TPP Not for Profit is a recruitment consultancy specialising in meeting the needs of organisations in the charity, arts and public sectors. Each month we cover a recruitment or retention topic from the viewpoint of the third sector.
Every year, close to 2 billion Christmas cards are sent in the UK. Approximately 30% of these include a charitable donation. This month, we look at which charities have the best Christmas cards.
All the cards we’ve chosen are not only fun and attractive, but they all have some connection to their charity, whether featuring an image related to the organisation or cause or having been designed by some of its beneficiaries. This can be especially difficult for charities associated with healthcare issues or other negative topics, but all of these have managed amazingly.
All of these cards are also sold directly by the charities, so all or most of the profits go directly to the cause, unlike many charity cards sold by high street retailers.
Of course, this list only represents our opinions. If you have a favourite charity Christmas card that we’ve overlooked, please post a link in the comments below.
These cards cleverly link to the organisation they are supporting by featuring a London bus with a 'We are Macmillan Cancer Support' registration plate. The backs of the cards also feature information about Macmillan Cancer Support and the work that they do.
This card, entitled ‘Christmas Morning in Afghanistan’, is both beautiful and thoughtful; reminding us of our forces who are serving overseas at Christmas time.
Each year, Mencap runs a Christmas Card Competition for people with a Learning Disability. This winning image was by Luke Milligan of the Oakdale School from the 2007 competition.
These cards from Amnesty feature colourful doves of peace and are printed using wood from the UK, certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. All cards carry the message 'Season's Greetings' in nine languages (French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Chinese, Irish, Scots Gaelic, Welsh and English) – reflecting Amnesty’s worldwide focus.
Sreepur cards are individually hand-crafted by the women of the Sreepur Village Outreach Project in rural Bangladesh. The producer group have Fair Trade recognition and are able to work from home without neglect of childcare. All proceeds from the sale of cards are returned to the Sreepur Village, home to more than 500 abandoned children and more than 100 destitute women.
These beautiful cards are extremely popular and have completely sold out for this year.
Do you have a favourite Charity Christmas card? Post a link in the comments below.
The recruitment industry as a whole has a pretty poor reputation,
and many people over the years have experienced a bad level of service
from recruiters, either as a candidate or a client. For charities,
where the crossover
between employees, donors and volunteers is so large, it’s particularly
important that their recruitment partner offers an effective service,
but, more importantly, an ethical one.
In this post, we look at how this reputation has been earned and how you
can make sure you’re working with an ethical and principled recruitment
consultancy that shares your values.
Why the bad rep?
It’s a common perception that recruiters are simply out to make a quick
profit, and will do virtually anything to fill a role, regardless of the
quality of the fit.
Some common complaints about recruiters include:
Recruiters don’t have any real knowledge or experience of the industry they are recruiting for
Agencies charge far too much and don’t offer value for money
Candidates are pressured into taking jobs they are not sure about, just so the recruiter can earn their commission
Recruiters don’t listen to either their clients or their candidates
Recruiters put forward candidates without meeting them face to face or sometimes without even getting their consent first
Agencies place candidates in a role, only to poach them to another role after the guarantee period has ended
All agencies share the same small pool of candidates and don’t encourage diversity among their candidates
In some sectors, where all that matters is getting a candidate in place,
however short-term, this approach can suit both agency and employer.
However, most not for profit organisations need employees who are right
for the role, committed to the cause and likely to benefit the
organisation in the long term, and they need a recruiter they can trust
to supply these candidates consistently.
So how do you make sure your agency is reliable?
When you work with a supplier, it’s a good idea to assess the service
they provide. We’ve put together a checklist of questions you should be
asking your recruitment partner – a reputable consultancy will be able
to provide evidence to back up all of these.
TPP currently work with over 50 clients on Preferred Supplier List
(PSL) agreements. These include a service level agreement to ensure
that we meet our client’s needs, challenges, budgets and priorities, so
we are constantly being asked to provide evidence about our service
levels. Any other consultancy should be able to do likewise.
Do they interview candidates face to face?
Some recruiters will do anything to fill a role before their
competitors, even if it means sending over a candidate’s CVs when they
have not met (or occasionally even spoken to) the jobseeker in question.
At TPP, we pre-interview all of our candidates before we send our
shortlist over; in person wherever possible. We always meet temporary
candidates face to face, but occasionally interview permanent candidates
on the phone if geographic or time constraints apply. This means that
we have explored in depth the motivations for each candidate, and are
confident they are a good long-term fit for your organisation. We also
verify their UK right to work, so we don’t waste your time with
candidates who aren’t eligible.
Meeting face-to-face also allows us to ‘sell’ your organisation to the
candidate. The very best employees are always in demand and can often
pick and choose. Having a third party pointing out the benefits of
working for your organisation can often make all difference We also
brief our candidates about the role and prepare them for interviews, so
you can see their best side on the day. Do they really understand your sector?
Too often, recruitment consultants aren’t dedicated to recruiting for a
particular kind of role or in a particular sector, so they don’t have
the specialist knowledge required to understand how your organisation
works, the kind of employees you need or any grasp of trends and issues
in your sector. Not for profit organisations are structured differently
from corporate organisations and require staff with specific skills and
motivations, so it’s important your recruiter ‘gets’ this.
At TPP, the structure of our teams mirrors the internal structure of our
clients, so one consultant won’t recruit for all of your roles.
Instead, we have a fundraising team who only recruit fundraisers, and a
finance division who specialise in finance and accountancy staff, etc.
Combined with the fact that we only recruit for not for profit
organisations, this gives our consultants a really good understanding of
recruitment trends and employees’ motivations for moving, both within
the broader sector and within their job function.
Do they keep in touch enough (but not too much)?
It can feel like recruiters constantly bombard you with telephone calls
and emails, trying to get you to see candidates who just aren’t right
for your organisation. But when something goes wrong or you’ve got a
question, suddenly you can’t get hold of them. This is especially
frustrating as a candidate, when you just don’t know what’s going on.
TPP are scrupulous at keeping both our clients and candidates updated
throughout the recruitment process. We know that candidates kept
hanging in the dark can often simply go elsewhere, so we are constantly
in touch with them so any potential issues can be tackled before, not
after, an offer is made.
And once we have successfully placed a candidate, we don’t just forget
about them. We follow up on their progress with both employer and
employee to make sure they are settling in on their journey to adding
value to your organisation. We also only discuss new opportunities with
candidates we have placed if they contact us directly or apply for one
of our advertised roles.
TPP are also passionate about sharing our knowledge and expertise with
the sector. We send our clients updates on trends in the sector which
are likely to affect them and our monthly email newsletters have a
wealth of recruitment and HR tips and advice.
Do they support the sector in which they work?
While other not for profit recruiters have employees who volunteer, or
run the odd industry seminar, none of them works on the same scale as
the TPP Giving Back
programme. We want to help both our clients and candidates to achieve
as much as they possibly can, so we offer a wide variety of free
services to help them do so.
These include:
Free advertising for volunteer roles
Free use of our boardroom and interview space
Free professional development seminars and networking events, including our new Inside Track series
Free career and recruitment articles and advice, and regular salary surveys
Free CV and career advice clinics and workshops
£100 IoF CPD voucher for every fundraiser placed through us
Our staff are also encouraged to volunteer
with paid leave and many are trustees or regular volunteers for
charities. All of us have chosen to work with the third sector, and we
feel it’s important to give back as much as possible.
Do they offer a diverse range of candidates?
There is a great deal of evidence that having a diverse range of employees
makes an organisation more effective. This is particularly true for
charities, where there has traditionally been a disconnect between the
type of people who work for the charity and their beneficiaries.
TPP are proud to have consistently represented an extremely wide range
of candidates for over 17 years, including those with disabilities and
from the older population; one of our part-time temporary workers is a
77 year old for example. Our huge database and wide range of
partnerships with associations and groups means that we can find
candidates outside the usual pool of jobseekers, including those elusive
‘passive candidates’. Because of our reputation and longevity in the
industry, we also attract many commercial candidates who need a trusted
partner to guide them to the right career within the sector.
Do they have a good reputation in the sector?
One of the best ways to judge the service a supplier provides is to ask other people who have used them what they think.
TPP constantly monitor the service we provide and our customers’
satisfaction. 95% of our clients and 98% of our candidates would
recommend TPP. We also constantly receive testimonials from both our
candidates and our clients. In fact, earlier this year TPP was voted
Best Recruitment Agency in the Partners in Fundraising Awards. We were also been shortlisted for Best Consultancy in the Charity Times Awards.
Do they have industry accreditation?
A reputable recruitment consultancy should always be a member of a professional body, such as the REC, IOR or APSCO. At TPP, we’ve gone one step further and are very proud to have gained REC Audited
accreditation. Launched this year by the REC as the gold standard for
recruitment, this award aims to differentiate those recruiters who can
demonstrate that they operate best practice in areas such as customer
service, staff development and client management. The process of
attaining this standard starts with a diagnostic and also includes a
detailed onsite audit by a REC expert who not only checks processes,
systems and compliance but they also talk to staff and management to
ensure they truly are a gold standard company.
We are delighted to have achieved REC Audited status and to be the first not for profit recruiter to do so!
Do they monitor their level of service?
TPP pride ourselves on delivering a principled and ethical service, but
we do not sit on our laurels and assume all is always perfect. We have:
an in-house Marketing Department who conducts the quality surveys and feedback questionnaires
an internal Compliance Department to ensure that our candidates details are checked and double checked
an internal Client Services Department who impartially monitor our
service to clients, conduct service reviews and can implement PSLs and
Service Level Agreements
So you can be confident that our service is continuously monitored and improved.
Before you decide to work with any recruitment consultancy, do make sure
you know the answers to the above questions. Not all agencies are
alike, and your choice of partner could affect both the productivity of
your organisation and possibly its reputation!
The job market tends to be cyclical – lots of job openings tend to result in candidate shortages and candidates are plentiful when jobs are in short supply. The recent economic downturn has kept the market stable for longer than normal – high levels of redundancy and unemployment have created huge pools of labour while cautious employers have been recruiting less.
However, all the signs indicate that we are now at a tipping point as the market recovers and unemployment drops. According to the latest REC report on jobs, vacancy numbers are continuing to rise at a rapid pace but candidate availability is falling. Commenting on these results, Bernard Brown, Head of Business Services at KPMG, said: “Demand for staff may be up, but the number of individuals putting themselves on the market has dropped for the fifth consecutive month. Perhaps the pay on offer has to rise to encourage staff to ‘make the move’. If it doesn’t we could be about to witness a growing gap between what the employers need and what employees are prepared to do.”
At TPP, as well as a general increase in the number of vacancies in the not for profit sector, we have also noticed a general increase in candidates declining offers that have been made to them. There are some skill sets that have always been in short supply, such as income generation, but other areas are now starting to see skill shortages, such as digital marketing. The demand for candidates in general is increasing, which means they can be much more choosey. Not for profit organisations should be placing more emphasis on candidate care and making sure they are kept happy and engaged throughout the recruitment process.
Below are TPP’s top tips to ensure your candidates feel loved:
1. Ensure the offer package is right
Obviously you need to make sure your salary is as competitive as possible, which means you need to know what similar organisations are offering. Salary is not the only thing to consider though, particularly for charity candidates, who are often looking for a better work-life balance. Make sure you mention benefits and opportunities for flexible working, as these are often really powerful draws.
Candidates are often thinking about the long term when moving roles, and the opportunities for development are likely to play an important part in their decision. Almost all roles offer employees the potential to learn and grow their abilities, even if they do not have a direct route for promotion. The trick is to find the ways in which candidates would be able to make the most of the role and themselves and to make sure they are aware of them in the interview.
In these days of slashed training budgets, any promises of CPD you can offer are a great way to make your organisation stand out. Remember, TPP give all fundraisers placed through us a £100 voucher to spend with the IoF on CPD.
3. Don’t take too long to make a decision
This is probably the most common reason why organisations lose good candidates. If they have great skills and experience, it’s likely that other organisations will want them as much as you do and candidates will not wait around if they receive another offer. While we appreciate it can be hard to make decisions quickly in non-profit organisations, particularly if Trustees have to be involved, waiting for an offer can be a really negative recruitment experience for the candidate.
4. Offer constant feedback and communication
On similar lines, one of the most common frustrations for candidates is a lack of communication and feedback. Even if you are rejecting them, every candidate deserves to know they are not being taken forward and given a reason for that decision wherever possible.
Remember, the large crossover between potential employees, volunteers, advocates and donors make it especially important for charities to take good care of candidates.
At TPP, we know that managing the offer process starts when we first meet the candidate.
We take the time to really understand why they are leaving their current
job and their motivations and requirements for a new role. We drill
down into their key criteria, which is often very different to a
candidate's stated motivations, to maximise the chances of a satisfactory recruitment process for all parties.
In today’s current job-heavy market, there are some charity jobs that will produce literally hundreds of applications, particularly the more generic administration roles. It’s daunting facing such a mountain of paperwork, and it can be tricky to know where to start. In this post, we look at ways to make it easy to shortlist applicants to find the people you want to interview.
Unlike recruiting for more specialist roles, where you may need to compare applicants with very different CVs, the goal here is to exclude as many unsuitable candidates in the shortest possible time.
Log all applications
Firstly, best practice is to log all applications with the candidate’s name, email and source of their application. When you scan their CV you can also add in some brief notes on their skills and experience. This may seem like a lot of work already, but it will help you keep track of who you’ve rejected, who you might be interested in and where your applications are coming from (useful for deciding where to place future advertising).
Define your criteria
Before you start going through CVs, it’s very important to define exactly what your ideal candidate will look like. You should use your job description and person specification to pull together two lists; essential criteria and desirable criteria. Be really strict about the criteria you term ‘essential’ – as a rule of thumb there should be twice as many desirables as essentials.
You can then go through your CVs and score each against your lists of criteria. Any that don’t meet all of the essential criteria can be quickly discarded. Working to lists of criteria also allows you to split up the CVs with other team members and ensures you are all shortlisting on the same terms.
It’s also a good idea to decide before you start to shortlist how many candidates you want to interview – this will help avoid the temptation to keep anyone in who ‘may’ be suitable.
Conduct your shortlist in stages
The quickest way to shortlist is to do it in stages. The first stage is to run through all the CVs and simply exclude those who don’t meet your essential criteria list, and note this on your spreadsheet. This should immediately make the pile of CVs much more manageable.
In stage 2 you should go through the remaining CVs and assign the candidates scores against each item in your list of essential criteria, recording the scores on your spreadsheet. This will give you an easy way to rank candidates and give you a top ten to work with. At this stage, you should also check for any inconsistencies in their CV and make sure that their presentation, spelling and grammar, and attention to detail are flawless on both their CV and covering letter (if applicable).
In the final stage, you should start with a list of candidates who would all be able to do the fundamentals of the role. You can now go through and score them against your list of desirable criteria, which will help single out the candidates who will be able to pick things up more quickly and contribute that bit extra to your organisation.
Bear in mind that it is extremely unlikely that you’ll find a candidate who matches every single item on both your list of essentials and desirables. Indeed, the very best candidate may sometimes require you to think outside the box. But it’s important to try and stick to your original lists wherever possible in order to minimise unconscious bias as much as possible.
Give everyone a response
Everyone who takes the time to apply for a role should receive some form of response, even if it is just an automated email. Keeping your spreadsheet of applicants up to date should make it easier to ensure everyone gets an update on their application.
This is particularly important for charities, whose audiences of employees, volunteers, supporters and advocates tend to widely overlap. A simple email thanking candidates for their interest but expressing regret that not everyone can be asked to interview should be enough. You can even remind them of all the other ways they could support your organisation.
Sounds like a lot of work?
The fact is, however you manage the process, shortlisting for most roles is always going to require a big investment of your time. TPP regularly handle roles for our clients that generate high volumes of response; we recently had 116 applications for a Finance Assistant role and regularly deal with vacancies generating several hundred applications.
Some organisations prefer to recruit for lower level roles internally, but these are the ones that typically eat into your valuable time. If you think your working hours could be better spent, talk to us about handling your vacancy. We’ll deal with all the administration and candidate liaising, and will interview all candidates, prior to sending you a shortlist. We also try to make sure all applicants have a positive recruitment experience, whether they are successful or not, and we will always present your organisation to candidates as an attractive opportunity. And best of all, you only pay when you appoint a candidate.
For more information about our recruitment services, visit our website or contact us on 020 7198 6000 or info@tpp.co.uk.
Recruiting a new member of staff is an expensive and time-consuming business, so it pays to make sure you get the best person you possibly can. Pressures on budgets and time mean that it can be tempting for organisations to cut corners when recruiting, but this rarely pays off in the long run. Here are some of the most common (and fairly easily avoided) charity recruitment mistakes.
1. Not asking the right interview questions
With many not for profit employees being asked to do more with fewer resources, it can be extremely difficult to take the time to prepare properly for interviews. This means that interviewers can end up just asking superficial questions about previous experience and not really probing a candidate to see how well they will do in the job. Not preparing detailed questions in advance also makes it much harder to establish a level playing field for multiple interviewees and avoid bias.
While no organisation wants employees who are clones and all think in the same way, it is important that any new member of staff fits in with the rest of their team. Their personality has to mesh with others and it’s important they have similar ethics and values, particularly in charities, where the organisation’s mission should be the primary staff motivator.
Although the interview is one of the most effective tools in an employer’s kit, decisions on hiring should not be made purely on that basis. After all, according to a study done by the Chally Group, an interview only increases the chance of finding the best candidate by 2%. You need to include as much supporting material as you can when shortlisting, including CVs, emails, covering letters, references, personal recommendations and their web presence and social media profiles.
Here’s some guidance on using cover letters to recruit effectively.
4. Not checking references
A survey from the Society for Human Resource Management reports that 25 % of employers never check references and the Charity Commission estimates that only 23% of charities carry out checks on prospective trustees.
Not taking the time to check references leaves you entirely reliant on the candidate’s view of themselves, which can be accidentally or deliberately distorted.
When initially screening candidate CVs, it can be tempting to take out any candidates who exceed the required experience; dismissing them as ‘overqualified’ and not matching the person specification. However, the advantages of taking on someone with more experience and extra skills can often outweigh any possible downsides. In this candidate-heavy market, it seems strange that more employers are not taking advantage of being able to get more for less.
6. Recycling job descriptions and person specifications
Re-using the job description for your outgoing employee might be seen as a good way to save time, but cutting corners like this can definitely backfire. Roles change over time and the job description might be out-of-date, meaning that you’ll be hiring against an incorrect set of criteria. Recruiting is also a good time to review a role’s responsibilities – it may make more sense to reshuffle duties around the team, or to split up overstretched roles into more than one job. Vague and imprecise job descriptions also make shortlisting difficult, as you’ll get many more unsuitable applicants.
7. Missing the opportunity to sell your organisation
As there are so many jobseekers around looking for work at the moment, it can be easy for employers to assume that anyone would be grateful to work for them and that they don’t need to ‘sell’ the role or organisation. In reality, there’s more competition than ever for the very best candidates and particularly in certain niche areas. And even if they don’t end up with the job, anyone interested enough to interview with you could be an excellent potential advocate or supporter for your organisation.
In recruitment terminology, the elusive perfect candidate is referred to as a ‘purple squirrel’ and like their namesake, they can be very thin on the ground. A candidate-rich market can leave organisations paralysed by choice, as they reason that there must be a jobseeker out there who matches every requirement on their list and they only have to find them.
In reality, perfect candidates are so rare that it is usually best to go for someone who meets all of the key requirements and can be trained in the “would-like-to-haves”. Training up a candidate builds loyalty and productivity, and they might have other qualities that could come in useful in the future. Leaving the role open risks drops in productivity and damaging morale as other employees struggle to cover the responsibilities.
While some interview questions are obviously discriminatory and are easy to avoid, it is possible for employers to think they are innocently making conversation but they may actually be straying into potentially illegal areas, and making themselves open to litigation.
However, planning interview questions in advance, and being aware of exactly what you can and cannot ask, will help you avoid any problems. Find out more about illegal interview questions here.
10. Mishandling rejections and not supplying feedback
This is probably the most common mistake made, as employers find it hard to devote time to candidates who have not made it through the interview process. But, as well as simply being polite to take the time to give feedback to a rejected candidate, it can also benefit your recruitment process and employer brand.
With unemployment still relatively high and lots of charity professionals currently searching for a job, we’ve noticed that not for profit organisations are receiving more applications from ‘overqualified’ candidates. But employers can be reluctant to consider these candidates, even though they would certainly be able to handle the role.
In this blog post, we look at what overqualified means and the pros and cons of hiring an overqualified candidate.
What is overqualified?
Candidates are described as overqualified when they are skilled or educated beyond the requirements for the role. For example, while a person specification for a role may require a bachelor’s degree, employers could receive applications from candidates with a master’s degree. Or employers could request candidates with some previous experience of that role, and receive applications from jobseekers with over ten years’ experience.
However, having lots of education or experience does not necessarily make a candidate overqualified. The key is whether that education or experience is relevant to the role. If not, they are really starting at the same level as any other candidate.
It is also very important to steer clear of any age discrimination when determining if candidates are overqualified. Simply having worked for a long period of time does not automatically make an applicant overqualified.
Traditional objections to overqualified candidates
If employers are looking for certain skills and experience, you might think that a candidate exceeding their expectations would be snapped up, but many organisations are reluctant to consider overqualified candidates. One of the most common reasons cited is a fear that the candidate will expect a higher salary in exchange for their qualifications. The other is an assumption that the candidate is only using this role as a placeholder and will leave as soon as a better opportunity presents itself – this is a particular worry in the current job market, with many candidates agreeing to take any job purely to avoid unemployment.
Employers may also have concerns that an overqualified candidate would not be challenged or fully engaged in the role and become unproductive and unhappy. One disgruntled employee can then have a knock-on effect on the rest of the team.
Dispelling the myths
Overqualification does not automatically lead to lower job satisfaction or higher turnover. In a study from the US, sales associates who were thought to be overqualified actually performed better than their peers, and the more empowered they were in their role, the more likely they were to stay put. Indeed, nearly half of graduates are now considered overqualified for their first role.
Candidates have a huge range of motivations for taking a charity job and overqualified applicants may have a very good reason for wanting that particular role, rather than simple desperation for a job. They could be downshifting and looking to achieve a better work/life balance, or wanting to change sectors or roles following a previous unsatisfactory career move, or they could be moving to a new location.
The interview stage is the best time to determine an overqualified candidate’s level of seriousness about the role. Questions like “Can you describe your favourite job from the past and what you did?” or “What did you not like doing in former jobs?” can help define their motivations and determine whether they would be a good fit for your team. Have confidence in your organisation’s culture; if you choose to work for your organisation, other people will also want to.
Some ‘hidden’ benefits
There are some less obvious benefits to hiring an overqualified candidate that some employers would not immediately consider. For example, it can be good for morale overall, as a more experienced employee will be able to pick up the work more quickly, relieving the rest of the team from having to cover the responsibilities. This is particularly important during this period of belt-tightening, when many employees are already having to take on extra tasks.
In addition, most teams function best with a mixture of people, not just clones of your current or previous employees. Someone with unexpected skills and lots of life experience may bring something extra to the table that you have not previously considered.
If an overqualified candidate has a good reason for wanting to take your role, chances are that they have really considered what they want to do and may actually be a better long-term proposition than a candidate who exactly fits the person specification. For example, a jobseeker with lots of commercial experience may move into the charity sector looking for a more meaningful role. Getting promoted or moving on may therefore be lower on their list of priorities than a candidate moving up within the sector. Future proof your team
When considering a candidate who is overqualified for the job, it’s always worth looking at the big picture. When making hiring decisions, the best leaders don’t just consider current needs, but also look to the future.
Overqualified candidates often have other skills in areas that are not required for a particular role but may be useful for the organisation as a whole. This gives them greater flexibility for the future and could allow them to accomplish things in the future that you have not considered part of that role. Rather than just fulfilling an immediate need, they could help your organisation grow and achieve even more.
These employees can also improve the skill set of the team as a whole, as they could mentor or train up others to their level. They can also serve as a model for your employees and help challenge them to bring productivity up. Having extra skills in your team can also give you the flexibility to react to challenges or opportunities that may arise in the future. Making full use of their skills will also make them a more engaged employee.
Be honest
If you are considering an overqualified candidate for a position, it’s extremely important to be up front about the role’s potential right from the start. Being honest about salary, benefits and promotion prospects will help to weed out candidates really looking for something else and will avoid an applicant expecting too much from a role. But if you think they may be temporarily underutilised, but there is great potential for the future, make sure you make that clear.
You could use phone screening to go through these details, check that the candidate is happy with the terms and weed out those with unrealistic expectations before interview stage.
It is also very important to confirm that their manager would be comfortable working with them and vice versa. Sometimes it can be difficult to manage an employee who has more years of experience than you do. Make sure you explore this thoroughly at interview – again, it is worth being completely honest and asking them straight out if they foresee any problems.
It can’t hurt…
Rather than rejecting them out of hand, it’s always worth at least considering an overqualified candidate. After all, they would certainly be able to handle the role advertised Often it can be difficult to fully judge a candidate’s motivations and dedication to a role without at least offering them an opportunity to meet with you face to face in an interview.
If you do interview them and you feel that the candidate would still not be a good fit for your organisation, that could help you to refine your person specification and direct your job search.
Hiring an overqualified candidate can be a risk, but sometimes you have to take risks to realise your organisation’s full potential. When weighing up the pros and cons, there are often more benefits to hiring an overqualified employee than downsides. And even if they do turn out to be only there short-term, they could still make a positive long-term impact on your organisation.
There are also ways to mitigate some of the risk of hiring an overqualified employee. You could offer them the role on a temporary or contract basis, to see how they will actually turn out on the job and to get the role filled.
There is a definite move in the commercial world to take advantage of the current candidate-heavy job market and actively seek out overqualified employees to get extra value for money. Perhaps the charity sector should also be more open to capitalising on this talent glut. After all, sometimes more is simply more.
Every application for a role that comes directly from a candidate should include a cover letter, whether it is a separate attachment or in the body of the email. In this blog post, we look at how to tell a good cover letter from a bad one, and how you can use them to find out more information about the applicant.
Firstly, read the cover letter!
It sounds obvious, but with hundreds of applications to go through, it can be tempting to ignore cover letters entirely and skip straight to the CV. And if you use an applicant tracking system to process CVs, it may not like covering letters, preventing you from seeing them in the first place. But wherever possible you should read a cover letter provided, as they can give you valuable information about a candidate that you can’t get from the CV alone. Plus, if an applicant has spent hours carefully crafting a superb cover letter, they are treating it as an essential part of their application, and so should you.
However, it’s certainly true that increasing numbers of employers don’t bother to read cover letters, and candidates include them less often these days. If you definitely want to receive cover letters from all applicants, make sure this is specified in the job advertisement. And if your organisation uses application forms, don’t make candidates send cover letters as well, as this just complicates the application process.
Check the details
Making sure a cover letter includes the right details can tell you how much effort a candidate has put into crafting their application, and can demonstrate how interested they actually are in the role. For example, did they address the cover letter to a specific individual (even if this is not specified in the job ad, a quick phone call can usually provide a contact name)?
Every cover letter should be tailored to the role applied for, and demonstrate that the candidate has researched both your organisation and the job. Make sure it includes at least some reference to your specific organisation, as well as the job title of the role, and that all these details are correct.
Occasionally, a candidate will mention that they have been referred by a mutual contact. It’s always a good idea to do a quick check to make sure that this is actually the case.
Look at the quality of writing
Obviously, cover letters with spelling or grammatical errors can be discounted, as these show the candidate has not taken the time or effort to proof read their application fully. You can also use cover letters to assess a candidate’s (written) communication skills.
If the job requires a certain standard of writing, eg if it is a communications or PR role, does the covering letter meet that standard? Generally, cover letters should be clear, to the point and easy to follow. They should be broken down into short paragraphs, rather than a big block of text, and neither too short or too long. An incredibly long and detailed letter may be a result of a candidate’s passion for the role, but may suggest they have trouble keeping things concise.
Look for specifics
The best cover letters tend to have specific details about previous roles and experience and achievements. Generic statements such as “I have a great deal of experience in fundraising management and am looking for my next role” should ring warning bells. Instead, look for concrete and measurable examples of what they accomplished in previous roles. The candidates who can provide this level of detail tend to be the ones who are most suitable.
Similarly, the best candidates don’t tend to talk about what they are looking for. Instead, they concentrate on what aspects of this particular role they can excel in and what they can bring to your organisation overall. A really simple way to measure this is to count the number of times they mention you or your organisation instead of themselves.
For any non-profit, it is important that their staff are committed to the organisation’s mission. A good covering letter should always address why that candidate is attracted to your charity’s cause and demonstrate their passion and commitment.
Tone of voice
The tone in which a covering letter is written can usually tell you something about the personality of the writer. The most obvious thing to look for is whether they sound excited and enthusiastic about the role. If they really want the role, it is likely that this will be obvious from their letter.
Other things to look out for are if the candidate has gone for an overly formal or informal tone of voice (although the criteria for this varies depending on the role). Either way, getting it wrong can demonstrate a certain lack of judgement.
However, it is important to bear in mind that judgements based on tone of voice are subjective and a final decision on whether or not to progress with that candidate should always be based on the content of their CV.
A quick checklist
• Is the letter addressed generically, rather than to a specific individual?
• Is the letter tailored to the role applied for?
• Does it contain spelling and grammatical errors?
• Does it mention your organisation and the specific role applied for?
• Does it clearly state what value the candidate can bring to your organisation?
• Does the letter simply repeat points already made on their CV?
• Does it communicate their passion and enthusiasm?
Even though many job applicants dislike filling out application forms, lots of non-profit employers prefer to use them for their recruitment. In this post, we look at the pros and cons of application forms and how to tailor them to get the best possible response for your vacancy.
Why do employers use them?
There are some distinct advantages to asking a candidate to fill out an application form, rather than send in a CV. They usually save an employer time and effort, especially if it’s an online form that feeds directly into an ATS (applicant tracking system). They also make it easier to reduce bias when shortlisting candidates, as each candidate is forced to give exactly the same information. Many of the questions on application forms are there for legal or institutional reasons, and ensure compliance when recruiting.
The fact that application forms are so very unpopular also encourages some employers to use them. Filling out an application form tests the candidate’s commitment to that role and discourages unsuitable candidates or those who simply send off untailored CVs to every role going.
However, one of the most common reasons for organisations to use application forms is simply because they always have done. Each time they recruit, extra questions are added to the form, without reviewing it as a whole – resulting in forms that are extremely long and full of redundant questions.
What are the negatives?
The main problem with application forms is that they tend to be far too long and extremely tedious to complete. Candidates have usually already spent a long time polishing up their CV prior to starting to look for roles, and having to start from scratch each time can be very repetitive and time consuming. The questions asked are also not always obviously relevant to the job a candidate is applying for.
At TPP, we have a lot of anecdotal evidence that really good candidates simply don’t bother applying for roles if the process is too complicated. Application forms may discourage unwelcome responses, but they can also deter some candidates who might be ideal for your role. It takes most jobseekers at least half a day to complete an application form, which is time that’s hard to find if you’re already working full time. Exceptional candidates can be greatly in demand, and if they can get a job easily elsewhere with less effort, they are not likely to apply for yours.
The more senior your vacancy, the more likely it is that your ideal candidates are ‘passive’ jobseekers, ie those who are not actively looking for a new role but might be tempted by the ideal job. These candidates are even less likely to sacrifice the time it takes to complete a long and complicated application form.
Other problems with application forms are that they lack flexibility and make it difficult for good candidates to distinguish themselves in a creative way or to really demonstrate their personality. Also, if a candidate makes a small mistake filling out the form, their application may be automatically rejected, even if they are perfect for your role.
So what should you do?
First of all, you need to find out if you are required to use application forms for every role in your organisation. If not, it’s worth deciding on a case-by-case basis whether to use them. The more senior, specialist or niche your role, the less likely you are to have high volumes of suitable applicants, so it’s worth making it as easy as possible to apply.
A compromise solution might be a two-tier process. Ask candidates to send in their CV and do an initial quick shortlist of those with the right skills and experience. You can then ask those applicants to complete an application forms to make the final shortlisting process easier and fairer. These candidates will also be motivated to fill in the forms as they have already passed one hurdle.
The most important thing you can do to improve your recruitment process is to review your application form and make sure it is doing its job – allowing you to identify excellent candidates while filtering out unwanted applications. The golden rule is, the shorter and easier your form is and the more relevant the questions, the more likely candidates are to make it to the end.
What should you include?
Always start off with basic information and questions that are easy to complete, such as name and contact details and the post applied for, as this encourages candidates to start filling out the form.
You should ask applicants to confirm their right to work in the UK, give details of previous employment, education and qualifications.
It is also very important to include a free text box to allow candidates to write a personal statement in order to sell themselves, along the lines of “why should we consider you for this role”. It is also a good idea to give applicants room to comment on their answers, eg to explain gaps in their career or unusual career choices. However, avoid asking too many open-ended questions, as this will lead to repetition, which makes application forms tedious to complete and to read. Keep behavioural questions, asking candidates to demonstrate their experience, for an interview setting instead.
What should you take off?
Quite simply, take out anything that is unnecessary. For example, do you really need details for every one of the candidate’s previous employers? Or just the most recent or relevant?
It is also important to make sure that the questions elicit responses that are non-discriminatory. For example, you should not ask for a candidate’s date of birth, native language or religion. Some questions are borderline, eg asking for reference details is standard but may result in average candidates being shortlisted purely because they have impressive referees. See our post on interview questions to avoid for more tips on avoiding discrimination.
Many not for profit employers like to collect equal opportunities information to monitor the success of their policies designed to promote diversity. TPP’s advice is that this is a separate, completely anonymous form and not simply tacked on to the application form.
Make the process easy
Even if you can’t improve your application form, there are steps you can take to make the application process as a whole better for candidates. Your application form should be attached to job advertisements wherever possible; requiring candidates to contact you to request a form is simply creating more work for both you and them.
Online forms are usually the easiest to complete, but even these can be difficult. Make it clear to applicants how many sections there are to the form and what stage they have reached, and make sure that they can save their progress mid-way and that the form won’t time out. Adding validation to required fields means that candidates can only submit the form when they’ve given you all the mandatory information you require.
Finally, after making candidates jump through hoops to apply for your job, you should always acknowledge receipt of their application and let them know the outcome, whether successful or not. After all, people interested in working for you may also be those most likely to donate, refer or volunteer, and you don’t want to damage your relationship with them or your organisation’s reputation.
Finally, test the process
The last stage in improving your application forms is to make sure that they are clear and unambiguous and as easy as possible to complete. The best way to do this is to have several current employees pretend to be candidates and complete the form for you, giving you feedback on the overall process.
It’s also worth getting hold of the forms used by organisations similar to yours and comparing them to your own. If it’s much harder to apply for your roles, candidates may choose to go elsewhere instead.
An interview is a two-way process; it’s an opportunity for both the organisation and the candidate to find out whether they are suitable for each other.
Particularly for smaller charities, who may not be able to compete on salary, or those in less attractive locations, it is important to sell the benefits of working for your organisation, both functional (location, salary, benefits) and intangible (passion for our work, workplace culture), so that candidates will choose to work for you. In this month’s blog, we look at some of the most effective ways to sell your organisation during the interview process; giving you the best chance of attracting and appointing the best candidates.
Start with what your candidate wants
‘Know your customer’ is a basic rule of successful sales – in this case your customer is your candidate. To make your organisation as attractive as possible to them, it’s important to know exactly what they’re looking for and how you can meet their expectations.
Although it’s important to keep competency-based interview questions standard to all interviewees, the section where you talk about your organisation should ideally be tailored to each individual. Bear this in mind when you are reading through their CV or doing online research prior to an interview. For example, if they have children (and voluntarily mention this) they are much more likely to be interested in family-friendly policies and benefits.
It’s also a good idea to find out if your candidate is interviewing elsewhere, and if so, where and when. This gives you an idea of the timescale in which you’ll have to act to get them on board, but also gives you an idea of what they are looking for.
Of course, the easiest way to find out what is important to a candidate is simply to ask them in the interview. You can then immediately tell them how strong your organisation is in these areas.
Do your research
You can find out a lot about how attractive your organisation is as an employer by simply asking your candidates and existing employees a few questions. For example, speak to employees who have recently joined and ask them how they found the interview process and what particularly attracted them to the organisation or role.
After a round of recruitment, it’s best practice to follow up with candidates (particularly those who went to other organisations instead of yours) about the interview process and their decisions. This can help you find out what’s missing from your offering and either correct it or stress other areas in which you are strong.
There’s also a lot of information out there to help you benchmark your organisation. Use salary surveys and monitor charity job advertising to find out if the salaries and benefits you offer are competitive and to discover which areas you’ll need to compensate for. A good recruitment consultancy like TPP will include this in their recruitment service.
Sell the mission
People who work for charities almost always do so because they are passionate about their cause and want to make a difference. Your organisation’s mission is one of the most valuable recruitment sales tools you have and it’s important to be able to effectively communicate the values and vision of the organisation.
In the same way as you’d attract potential donors, you can use stories to illustrate exactly how important the services you offer are and the impact that they have on the community. Make sure you cover both what your organisation is and does, and what you hope to achieve in the future.
Wherever possible, relate what you do to the interviewee’s background and previous experience. One of the easiest ways to do this is to ask interviewees why they want to work for you and use their reply to tell them why they should work for you.
Talk about the future
When you’re talking about your organisation, and the role in general, it’s important to cover any plans for the future, as these could have a dramatic effect on both the organisation and job. Is the organisation planning to expand or take on new responsibilities? Do you have an ambitious strategy or a 5-year plan? How will this affect their department or team?
Exciting plans for the future are generally attractive to potential employees as they suggest that the organisation is ambitious and forward-thinking and that their role could develop as the organisation does.
Benefits
Benefits are one of the key ways for charities to distinguish themselves as employers without increasing salaries and jobseekers in the third sector generally expect better benefits. Some things to consider mentioning include:
Paid benefits like medical or dental cover or travel insurance
Salary sacrifice schemes for computers or mobile purchases, travel loans, childcare vouchers or cycle to work schemes
Do you offer more than 20 days annual leave? Are there extended breaks around holidays?
Extra payments to cover relocation or travel
Parental leave cover
Pension contributions
·Flexible or home working options
TPP has done a great deal of research into charity employees’ motivations for moving roles and we have found that two areas score consistently highly: pension contributions and flexible working. Make sure you are familiar with your organisation’s policy on flexible working and pension plan, as these are the areas that are most likely to affect a candidate’s decision to join you.
While some organisations have a fixed benefits package, others are willing to negotiate with key employees to get them on board. Make sure you know if this is an option prior to interview, as offering them better benefits can head off rejections based on salary from the outset.
Employer Brand
While all good interviewees should have done their research into your organisation’s performance as a charity, they may not be aware of your track record as an employer. Look for opportunities during the interview to talk about your organisation’s reputation as an employer and show them why you have this reputation.
If you have a particularly low turnover of staff, this is a good sign that they are happy working there. You can also mention employee satisfaction surveys, if you conduct them, or any employer certifications or awards you have received. You need to discover the things that make your organisation a good place to work and distinguishes you from other potential employers.
Office culture
We’ve talked before about the importance of recruiting to fit your organisation’s culture. The day-to-day working atmosphere can have a big impact on how happy your employees are and it’s important to cover this in interviews so candidates know whether it will suit them.
Obviously, different candidates want different types of environment, so consider how your organisation could appeal to people at different stages of life. Are you a ‘fun’ employer with lots of social activities, do you offer stability and family-friendly benefits, or are you a diverse organisation with a wide range of characters?
Don’t duck any issues
No organisation can be perfect for every employee and there are always going to be areas in which you score lower than others. However, there might be some obvious things that could put candidates off. In this case, they are best addressed in the interview, when you can put a positive spin on the problem, rather than it being swept under the carpet.
For example, if you are a smaller charity in an out-of-town location which might put some candidates off, you could stress the benefits of a rural location such as less noise and pollution, an easier commute with plenty of parking, support for the local community etc.
In this period, job stability is one of the most important motivators for jobseekers, so if your organisation has just had a reorganisation or round of redundancies, make sure you talk about the reasons why this occurred and the benefits it has brought to the organisation, as well as stressing that this period is now over.
Or get someone else to do it for you…
A significant advantage of using recruitment consultancies like TPP to fill your vacancies is that jobseekers will often trust third party endorsements more than those from the horse’s mouth. We are experts in recruiting for the third sector, and we know exactly what best motivates our candidates. We take the time, wherever possible, to get to know your organisation and its culture, so all the candidates we send to interview will already have a positive (but honest) impression of your organisation.
By Kate Maunder, consultant at TPP Not for Profit 
