Jessica Hajsan, MHRM, CHRL

As a recruiter, I love when leadership skills are shown to me by reflecting on one's growth. Leadership in many ways is about self-reflection, which requires emotional intelligence. If you have self-awareness and self regulation you can model the same for others and this can only make you stronger as a leader.

Attracting top talent is about being able to showcase your employer brand genuinely and authentically. You also want to choose channels and tools that will be able to reach diverse talent. Your employer brand should authentically demonstrate the values and culture of the organization as well as the commitment diversity equity and inclusion. Also spotlighting and sharing employee career stories authentically told by the employees themselves is also a great way to attract top talent.

If you are using external recruitment support, find an agency who has a Global presence and recruiters strategically placed around the Globe. An external recruitment agency is able to quickly adapt to local markets and understands the legal and regulatory frameworks in the various markets around the Globe.

One of the best ways to prepare for a phone interview is to do some self reflection and think of stories in your career where you can demonstrate things like, the impacts you made to the company, ways you have improved processes, stories of personal development and growth etc. When looking for stories that you can tell about yourself refer back to the key areas of the job description and reformat the responsibilities as questions for yourself to answer. For example, one requirement of the role might be the ability to effectively prioritize and delegate, for this you may ask yourself "Can you tell me about a time that you effectively prioritized and delegated to finish a project?" to help you prepare.

Choosing the right setting to do a phone interview is key. Make sure that you are free from distraction and that you are in a quiet place. It can be a challenge if you decide to take the phone interview while walking on a busy street for example, so ensure that the location is free from external noise or distraction.

Another challenge of mentorship is finding the proper cadence to meet with one another and determining ways to appropriately structure your conversations. Think about using a monthly / quarterly cadence with a clear agenda for each meeting so that the conversation will stay on track.