This was instrumental in the Pandava victory.

Kindle & Build Team Spirit:

Under his leadership the Pandavas worked together as a team towards a common goal; 5 Pandavas were ultimately able to beat 100 Kauravas. What the Pandavas lacked in numbers, they made up with the right mentorship, unity, skills, intelligence and strength. A good CEO knows the importance of team spirit for success at work.

Know Every Member’s Potential:

Krishna was smart enough to use his team’s ability and potential to the maximum and allocated tasks accordingly.Under him, the Pandavas knew how to harnesses energies from each man in their army.

Individual responsibility and work distribution:

Each member of the Pandavas team was his own leader as responsibilities were divided; unlike the One-man leadership/ dictatorship strategy that didn’t work for the Kauravas. This is in line with the modern CEOS style: developing your employees into leaders. 

Women empowerment & workplace diversity:

Krishna was well aware of the knowledge, and problem-solving skills of women during crisis management. The Pandava camp took advice from their women... Kunti, Draupadi, or Hidimba (Bheema's wife) and Subhadra (Arjuna' wife). Kauravas, on the other hand, followed a patriarchal structure and denied their women participation in decision-making. Having a diverse workforce consisting of unusual fighters like Ghatotkacha and Shikhandi paid off as they played important roles in turning the tide in favour of the Pandavas.

Summing it up, a good CEO would do well to relate and utilize Krishna’s management wisdom in the modern boardroom.

Here's how the story began 

When the Pandavas and the Kauravas were canvassing for support before the war of Kurukshetra, both Arjuna and Duryodhana came to ask for Krishna's support.

Krishna gave them a choice; one of them could have his army, the fearsome Narayani Sena, and the other could have just him -- unarmed and not fighting. Arjuna opted for the moral support of the lone, non-fighting Krishna without hesitation. Duryodhana smiled, thinking he had got the best of the deal -- what use was one unarmed man against an army of skilled warriors! But Arjuna knew that even the best of resources, such as the Narayani Sena, were useless without the strategic vision of Krishna. It transpired that the lone Krishna, serving as Arjuna's charioteer, was all the Pandavas needed to win the war of Kurukshetra, and Arjuna had chosen wisely. No prizes for guessing who made the best hiring decision!

Select Global Solutions is assisting leading organizations across multiple sectors with CXO hiring and board member recruitment.

Connect with us to benefit from our know-how on executive search in India and across other Emerging markets.

To say that gender pay gap is universal is hardly an exaggeration with figures dangerously favouring males in nearly all industries and roles. 

Gender continues to be a significant parameter in determining salaries in India, as men earned a median gross hourly salary of Rs 345.8, whereas women earned Rs 259.8, a survey has showed.

Median Hourly Wage by Age & Gender

Based on the data for the eight sectors covered by this report, the overall gender pay gap in India amounts to 25% in 2016. The largest gender pay gap in 2016 was found in the Transport, logistics, and communication (42.4%). The lowest was recorded in the Education and research, where women earned 3.4% more than men.

Sectorial overview

Information and Communication Technology Services

• The average gender pay gap of 38.2% is one of the widest observed in this report. Women earn Rs142.5 less per hour than men.

Financial Services, Banking and Insurance

• The gender pay gap in the financial services, banking and insurance sector amounts to 21.5%.  On average, men earn an hourly median wage of Rs346.4 and women Rs272.

Education and Research

• In the education and research sector, the gender pays gap amounts to 14.7% on average. The gender pay gap increased again from 19.2% and 13.1% in 2014 and 2015, respectively, to -3.4% in 2016

Healthcare, Caring services, and Social Work

• On average, a 22.6% gender gap exists in the healthcare, caring services, and social work sector. Male employees earned Rs242.4, female employees Rs187.6 per hour.

Construction and Technical Consultancy

•. On an average, men earned Rs52.2 more than women in this sector. Thus, there is a gender pay gap of 18.1%.

Legal and Market Consultancy and Business Activities

• On average, the gender pay gap in the legal and market consultancy and business activities sector is 27.5% (Rs73.9) per hour. Women earn Rs195.0, men Rs268.9.

Transport, Logistics and Communications

• Professionals in the transport, logistics and communications sector earn similar wages on average. Women remain underpaid by 5.2%.

Why Gender Pay gap exists? 

Some reasons behind this gap could be “preference for male employees over female employees, preference for the promotion of male employees to supervisory positions (the glass ceiling), career breaks of women due to parenthood duties, and other socio-cultural factors.

There is a dire need for tangible initiatives to bridge this pay gap by removing structural impediments to women's growth providing access to skills training, jobs and decision-making.

Shattering the glass ceiling

Several women hold key leadership positions, earning enviable salaries in jobs in India in various industry sectors, taking up new challenges, and empowering their teams to come up with the best possible solutions. With thousands of people reporting to them, these women are a force to reckon with in the business.

Why hire women?

Women are unique in many ways as they come with stronger social values, ethos, diversity, resilience, and the determination to not settle for anything but the best. They bring a unique perspective and approach to any challenge. The skills and expertise of women is essential to India’s economic recovery and growth. Optimising women's productivity, creativity and energy is a win-win game for enterprises, workers, governments and societies.

Employers are increasingly keen to hire the right candidate; hence the recruitment process for senior and mid management role has lengthened with more interview rounds being thrown in, hiring experts said.

In recent times, in spite of several rounds of interviews, many organizations across different industry sectors have been unable to take a decision to close a position.

While CXO-level candidates always had to face multiple rounds, now even mid- and upper mid-level candidates are going through multiple interview rounds. This could be due to the fact that middle management plays a key role in enabling objectives; organisations are including additional personal interactions apart from line manager and HR discussions for these levels.

Companies are being cautious but at the same time don’t want to lose good candidates so, they keep them engaged by having multiple rounds of interviews. Also, risk is minimised when multiple people review the same candidate.

Companies want to play safe, hence the trend is to evaluate the maximum possible number of candidates available within a domain and sector before selecting the top two or three, and hiring the best among them.

Many companies realise that to identify a candidate who can perform to a role aligned with the specific company's goals and culture multiple interview rounds are required. This could be to get a diversified feedback, and in-depth scrutiny through various scientific assessments are attempts to lower the risk of poor judgement, to avoid hiring costs due Skill deficit non-performance.

Organisation are well aware of the consequences of making a wrong hire; that could range from Financial implications, decrease in employee morale to attrition among high performers.

Multiple meetings and interview rounds with multiple stakeholders give a better insight on the candidate suitability from an alignment and fitment perspective, cultural alignment and skill sets. Companies are finding that it is worth investing the additional effort and time in finding the 'right' person for the job and not just one available 'right-now’.

Considering employers in India are getting more competitive, multiple selection rounds are required to tap aggressive learners, innovative and flexible minds. Workforce dynamics are undergoing worldwide upheaval. Rapidly evolving technologies, business models, demographics, and workplace attitudes are triggering a tidal wave of change which is the major reason to why employers are taking longer than before in finalising the candidates. 

Multiple rounds are also aimed at checking few important personality traits of the candidates, such as the ability to handle conflicts, emotional stability, intent of the candidate according to the patience shown during the interview and decisiveness. Today, recruiters are increasingly looking for well-rounded candidates — those having the necessary technical skills complemented with important soft skills. Most of the jobs, or roles, which need the biggest amount of change, are in the technology, fast-moving consumer goods, banking & finance, infrastructure, and telecom sectors.

Select Global Solutions is a fast growing executive search firm hiring for middle and senior level positions for various roles across diverse industry sectors all over India. If you are looking to expand your team with the right-fit executives and want cost – effective recruitment solutions, connect with us.

(Source: The Times of India)

It is a great time for start-ups in India with high-quality entrepreneurs, good ideas and the very important funding ecosystem in the form of angel investors, seed capital, growth capital and PEs.

With an increasing number of start-ups emerging into the consumer internet space, there is a demand for skilled and qualified talents. This triggers a huge number of opportunities for freshers and experienced candidates at all levels.

Hiring for start-ups is not only about sourcing, interviewing candidates, and getting the vacancy filled; it is looking for people who are motivated and enthusiastic about the idea.

What are the challenges a start-up could face while hiring?

1. Finding natural leaders
2. Start-ups need the right talent to reach their goals. With a small staff, the impact of hiring a great fit???or a mismatch???is magnified. They cannot afford to make hiring mistakes and lose time and money. Working at a start-up requires hard work and dedication at every step. Finding individuals who are proactive, problem solvers with a willingness to roll up their sleeves and get it done is essential for a start-up business. 
3. Finding motivated people
4. Motivation comes before skills in a start-up. Apart from the right skills set for any particular role, it is highly essential to gauge the motivation of the person ??? where this motivation coming from and what is are the associated expectations, both short and long term.
5. Cultural Fit
6. A poor culture fit can bring down the entire venture, while a strong fit can strengthen morale, boost productivity and encourage innovation. The working environment in a start-up is dynamic and fast paced which may not suit applicants from traditional industries. Even candidates with the right skills and experience may not be the right fit. Start-ups cannot afford to spend extra time and efforts to align people with the organisation.
7. Finding Agile, quick and adjustable people
8. It could be difficult to find employees who are agile, quick thinking and quickly adjust to a new and changing working style. Professionals who have not worked with starts ups before could find it tough to adjust initially.
9. Self-Thinkers & Executors
10. In a start-up you need to think entrepreneurially, take a project and run with it. If you are going to work for an entrepreneur, you better start acting like one. It could be challenging to find people who are mature enough to manage their work independently without much supervision.
11. Time Shortage 
12. The time gap between the decisions to hire to actual hiring is short in a start-up. Keeping the position open for too long or hastily hiring the wrong candidate can impact the business negatively. Making the right trade-off between speed and perfection is a constant challenge.
13. Self-Starting and committed candidates
14. Since work areas or responsibilities in a small start-up could be hazy, the challenge would be to find a multitasking, self-starting candidate who will be self-driven, motivated and would take up new initiatives and find work for themselves. There are the rare to find high potential candidates who will learn quickly and grow fast in their career.
15. The right soft skills 
16. Almost always a start-up measure people on 4 things ??? attitude (to learn/grow/make things happen fast), existing skill set, maturity and communication skills. IT would surely be a challenge to find candidates with all of these 4 soft skills.
17. Competition
18. For starts up looking for employees with rare or specialised skills, getting the right person to join could be difficult as good candidates would also be pursued by other recruiters with competitive pay scales and work environments.
19. Lack of start-up oriented hiring tools
20. While there are several recruitment agencies, online job portals and social networking sites, very few are specifically directed towards start-ups. Traditional recruitment solutions like job portals do not provide quality talent and a lot of new companies, which lack a proper recruiting process, are often clueless on how to recruit.

At Select Search Solutions we understand the challenges and needs for hiring for start-ups. Our team is currently working with several start-ups to find top talent with the attitude, skills sets and enthusiasm to take their entrepreneurial vision to the next level. We also understand the different compensation structures that are unique to startups, and are able to explain to prospective candidates what ESOP schemes or other equity/stock option componenets are.

We are proud to be associated with exciting new ventures around innovative product, service, process or a platform by helping them connect to potential team members who share their vision.

(Source: Indeed, I am wire, Money Control, Entrepreneur)

It is a great time for start-ups in India with high-quality entrepreneurs, good ideas and the very important funding ecosystem in the form of angel investors, seed capital, growth capital and PEs.

With an increasing number of start-ups emerging into the consumer internet space, there is a demand for skilled and qualified talents. This triggers a huge number of opportunities for freshers and experienced candidates at all levels.

Hiring for start-ups is not only about sourcing, interviewing candidates, and getting the vacancy filled; it is looking for people who are motivated and enthusiastic about the idea.

What are the challenges a start-up could face while hiring?

1. Finding natural leaders
2. Start-ups need the right talent to reach their goals. With a small staff, the impact of hiring a great fit—or a mismatch—is magnified. They cannot afford to make hiring mistakes and lose time and money. Working at a start-up requires hard work and dedication at every step. Finding individuals who are proactive, problem solvers with a willingness to roll up their sleeves and get it done is essential for a start-up business. 
3. Finding motivated people
4. Motivation comes before skills in a start-up. Apart from the right skills set for any particular role, it is highly essential to gauge the motivation of the person — where this motivation coming from and what is are the associated expectations, both short and long term.
5. Cultural Fit
6. A poor culture fit can bring down the entire venture, while a strong fit can strengthen morale, boost productivity and encourage innovation. The working environment in a start-up is dynamic and fast paced which may not suit applicants from traditional industries. Even candidates with the right skills and experience may not be the right fit. Start-ups cannot afford to spend extra time and efforts to align people with the organisation.
7. Finding Agile, quick and adjustable people
8. It could be difficult to find employees who are agile, quick thinking and quickly adjust to a new and changing working style. Professionals who have not worked with starts ups before could find it tough to adjust initially.
9. Self-Thinkers & Executors
10. In a start-up you need to think entrepreneurially, take a project and run with it. If you are going to work for an entrepreneur, you better start acting like one. It could be challenging to find people who are mature enough to manage their work independently without much supervision.
11. Time Shortage 
12. The time gap between the decisions to hire to actual hiring is short in a start-up. Keeping the position open for too long or hastily hiring the wrong candidate can impact the business negatively. Making the right trade-off between speed and perfection is a constant challenge.
13. Self-Starting and committed candidates
14. Since work areas or responsibilities in a small start-up could be hazy, the challenge would be to find a multitasking, self-starting candidate who will be self-driven, motivated and would take up new initiatives and find work for themselves. There are the rare to find high potential candidates who will learn quickly and grow fast in their career.
15. The right soft skills 
16. Almost always a start-up measure people on 4 things – attitude (to learn/grow/make things happen fast), existing skill set, maturity and communication skills. IT would surely be a challenge to find candidates with all of these 4 soft skills.
17. Competition
18. For starts up looking for employees with rare or specialised skills, getting the right person to join could be difficult as good candidates would also be pursued by other recruiters with competitive pay scales and work environments.
19. Lack of start-up oriented hiring tools
20. While there are several recruitment agencies, online job portals and social networking sites, very few are specifically directed towards start-ups. Traditional recruitment solutions like job portals do not provide quality talent and a lot of new companies, which lack a proper recruiting process, are often clueless on how to recruit.

At Select Global Solutions we understand the challenges and needs for hiring for start-ups. Our team is currently working with several start-ups to find top talent with the attitude, skills sets and enthusiasm to take their entrepreneurial vision to the next level. We also understand the different compensation structures that are unique to startups, and are able to explain to prospective candidates what ESOP schemes or other equity/stock option components are.

We are proud to be associated with exciting new ventures around innovative product, service, process or a platform by helping them connect to potential team members who share their vision.

(Source: Indeed, I am wire, Money Control, Entrepreneur)

The Indian pharma industry is likely to be in the top 10 global markets in value terms by 2020.

The need of skilled manpower in the pharmaceutical industry ranges widely from Research and Development, Quality Assurance (QA), Intellectual Property (IP), manufacturing to even sales and marketing.

Select Search Solutions is a rapidly expanding, specialist consultancy working with pharma companies to attract the best talent in the market. We are pharma talent explorers, building great careers in the pharmacuetical industry. We work closely with our clients to help them find the skilled people they need to drive growth in their businesses.

We are helping shape the pharma industry by assisting both employers and professionals in the pharma sector to develop, grow and succeed by connecting the right people with the right opportunities. With a truly consultative approach and expert sector knowledge, we deliver the right result for clients and candidates alike.

Why us?

We come with several years of executive search experience, expert sector knowledge, a committed team, extensive networking and the best technology and tools in the recruitment industry.

Our Vision:

We aim to create long-term sustainable value for our clients. , ensuring effective roi. Our client wellbeing is central to our ethos. Our aim is to be the most respected specialist, pharma sector recruitment business.

We believe our clients deserve the best, hence we offer a choice based on their requirements and timelines. Clients can choose from our Basic Services and Premium Services.

Some of our Representative Searches:

At Plant Level

Plant Head, Production Manager, Maintenance Manager, Supply Chain / Logistics / Warehousing, QA / QC, R & D, Scientist

Corporate Level

Sales Manager (All Levels ??? Pan India), Accounts & Finance, Legal / Secretarial , Human Resource, Purchasing, Facility & Admin Management, Executive Assistant

Great vision without great people is irrelevant. Our talent is in finding yours. Connect with us to find your next great hire!

The Indian pharma industry is likely to be in the top 10 global markets in value terms by 2020.

The need of skilled manpower in the pharmaceutical industry ranges widely from Research and Development, Quality Assurance (QA), Intellectual Property (IP), manufacturing to even sales and marketing.

Select Search Solutions is a rapidly expanding, specialist consultancy working with pharma companies to attract the best talent in the market. We are pharma talent explorers, building great careers in the pharmacuetical industry. We work closely with our clients to help them find the skilled people they need to drive growth in their businesses.

We are helping shape the pharma industry by assisting both employers and professionals in the pharma sector to develop, grow and succeed by connecting the right people with the right opportunities. With a truly consultative approach and expert sector knowledge, we deliver the right result for clients and candidates alike.

Why us?

We come with several years of executive search experience, expert sector knowledge, a committed team, extensive networking and the best technology and tools in the recruitment industry.

Our Vision:

We aim to create long-term sustainable value for our clients. , ensuring effective roi. Our client wellbeing is central to our ethos. Our aim is to be the most respected specialist, pharma sector recruitment business.

We believe our clients deserve the best, hence we offer a choice based on their requirements and timelines. Clients can choose from our Basic Services and Premium Services.

Some of our Representative Searches:

At Plant Level

Plant Head, Production Manager, Maintenance Manager, Supply Chain / Logistics / Warehousing, QA / QC, R & D, Scientist

Corporate Level

Sales Manager (All Levels – Pan India), Accounts & Finance, Legal / Secretarial , Human Resource, Purchasing, Facility & Admin Management, Executive Assistant

Great vision without great people is irrelevant. Our talent is in finding yours. Connect with us to find your next great hire!

The Indian creative sector is one of the fastest growing industries in the country. Exciting new developments in the technologies used in digital marketing, media and entertainment industry are taking place. Considering the rapid growth, and the ever changing environment, the media industry offers challenging, promising and exciting career options.

Search Gllbal Solutions is among leading recruitment agencies in India and across the world hiring for senior and mid management positions in the media sector. We understand that success in this industry depends on the right leadership with the vision, energy, risk taking capability and the foresight to lead a brand in the right direction.

We have a team of passionate professionals whose mission is to help you build a solid team of passionate people who will take your organisation to the next level.

In a fast paced and continuously changing industry dynamics, we are a team who assist you with talent search to help you stay way ahead of the competition and be better than the best.

We offer a complete range of services to help you find the right talent. Services we provide: Executive Search Services / Salary benchmarking / Psychometric Check / Reference check

Some of our Representative Searches:

• Creative Director
• Visualizer
• Copy Writer
• Graphic Designer
• Key Account Manager
• Social Media / Marketing Managers
• Client Service Manager
• Brand Manager
• Business Development Manager and so on …

We Only Bring The Best. Discover for yourself what makes us specialists in recruitment for the creative sector.

Who says Indians don???t draw fat pay cheques? They do and more than what many of us could actually imagine. Leave IIT or IIM degree holders, there are simple people with non-glamorous degrees taking the cream. So what works for them? The secret lies in choosing their careers carefully. (businessinsider.com) Some highest paying jobs for this year:

Growth hacker

Growth hackers use a combination of marketing channels and experimentation to find the most effective, efficient ways to grow a business using both conventional and unconventional marketing experiments that lead to growth of a business. In the start-up world, growth hacking skills are in very high demand and it's not surprising to see many resumes, LinkedIn or Twitter profiles mentioning that people are growth hackers or growth hacking experts. Also, a lot of growth hacker jobs start spreading on the web, especially in start-ups and small businesses.

Minimum Qualification: Graduate

Salary range: Rs 60,000 to Rs 3 lakhs a month

Technical writer

Technical, also called technical communicators, prepare instruction manuals, journal articles, and other supporting documents to communicate complex and technical information more easily. They also develop, gather, and disseminate technical information among customers, designers, and manufacturers. For companies specializing in technology like Adobe, Oracle, and similar brands, a technical writer is must.

Minimum Qualification: Graduate

Salary range: Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.7 lakh a month

Relationship Therapists

While this is regular profession in the West, in India, this is a somewhat new career choice and is now being recognised as a profession on its own. The job is to helps families deal with relationship and behavioural issues. MFTs seek to secure a long-term solution to mental and emotional disorders and a wide variety of relationship issues.

Minimum Qualification: Graduate

Salary range: Rs 30,000 to Rs 1 lakh a month

Social media manager

A social media manager job is generally for the younger workforce who focuses on maintaining a brand???s social media reputation, marketing and engaging with users. Essential Duties of the Social Media Manager are to manage social media marketing campaigns and day-to-day activities including: Create, curate, and manage all published content (images, video and written). Monitor, listen and respond to users in a ???Social??? way while cultivating leads and sales.

Minimum Qualification: Graduate

Salary range: Rs 30,000 to Rs 3 lakhs a month

SEO analysts

SEO analyst are an extension and combination of online growth hackers and social media managers.

SEO analyst is a must have positions in starts ups. Some responsibilities of the SEO Analyst include: Providing recommendations and execute/manage strategies for content development in coordination with SEO goals. Developing and implementing link building campaigns, perform back link analysis, opportunity identification, solicitation and optimization.

Minimum Qualification: Graduate

Salary range: Rs 30,000 to Rs 1 lakh a month.

Who says Indians don’t draw fat pay cheques? They do and more than what many of us could actually imagine. Leave IIT or IIM degree holders, there are simple people with non-glamorous degrees taking the cream. So what works for them? The secret lies in choosing their careers carefully. (businessinsider.com) Some highest paying jobs for this year:

Growth hacker

Growth hackers use a combination of marketing channels and experimentation to find the most effective, efficient ways to grow a business using both conventional and unconventional marketing experiments that lead to growth of a business. In the start-up world, growth hacking skills are in very high demand and it's not surprising to see many resumes, LinkedIn or Twitter profiles mentioning that people are growth hackers or growth hacking experts. Also, a lot of growth hacker jobs start spreading on the web, especially in start-ups and small businesses.

Minimum Qualification: Graduate

Salary range: Rs 60,000 to Rs 3 lakhs a month

Technical writer

Technical, also called technical communicators, prepare instruction manuals, journal articles, and other supporting documents to communicate complex and technical information more easily. They also develop, gather, and disseminate technical information among customers, designers, and manufacturers. For companies specializing in technology like Adobe, Oracle, and similar brands, a technical writer is must.

Minimum Qualification: Graduate

Salary range: Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.7 lakh a month

Relationship Therapists

While this is regular profession in the West, in India, this is a somewhat new career choice and is now being recognised as a profession on its own. The job is to helps families deal with relationship and behavioural issues. MFTs seek to secure a long-term solution to mental and emotional disorders and a wide variety of relationship issues.

Minimum Qualification: Graduate

Salary range: Rs 30,000 to Rs 1 lakh a month

Social media manager

A social media manager job is generally for the younger workforce who focuses on maintaining a brand’s social media reputation, marketing and engaging with users. Essential Duties of the Social Media Manager are to manage social media marketing campaigns and day-to-day activities including: Create, curate, and manage all published content (images, video and written). Monitor, listen and respond to users in a “Social” way while cultivating leads and sales.

Minimum Qualification: Graduate

Salary range: Rs 30,000 to Rs 3 lakhs a month

SEO analysts

SEO analyst are an extension and combination of online growth hackers and social media managers.

SEO analyst is a must have positions in starts ups. Some responsibilities of the SEO Analyst include: Providing recommendations and execute/manage strategies for content development in coordination with SEO goals. Developing and implementing link building campaigns, perform back link analysis, opportunity identification, solicitation and optimization.

Minimum Qualification: Graduate

Salary range: Rs 30,000 to Rs 1 lakh a month.

(Mumbai Mirror)

While most candidates prepare for an interview based on the questions they would be asked, they overlook the important fact that you have the opportunity to interview the prospective employer as well.Being prepared with your questions reinforces your suitability as a candidate and gives you an invaluable opportunity to find out more about your role and the company you're applying to Quizzing the interviewer changes his or her perception of you and provides you the opportunity to discover whether your goals and the company's goals are aligned.

So here are some questions for a candidate to ask an interviewer:

1. How would the position I'm applying for evolve?
2. This will help you to understand whether there's opportunity to progress. Did the previous employee move on, due to the role being a dead end or used it as a stepping stone to advance his/her career?
3. Can you share what my day-to-day responsibilities will entail?
4. This will give you a handle on your role and its expectations on a daily basis.
5. How could I exceed your expectations in my role in the first three months?
6. This is a good question to gauge what the employer defines as 'high' performance. Very often a mismatch happens when both are looking at different goalposts.
7. What challenges could I face in the first three months?
8. An important question to prepare you for whatever comes your way. To be in readiness and take it head on and work through it. If the interviewer says that there aren't any, it's your cue to do some due diligence.
9. What qualities are the most important for doing well and advancing here?
10. This will help you in understanding how you fit and what is needed to climb the ladder of success here.
11. Will I have an opportunity to meet those who would be part of team during the interview process?
12. Another reason to display your enthusiasm for the job as well as for you to assess the people you will be working with and whether they are the right team.
13. Where do you see the company in three years and how would the person in this role contribute to this vision?
14. This demonstrates your interest in being successful in the organisation and gauge whether it aligns with your own roadmap of success.
15. In what way is performance measured and reviewed?
16. This communicates the evaluation process, the results that are expected and the metrics used to measure your growth in the organisation.
17. What do you enjoy most about working here?
18. Work forms a huge part of your life, and you may want to be sure you'll be working with people that actually love and enjoy what they do. Be aware of the words and body language used during this response. It'll give you clues.
19. Is there anything that concerns you about my background being fit for this role?
20. A pointed question can help you in receiving immediate feedback on any specific expectations.
21. Is there anything we haven't covered that you think is important to know about working here?
22. This leaves room for any question you may have forgotten or are not aware of.
23. When can I expect to hear from you and what are the next steps?
24. The wait after an interview is in most cases filled with anxiety. This provides clarity and sets your mind at ease.
25. A close is important in a sale. Interviews are all about the interviewing manager and the candidate selling to each other. How you close an interview just like a sale has relevance. Interviewing the interviewer provides you the opportunity to stand out from the crowd and helps you to make sure the job is right for you.
26. The advice for potential job seekers is to let go of the fear of getting grilled in an interview and go confidently as a strong candidate with invaluable strengths.

(Mumbai Mirror)

While most candidates prepare for an interview based on the questions they would be asked, they overlook the important fact that you have the opportunity to interview the prospective employer as well.

Being prepared with your questions reinforces your suitability as a candidate and gives you an invaluable opportunity to find out more about your role and the company you're applying to Quizzing the interviewer changes his or her perception of you and provides you the opportunity to discover whether your goals and the company's goals are aligned.

So here are some questions for a candidate to ask an interviewer:

1. How would the position I'm applying for evolve?
2. This will help you to understand whether there's opportunity to progress. Did the previous employee move on, due to the role being a dead end or used it as a stepping stone to advance his/her career?
3. Can you share what my day-to-day responsibilities will entail?
4. This will give you a handle on your role and its expectations on a daily basis.
5. How could I exceed your expectations in my role in the first three months?
6. This is a good question to gauge what the employer defines as 'high' performance. Very often a mismatch happens when both are looking at different goalposts.
7. What challenges could I face in the first three months?
8. An important question to prepare you for whatever comes your way. To be in readiness and take it head on and work through it. If the interviewer says that there aren't any, it's your cue to do some due diligence.
9. What qualities are the most important for doing well and advancing here?
10. This will help you in understanding how you fit and what is needed to climb the ladder of success here.
11. Will I have an opportunity to meet those who would be part of team during the interview process?
12. Another reason to display your enthusiasm for the job as well as for you to assess the people you will be working with and whether they are the right team.
13. Where do you see the company in three years and how would the person in this role contribute to this vision?
14. This demonstrates your interest in being successful in the organisation and gauge whether it aligns with your own roadmap of success.
15. In what way is performance measured and reviewed?
16. This communicates the evaluation process, the results that are expected and the metrics used to measure your growth in the organisation.
17. What do you enjoy most about working here?
18. Work forms a huge part of your life, and you may want to be sure you'll be working with people that actually love and enjoy what they do. Be aware of the words and body language used during this response. It'll give you clues.
19. Is there anything that concerns you about my background being fit for this role?
20. A pointed question can help you in receiving immediate feedback on any specific expectations.
21. Is there anything we haven't covered that you think is important to know about working here?
22. This leaves room for any question you may have forgotten or are not aware of.
23. When can I expect to hear from you and what are the next steps?
24. The wait after an interview is in most cases filled with anxiety. This provides clarity and sets your mind at ease.
25. A close is important in a sale. Interviews are all about the interviewing manager and the candidate selling to each other. How you close an interview just like a sale has relevance. Interviewing the interviewer provides you the opportunity to stand out from the crowd and helps you to make sure the job is right for you.
26. The advice for potential job seekers is to let go of the fear of getting grilled in an interview and go confidently as a strong candidate with invaluable strengths.

Across the world, men tend to get paid more than women for the same work. Estimates vary, but some studies have found that the gender pay gap is quite significant in many industries. For India, job search platform Monster has estimated that women are strongly underpaid with the overall gender pay gap at 25% in 2016.

In India, the gender pay gap story holds true. However, the reasons for this gap could reveal a very different story. The gender pay gap is primarily a manifestation of the underlying diversity challenges that organisations currently face.

On a positive note some companies are taking steps to resolve this. Adobe Systems announced a pay parity policy to close the gender wage gap across its India and global operations; in a move to fully eliminate the gender wage gap by early next year.

Employees in Adobe???s Indian offices compromise over a quarter of the organisation???s global strength. This move is aimed at abolishing the gender pay disparity in the technology industry, and is in line with the company's commitment towards building Adobe India as a diverse and inclusive workplace for all.

Adobe is moving away from the practice of looking at historic compensation. Other leading companies also acknowledged the problem and expressed that more initiatives were required to bring gender parity in companies and focus on the issue. In IT companies in India, there is no disparity at the entry level, but disparities begin at later stages of the career. Many experts point out that the situation is better in the IT industry compared to other industries.

Across the world, men tend to get paid more than women for the same work. Estimates vary, but some studies have found that the gender pay gap is quite significant in many industries. For India, job search platform Monster has estimated that women are strongly underpaid with the overall gender pay gap at 25% in 2016.

In India, the gender pay gap story holds true. However, the reasons for this gap could reveal a very different story. The gender pay gap is primarily a manifestation of the underlying diversity challenges that organisations currently face.

On a positive note some companies are taking steps to resolve this. Adobe Systems announced a pay parity policy to close the gender wage gap across its India and global operations; in a move to fully eliminate the gender wage gap by early next year.

Employees in Adobe’s Indian offices compromise over a quarter of the organisation’s global strength. This move is aimed at abolishing the gender pay disparity in the technology industry, and is in line with the company's commitment towards building Adobe India as a diverse and inclusive workplace for all.

Adobe is moving away from the practice of looking at historic compensation. Other leading companies also acknowledged the problem and expressed that more initiatives were required to bring gender parity in companies and focus on the issue. In IT companies in India, there is no disparity at the entry level, but disparities begin at later stages of the career. Many experts point out that the situation is better in the IT industry compared to other industries.