Recruiting With Purpose and Direction

New to the Nexus team, Carolina Giusta’s 10 years of experience in recruiting brings great leadership and insight to our growing company. We sat down with her to learn more about how she works and what vision she has for Nexus Clients.Q: What is your process for identifying potential candidates?A: We have a rigorous process to ensure that the candidate is the best fit. We mainly use our network of 10 plus years as well as our internal database and we focus on reaching out to proven candidates that have worked for us in the past. We of course use our social media platforms to reach out to potential candidates as well.Q: What are the characteristics you look for when evaluating?A: The main characteristics depend on the position. We work on a consulting basis to identify the individual needs of the client and the position we’re looking to fill. Based on that, we’re able to determine which characteristics to look for along with the “must haves” from the client. Additionally, we consider tenure, salary expectations, and the personality/culture fit of a potential candidate.Q: What are key questions you ask to better understand those characteristics?A: We ask the candidate what their successes were, how they saved the company time and money, and what makes them better than the next candidate. Essentially, we’re asking them to pitch themselves to us.Q: How do you work with your clients to know what their needs are off paper?A: We meet with all clients in person and go to their offices so we can get a feel of their corporate environment. We make sure they tell us what they need in soft skills so we know what to look for beyond technical skills. We also present our clients with the references for a candidate so they can get a better feel of the candidate other than what’s on their resume. Q: How do you work with a client so that their requirements of a potential candidate are realistic but still fit their need?A: We work with the client to help them understand what the fair market pay for the position they want to fill is so that we can help them adjust what they’re offering. We also remind them that a skill set can be built. Even if a candidate isn’t a perfect fit with the technical skills required but their personality is a perfect fit for the company, if they show that they’ve worked in the same industry or are a quick learner, we know that they can be trained in that and be the best hire possible. Q: What place does company culture have in your recruiting process?A: Company culture is one of the most important factors when it comes to recruiting; in fact, 60% of a successful fit is a personality/culture fit. When we interview a candidate, we make sure to get a good feel of their personality and check their references to ensure that the person is a good fit. This is a huge factor because we’re looking for long term placements not just bandaids.Q: How do you set the line between potential candidate and someone you wouldn't send to a client?A: We check their references thoroughly and send candidates that have strong references from direct supervisors and management. We look at the need and the experience required. Communication with the candidate is crucial when presenting an opportunity. We do not want to convince candidates of taking a role; we want it to be the right fit for them as well. By having a relationship with our candidates and our clients we can examine how their personality would fit in; the technical skills alone aren’t enough for the right fill on both sides. Q: Why would you recommend someone work with Nexus?A: We do things differently! Our senior recruiters have over ten years of experience each. We understand that each client has a different budget and we can offer competitive rates. We are a small boutique firm and we can be flexible with our client when negotiating. Each client is gold to us, not just another account. We make time to build long lasting relationships with both candidates and clients as they are equally important. References are important to us. We check three references from the last position that the candidate worked and we get accurate references from their direct supervisors which gives us insight on their work ability and ethics. This is not a common practice with other firms and it should be. When submitting candidates for a role we do not bombard with resumes; we submit our top 3.  In addition to that, we can offer our clients Nexus Catalyx which allows us to pay healthcare benefits to long term contractors to ensure retention on project so that it’s completed successfully.