The recruitment process for executive candidates is a delicate affair for businesses expanding to the US. As European businesses open subsidiaries to further their growth, it will be critical to find a good cultural fit with ample experience and matching compensation ideals.
This, unfortunately, is rarely simple or straightforward.
European subsidiaries face the very real threat of making a bad hire in the C-Suite. Approximately 12% of external C-suite hires and 9% of internal promotions are considered to be failures by Chief HR Officers.
Thankfully, acquiring a successful candidate for your European subsidiary relies on careful evaluation, not luck or good fortune. According to Myriam Le Cannellier, Executive Director of DSML Executive Search (an Alexander Hughes company), “asking the right questions will help you identify top talent more efficiently and focus your efforts on the most suitable professionals.”
Asking the Right Questions, Avoiding Unnecessary Ones
Interview questions for US candidates must be carefully crafted to align both parties under the same values, work methods, and expectations.
Below are key questions to ask while interviewing top C-Suite candidates to find a good fit for your rapidly expanding European business.
Questions You Should Ask Executive Candidates
The following questions can help you identify the most suitable candidate for your cross-cultural business.
For more questions to consider asking C-Suite candidates, refer to our resource on asking questions during final interviews.
1. “Which of our company values do you align with the most?”
For a candidate to answer this question correctly, they must have researched your business and mission. Their answer will also reveal a piece of their worldview, particularly how they see your business and view their work in a greater context.
“I highly recommend interviewing for this question with more than one person, even if you only have a handful of stakeholders on your team,” Myriam says. “Performing executive recruitment with multiple people can help you avoid costly hiring mistakes and balance out the interview process.”
2. “How would you handle a project like this?”
Many recruitment processes work well with short-form presentations or projects, which allow you to evaluate the practical skills of a candidate. If this isn’t possible, a verbal walkthrough could be a viable option. This will help you make sense of the candidate’s mental workflow and better understand if they’re a match for your organization.
Here are some test ideas and questions to consider:
- Writing emails: How well can the candidate craft messages to stakeholders (possibly in more than one language)?
- Project management: How does the candidate structure their workflows, daily tasks, and ongoing assignments?
- Verbal reasoning and critical thinking: How would you address a member of your sales team who is artificially inflating their sales numbers?
3. “What are your behavioral traits?”
One of the biggest pieces of cross-cultural recruitment is identifying key behavioral traits that either benefit or detract from the organization. Even if the candidate is unfamiliar with European culture, they may share certain behaviors, characteristics, and thought processes that lend themselves well to your business’s unique vision.
“At Alexander Hughes, we recommend the use of our CLIENT-Fit assessment, managed by our Human Capital division,” Myriam says. “This tool can be used to complement the assessment of candidates and to compare finalists in a shortlist. By gaining more knowledge into the candidates’ character, it can also help with onboarding and later the management of the selected candidate.”
Questions You Should Not Ask Executive Candidates
You may wish to avoid asking these questions when looking for a top C-Suite candidate:
1. “What industry experience do you have?”
Focusing solely on industry experience could be a double-edged sword for your hiring process. If you lean into experience too much, you may find a thin pool of available candidates. If you lean too far away, you may not find a candidate who meets all your expectations.
“Even in US metros such as Chicago, New York, and Boston, looking for candidates with generalist backgrounds can be tricky,” Myriam says. “That’s why I believe European companies need to look beyond experience when expanding their operations to the US.”
Instead of asking vague questions such as “explain your industry experience,” it may be wise to ask very specific questions. This could be about their vision surrounding the state of their industry or practical experience through examples. For example, you may wish to ask your candidates about their work in the C-Suite or ask about memorable experiences (good or bad) at their previous jobs.
2. “Who are you, what are you, and what are your thoughts on X?”
Candidates in the US are unlikely to share their personal beliefs on sensitive topics such as religion, politics, or marriage. Such questions may also get you into legal trouble, particularly if the candidate ‘goes public’ with their interview questions.
A simpler and more ethical way to explore your candidates’ physical requirements and value systems is to ask job-related questions that point back to base expectations. For example:
- Instead of asking about cultural background: “Have you worked for European businesses expanding to the US before? What did you learn in that cross-cultural environment?”
- Instead of asking about nationality: “What languages do you read, speak, or write?”
- Instead of asking about disabilities: “Are you capable of performing the essential functions of this job with reasonable accommodations?”
- Instead of asking about location: “This job requires you to be on-site five days a week: is that okay for you?”
- Instead of asking about children or marital status: “Would you be willing to relocate if needed? And would you be able to travel 50% of your time in a consistent way?”
3. “How many years have you been an executive?”
Similar to industry experience, whittling down candidates based on their years of executive experience could potentially slow down your hiring process.
“Executive candidates who are enthusiastic about learning will always be preferable to candidates who are complacent,” Myriam says. “You should seek out humble, curious, and resilient candidates with the patience and opportunity to grow alongside your subsidiary.”
Forging Ahead with the Executive Recruitment Process
Hiring for the C-Suite in Boston and other competitive areas requires a robust knowledge of candidates, from their external experiences to their internal values and beliefs. Asking the right questions — and avoiding questions that may set you back — can provide a wealth of knowledge, narrow down candidates, and minimize the risks of making a bad hire.
That said, hiring an executive candidate requires more than asking good questions, and an executive search team can be a powerful ally. For the professional team behind DSML Executive Search, commitment and collaboration are key to identifying successful C-Suite candidates.
You may contact the professionals at DSML Executive Search, an Alexander Hughes company, to begin the recruitment process for your European subsidiary in the US.