With the vast majority of firms now hiring, how do you secure that perfect candidate over your competitors? Gone are the days when you had dozens of qualified applicants fighting for your role. Now the candidates are in the driving seat so Careers in Practice is on hand to give you some helpful tips and advice.<br><br>1.    Plan your recruitment like a Project Manager.<br><br>We often hear about recruitment processes falling down when a key decision maker becomes unavailable due to going on holiday or being too busy. If you are in charge of the recruiting for your firm, check diaries, manage expectations and plan ahead. Try to ensure there is diary flexibility as candidates are often very busy, especially the good ones.<br><br>2.    Getting a candidates buy in.<br><br>Some job adverts just look the same. Use AIDA, which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.<br><br>Attention:    Write a job spec that is more than daily duties. No matter how good you think the vacancy sounds, a job seeker is often looking at multiple jobs so you need to make yours stand out.<br><br>Interest:    Include a paragraph about the company too. This can be used again and again, but remember to keep it updated. You might also want to add the salary and benefits and maybe the company vision and values. <br><br>Desire:    Write about the future and the long-term opportunity on offer. You’ve got a great job so let them know just how good it is. <br><br>Action:    Add a closing date. This will get a candidate to apply and will help you manage the process more efficiently. <br><br>3.    Asking the right questions.<br><br>Please do not sit someone down and fire a list of 20-30 technical questions at them in quick succession then send them on their way. You need to know how strong they are, but they won’t get a feel for you, the role or your company. Ask open questions to get them talking. Aside from technical skills, you will want to know:<br><br>*  What are their ambitions?<br>*  What motivates them?<br>*  How do they work in a team?<br>*   What do they like doing outside of work?<br><br>Once you know the answers to the above, you can ensure that this candidates needs are in line with what you can offer. <br><br>4.    Don’t forget to sell.<br><br>Whilst you never want to oversell and mislead someone, you should always be passionate and confident about selling your company to a prospective employee. Think about why you joined the firm. Tell them about the culture, the team, the progression on offer, etc. Tell them about success stories and awards the company has won. Make the interview as two-way as possible. Remember that if you like the candidate you are talking to, so will your competitors. Get them to buy into you, your team and the vision of your practice. If you want to progress to a second interview, tell them at the end of the meeting.<br><br>5.    Managing the offer.<br><br>You’ve done all the hard work and are now at the point where you are ready to offer someone the job. Here is how most people present an offer: “Hi Mr Bloggs, I’m pleased to offer you job at £60,000 a year plus benefits. What do you think”? <br><br>Sound familiar?<br><br>What about going the extra mile and doing something like this: <br><br>“Dear Joe, we wanted to thank you for taking the time out to come and meet with us. Everyone you met thought you were an excellent candidate with the ideal skills required for the role. We believe that your experience to date is strong and that we can further enhance your personal development with the range of work we can offer you. It’s also worth noting that the promotional prospects at our firm are second to none.<br><br>As such, we would like to offer you the position with a base salary of £60,000 plus* 30 days holiday, a non-contributory pension scheme, flexible working with core hours 10am-4pm, private medial and your professional subscriptions paid in full.<br><br>I will get the full details over to you in an e-mail** and will include my direct line in case you have any further questions”. <br><br>*Substitute your company benefits.<br>** Design an offer sheet that outlines the benefits with the cash value. This has visual impact and will make a £60,000 offer look like a £70,000 offer!<br><br>If you have any comments or suggestions for Careers in Practice, please let us know. <a href="http://www.careersinpractice.com/latest-news-talent-war">excellent candidate</a>