Francis Moran
In the Media
How Canadian technology companies can own the marketing podium
We’re not big television watchers in our household but like many families in Canada and around the world, we’re putting in a fair bit of time these days with the world’s second-largest (after football’s World Cup) sporting extravaganza, the Olympics. One night last week, it was the women’s halfpipe competition that had my wife and me most excited and the no-holds-barred attitude of these brilliant athletes, plus the controversial “Own the Podium” program that has Canada’s Olympians focused far more on winning than on merely participating and doing well, got me thinking about the pursuit of excellence in other arenas. Like tech marketing.
Robert Hebert
The Talent Jungle
Why candidates should expand and prep their references
As headhunters scramble to match candidates with their shapeshifting clients, process and painstaking due diligence rule the day. To some candidates such rigor may feel intrusive or simply unnecessary. It shouldn’t. In fact, rigor should be embraced and used to all candidates advantage. Consider the use of references as an illustration.
Last week I interviewed a senior executive for a specific role. The candidate presented an intriguing combination of capabilities, accomplishments, values, motivation and style that appeared well aligned to my client. But there were a few cautionary flags. The candidate brushed over several questions and was vague on the circumstances around his departure from two organizations. Though my concerns may well have proven to be minor, they needed to be explored and clarified. Thus, on completing the interview I indicated that it would be helpful if I could speak to several of the candidate’s references around these specific time periods before putting him forward to my client.