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Employers - Advice

How to set a competitive salary

Go ahead and use the salary calculator powered by PayScale to get information on competitive salary levels. This information is complied by PayScale from over 200,000 UK professionals who have completed their salary survey. The information is refreshed weekly.



Please note:
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How to write an effective job specification

A job specification is a valuable recruitment tool and provides the recruitment agency with a clear outline of purpose, duties and responsibilities of the job and the required skills a candidate must have. This information will help the agency to source appropriate CVs for you. The major components are:

1. Overview
  • Job title – make it accurate & specific. Use words which are industry standard
  • Location where role is based
  • Salary – also add other benefits. Sometimes the smallest perks can tip a candidate in favour of you
  • Placement fee – the percentage of the first year salary (excluding other benefits) you are willing to pay to a recruitment agency. For further guidance, click here.
2. Company Description
  • Give a good overview of your company, its main areas of business, geographic locations, size and work culture
3. Job Description

This section should give clear and unambiguous details of the main tasks your employee is accountable for, including:

  • Day-to-day duties. Ask the person currently in the role to list their main duties. Most positions have 5-8 different functions. List them in order of relevance.
  • Ad hoc duties including monthly, quarterly, yearly tasks, projects etc.
  • Team management – what are the reporting structures?
  • Travel requirements
  • Permanent or short-term position
  • Full time or part time role
4. Candidate requirements

It is important to distinguish between essential and desirable requirements.

  • Educational qualification
  • Professional qualifications
  • Level of experience required
  • Specific knowledge/experience required – e.g. industry, sector experience, etc
  • IT experience – specific software experience required?
  • Required skills – e.g. leadership, negotiation, organisation etc.
  • What kind of person does this role require? E.g. personality fit, work environment, culture etc

Legal advice: It is essential not to discriminate on basis of gender, age, race, religion, disability, etc. To avoid age discrimination you should avoid using words such as young, dynamic, mature as this might lead to age bias.

Download template – If you have a vacancy you would like to post, fill in the template and send it through to us on vacancy@talentpuzzle.com. To make your life easier, an account manager will contact you to create an account and will post the job for you.

How to conduct an interview


Interview Styles

There are several types of interview you can chose from. Choose the one which is relevant for your vacancy:

  • Telephone interview: Good for an initial screening especially if there are many potential candidates. Also an efficient way to clarify any queries that arise from an initial read of the candidate CV. For a position where phone skills are essential, this is a key screening method.
  • Behavioural interview: A good tool where a candidate does not have any prior experience. A behavioural based interview is aimed at discovering how the candidate acts in specific employment-related situation. The answers provided help determine the candidate’s potential ability to perform the role.
  • Competency Interviews: This interview style is designed to test an applicant’s ability and experience to do the job. You should look to ask candidates about situations when they have completed similar tasks. What obstacles did they have to overcame? How did they do it? Some employers also ask for a sample e.g. a programming piece, written example etc.

Interview Process/Guidelines

Here is a rough outline of what to do when you candidate arrives:

  • Welcome the candidate, put them at ease with some small talk. Offer something to drink
  • Introduce yourself and the company
  • Talk briefly about the role, how it has come about, and what it will involve.
  • Explain briefly what the interview will involve
  • It is often useful to start off by letting the candidates take you through their CVs. This will put them at ease as it is an area they are familiar with. Ask questions to understand their motivation for certain actions. Ask open-ended questions to give them an opportunity to express themselves
  • Move on to the competence/behavioural questions
  • At the end of the interview, ask the candidate if they have any questions
  • Inform them of the interview process and timeline involved
  • Walk candidates to the exit, thanking them for their time
  • It is best practice to write up your notes as quickly as possible
  • Call the referring recruiter with feedback on the candidate and interview
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