All-In Recruitment is a podcast by Manatal focusing on all things related to the recruitment industry’s missions and trends. Join us in our weekly conversations with leaders in the recruitment space and learn their best practices to transform the way you hire.
Transcript
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Lydia: Welcome to the All-In Recruitment Podcast by Manatal, where we explore best practices, learnings, and trends with leaders in the recruitment space. If you like our content, please subscribe to our channels on YouTube and Spotify. Stay tuned for our weekly episodes.
I’m your host, Lydia and with us today is Maria Molina, the founder of Antares HR, all the way from Mexico City.
Thank you for joining us, Maria.
Maria: It's a pleasure to be here, Lydia.
Going Beyond Qualifications and Skills
Lydia: So Maria, what's the story behind Antares HR?
Maria: I spent almost 10 years working in talent acquisition roles in different companies and I had the chance to learn some of the greatest and best practices in recruiting. Therefore, after Antares was born, I wanted to share that with other companies and basically make a better recruitment experience for everyone.
Lydia: Antares HR employs a personalized approach, right? Walk us through that personalized approach to matching the ideal candidate with the perfect role.
How do you go beyond qualifications and even skills to make sure that you know this person or this candidate is a good cultural fit or cultural add and has long-term potential?
Maria: Our aim is to provide a customized approach and to understand each client’s and each business’s needs. To do that, we go beyond just assessing the right skill set, but also understanding the right cultural fit.
So for us, it’s very important to have information about the candidate’s qualifications, aspirations, and strengths and see how that matches with the ideal role and see if there is a long-term fit. For that, we also really like to have transparent communication with both sides to align expectations and be sure that we will diminish potential biases.
Starting a Recruitment Agency in a Complex Economic Climate
Lydia: Starting a recruitment agency, especially in this economic climate, can be quite complex, or maybe there might be some additional factors to think about. So, what are some factors that you've considered when you started your recruitment agency?
Maria: There are several things you need to consider when it comes to launching a new recruitment agency. You need to take into consideration the local market trends and focus on an industry that has growth potential. It’s important to leverage technology to make sure that you have a seamless process and therefore, a good candidate experience.
I’d say it’s very important to keep nurturing your network. You need to go to industry events and engage with special communities to make sure you stay up-to-date with industry trends and connect with subject matter experts. Also, as a recruiter, you need to be constantly updating yourself and learning from new trends and important topics in the market.
Lydia: What kind of hiring do you specialize in?
Maria: I specialize in middle to top recruitment, and executive recruitment, but I also have experience in hiring entry-level roles and C-levels, which is a little bit different. It’s not my main expertise, but I cover the whole aspect.
Lydia: Executive hiring often requires a very deep understanding of both the industry and the unique needs of the executives. So how do you develop that kind of expertise to effectively identify and even assess executive talent?
Maria: As I said, it’s very important to build strong communication and strong relationships with both your client and your candidates. To do that, you will gather relevant information to make sure that the candidate is the right fit for the role and vice versa. So it’s important to stay up-to-date on market trends, review and assess your assessment procedures, seek feedback, be very curious when it comes to learning from past experiences, your wins, your losses, and update your process. But I’d say it’s key; it’s an ongoing learning process.
Lydia: In today’s competitive market, what differentiates a successful recruitment agency from others?
Maria: The type of relationship that you build with your candidates and your clients is very important. Again, it may sound repetitive, but I think it comes down to building a solid foundation and a solid relationship with them to gain trust and confidence in the process.
I realized at the beginning of my career, when I was a headhunter, that sometimes as a recruiting agency, you don’t get that deep knowledge or understanding of the business or what the business is doing. Even if you specialize in a specific industry, it’s important to understand the culture, the inner personality, where the company is going, and what the present moment of the company is. It’s not the same to be working on a startup as it is to be working in a big corporate environment.
It’s also about understanding the candidates’ needs. So when it comes to executive recruitment, it’s harder because these folks already have experience, so they have a very clear goal in terms of what they expect for their career to be. You need to be very transparent with them, gather as much information as possible, and make sure that they are the right fit for the company and vice versa, that the company will offer them the potential growth and evolution that they’re seeking.
Focusing on More than Just Filling Roles
Lydia: You mentioned relationships, right? Building and nurturing those relationships, especially in C-level hiring or executive hiring. How do you go about doing that? Do you have any examples of how you might nurture a relationship like that? How long would it take and what goes into that?
Maria: In my opinion, for me, it’s very important to build rapport. From the beginning, you need to build trust and confidence with the other person and assure them that you are there to help them succeed and support both clients and candidates.
So for me, a key element to build this strong relationship is communication, having very solid communication. Whenever we start growing and having a huge amount of clients, we forget to follow up and keep nurturing these relationships because it becomes very hard.
I think that we need to keep nurturing and put a strong emphasis on that. That’s why ATS or other technologies help you because you get reminders and have all this database information which will provide you with notifications on follow-ups and next steps. It’s very important to maintain close relationships with them at every step of the process because things can change in the company or on the candidate side as well.
The best way to diminish these potential barriers or issues is you stay as close to them as possible. There are different ways, from email to any other type of direct or immediate messages that facilitate this type of communication. So I really think also as recruiters we need to create a bond and a long-term commitment with both parties, more than just trying to fill roles.
Lydia: In terms of candidates, particularly passive candidates, how much communication and frequency is too much in terms of keeping in touch or being too frequent?
Maria: It depends on each person. What I like to do is ask them an open question. I let them know that I really liked their profile for potential future roles and ask them how comfortable they would feel if I reach out in, let’s say, one month. Or maybe I ask them to feel free to reach out to me whenever they are looking for potential new opportunities. It’s a two-sided role. This is not a one-size-fits-all situation; you really need to understand what the candidates are expecting or what they feel comfortable with.
Leveraging Technology and Data
Lydia: You also mentioned how ATS can help remind you of when you need to keep in touch. Technology is evolving so rapidly today, and the time between each technological change is getting shorter and shorter. It plays a very crucial role in today’s recruitment process. So, do you have any examples of how you leverage technology and data specifically to make the recruitment experience better for both candidates and also for clients?
Maria: I think technology nowadays is so important, especially when it comes to building a streamlined process and a great candidate experience. How do I use it? I think an ATS is fundamental in any recruiting process if you want to have your end-to-end process organized, from the review of the resumes to the screenings.
I like that ATS has each step of the process and you can adjust it according to your needs. So it’s very important to have control over your processes and know where each candidate lands. Because sometimes you will have, let’s say, 500 applications and maybe 100 potential candidates. Being very organized and well-structured with that will help you gain more visibility and accelerate the recruitment process.
Lastly, one of the most important pieces nowadays is data. ATS helps provide you with insights and relevant data analytics that will help you change or update your process. Understanding metrics such as time-to-hire, candidate offers accepted, where those candidates come from, and seeing if your current recruitment process is effective or not. Those types of analytics have allowed me in the past to understand what the main problems are, solve them, and make the process more efficient.
And also, another very important thing is candidate experience. Normally candidates complain about not receiving any type of feedback or not hearing from recruiters for a while. I think ghosting these companies is so bad because of the recruitment process. I think an ATS is the best way of keeping everyone in touch, all the interviewers and also the candidates aware of where they are in the process and also receiving feedback. It’s very easy to automate a lot of responses at the same time, which will also help make your processes more efficient.
Lydia: In terms of your clients, you mentioned earlier that having great communication between yourself, the client, and the candidate goes a long way. So, how do you balance the needs of candidates with those of your clients?
Maria: That can be complicated because both parties have different agendas.
As recruiters, we are the liaison between both parties and are in charge of managing expectations. So I’ll start with strong active listening of both parties and then finding common ground points for both.
There has to be something that interests both parties. From there, we can see where they can be more flexible. When you start gaining the attention of candidates and tell them about their experience, long-term potential, career path, culture, and team they will be working with, they can start being more flexible.
But again, it’s a matter of having strong and active listening, understanding what they are expecting, what their needs are, what’s important for them, and seeing how the role can match those expectations and needs.
Investing in Wellness and Mindfulness
Lydia: You're an Organizational Psychologist. So, what trends or changes do you foresee in the field of executive recruitment or even HR in general?
Maria: Yes, I anticipate that there will be a wider focus on psychological well-being and work-life balance. With remote work becoming more prevalent, organizations need to maintain a strong focus on remote work culture and managing teams effectively. So, I’d say that part is very important, but also maintaining a healthy balance between work and life.
When we went to the office before the pandemic, we were forced to stay there for 10-12 hours a day, but now people are realizing that they can spend time with their families, do sports, and prioritize their well-being. Things have shifted. So it’s very important to find this balance and employers need to understand that work is as important as personal life and find the sweet spot for both parties.
I’d also say companies are shifting their focus to a more humanized approach where they’re investing in helping their employees develop strengths like stress management, emotional balance, and mindfulness. I’ve seen companies investing a lot of money in wellness retreats or yoga lessons, or mindfulness sessions that will help them cope better with day-to-day stress. And finally, I’d say there will be a huge focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. It’s very important to keep educating interviewers and help them make hiring decisions free from bias.
Confidentiality and Discretion in Executive Recruitment
Lydia: So, trust and confidentiality are both critical factors when dealing with executive-level positions, right? How do you maintain confidentiality and ensure a high level of discretion throughout the recruitment process? Do you have any measures in place to protect sensitive information?
Maria: Yes, confidentiality is very important. In our recruitment process, we understand that we are managing sensitive data like private information. So when it comes to specific processes, we make candidates and other participants or other involved parties sign NDAs. And of course, our team is trained in best practices for maintaining discretion throughout the process.
Lydia: And on that note, as you spoke at length about the benefits of having an ATS and using technology to your advantage, I think it is definitely a default requirement for a recruitment agency to have these tools. There are plenty of tools out there to automate hiring. So, how might technology like an ATS help to make sure that your hiring practices are efficient and effective, and bring the results that you anticipate?
Maria: Yes, as I mentioned earlier, an ATS provides you with insights and relevant data analytics. That’s the best way to compare quarter to quarter and identify your main pain points. Where are you suffering? Where are candidates spending more time in each process and how can you make that process more efficient? Understanding where your recruiting process is helping you and bringing you the type of candidates that you’re expecting to see, and whether interviewers are asking the specific questions they’re meant to be asking. So again, an ATS helps you organize, streamline the process, make it seamless, and upgrade the experience for everyone. I think we really need to leverage data and make consistent reviews quarter by quarter to understand what is happening, what went well, what didn’t, and how you can adjust during your partner business reviews.
Lydia: These are things that we will see as we go into the future. The last 10 years have given us so much exposure to what technology can do to improve the hiring process. Furthermore, you’re also seeing AI coming into play, and you’re also seeing chatbots, such as GPT, that are just further improving the process.
It’s even bigger than we thought right now. So the process itself becomes far more simplified and automated, and then there’s more time to think about a personalized approach as well. So, Maria, on that note, what advice would you give someone who’s starting out in talent acquisition today, versus maybe 10 years ago?
Maria: I’ll say it’s important to stay very adaptable, very resilient, and very open to technology. Because today, technology is a great ally. Every person who works in talent acquisition or the HR industry really needs to leverage it. It’s important to learn how to leverage AI and automation tools to make your process simpler and gain operational efficiency.
You can use AI to conduct initial screens, you can use algorithms to find candidate matching, and there are a lot of tools that will help you go through tons of resumes, schedule interviews, provide you with great interview questions, make specific business cases, or assess whether the candidate meets specific requirements or not without being biased.
So I’d say it’s very important to stay updated with new trends. Every day there are new tools, new AI, specific tools, chatbots, and automation tools.
Lydia: A tool for a tool, the tool, and another tool.
Maria: I think personally, I do like the aspect of having a tool that will schedule the interview and then another to send an email to the candidate. It can be very overwhelming to be dealing with so many tools. So, I’ll say stay up to date with recruiting tools, and see which one fits you better and fits your needs. Ultimately, what will help you streamline your process and make it more efficient is what you want.
You want to get more results in less time and have a greater experience for candidates, clients, and your interviewers as well, all staying connected. So I’ll say that on the technology part. And again, nurture networking. For me, it’s really important. Whenever you have a strong network, it will help you find the right candidates, understand market trends, and see what other people are doing and how you can share best practices.
Lydia: Thank you very much for your time and insights, Maria. I wish you all the best for your new agency. I’m pretty sure the audience might also want to connect with you, so please drop us your contact details.
Maria: Thank you for having me. It’s been a pleasure sharing these insights. You can find more about us at www.antares-hr.com, or I’ll be happy to connect with you on LinkedIn. We also have a presence on Instagram where we share industry trends, job openings, and company news. Our website has a blog, so stay up to date and don’t miss any new posts. I’m looking forward to hearing from everyone again soon.
Lydia: Thank you, Maria. Thank you very much. We have been in conversation with Maria Molina, founder of Antares HR. Thank you for joining us this week. Remember to subscribe to our channels to stay tuned for more insights on All-In Recruitment.
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