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Hobson Associates: Giving Back to Local Communities This Holiday Season

As one of the nation’s leading executive recruiting firms, Hobson Associates is built on the values of connection and care. These principles don’t just guide our work—they shape our commitment to giving back to the communities we serve.

Supporting Connecticut Foodshare
This Thanksgiving, our team stepped up to make a difference. Larry Botelle, Senior Partner on our Tech team, led a successful initiative to support Connecticut Foodshare. Joined by Medical Device Senior Associate Mike McCaffrey, they organized efforts to collect turkeys, hams, and monetary donations, ensuring families in need could enjoy a holiday meal.

The Digital Health Renaissance: Funding Resurgence in 2024

By Kevin M. Carroccia - Practice Manager Healthcare Technology

In the world of digital health, the narrative often swings like a pendulum—from meteoric funding highs to cautious recalibrations. But as we dive deeper into 2024, it’s clear the sector is experiencing a renaissance. After a sobering 2022 and a recalibrated 2023, U.S.-based digital health companies are roaring back with innovation and investor enthusiasm. Year-to-date, the sector has raised $12.4 billion across 719 deals, signaling not just resilience but a renewed appetite for transformative solutions in healthcare.

How to Spot a Bad Hire - and How to Fix It: A Guide for Hiring Managers and C-Level Executives

In the fast-paced world of business, making the right hiring decisions is crucial for the success of any organization. However, even the most experienced hiring managers and C-level executives may encounter situations where a hire doesn't meet expectations. Recognizing a hiring mishap early on and taking corrective action is vital to maintaining a high-performing team and fostering a positive workplace culture. In this guide, we'll explore how to spot a bad hire and offer strategies to rectify the situation effectively.

To Retain or Not to Retain?

That is the question … You are a hiring authority and are considering enlisting the help of an Executive Search firm to assist with a key hire. So, what do you do next? Do you work on a retained basis, contingent, or a mix of the two?  

We're here to help.

The real answer is that there is a time and a place for each when retaining a headhunter or working on a contingent model. There are benefits and detractors, depending on your situation:

Recruiter Reaches out to You-Now What?

Most of the time during your job search, you’re the one who is responsible for making all the first moves in the process. It’s up to you to write a stand-out resume, find an opportunity that’s right for you, apply to the position(s) and really market yourself to the company/hiring manager. But if you’ve got an impressive enough background or a mastery of hard-to-find skills, chances are that recruiters will be the ones reaching out to you.

So, what should you do when a recruiter contacts you? Here’s what Glassdoor had to say about it:

The Virtual Interview: What Hiring Managers Want to Hear from Candidates

Virtual Interviews have become more commonplace than ever during the early stages of the interview and hiring process. This is a way to efficiently screen through large candidate pools, as well as minimize interview expenses for out-of-town candidates. For some remote positions, an online or phone interview may be the only method.

Below are some ways candidates can ace their next telephone interview, according to Glassdoor:

Level Up Your Hiring in the New Year

Do new year resolutions work? That’s debatable. Yet admit it or not, everyone has some version of one: whether it is to get healthy, happy, or wealthy. Or just small changes.

On a business level- expanding your team, growing revenue, or just finding that “perfect” hire that has evaded you in 2023, the new calendar year is the time to do it.

FACT: January and February have been deemed the best time of the year to hire new staff and expand your company so it can thrive in the new year. “Hiring managers and leaders have a better idea of what they need and whether they can afford to hire new team members, which leads career advisors to consider these the top months for hiring.”

Here are 6 hiring resolutions you can achieve to level up 2024!

All You Need to Know About Hiring Seasonal Employees

Any season may be the season of your discontent -- if you don’t take care to source, hire and onboard seasonal workers who represent the best that your business has to offer.

Many pitfalls plague employers that must supplement their full-time staff for the summer, for tax season, or for any other portion of the year when business peaks. Most of these troubles stem from a failure of the company’s leadership to devote energy and resources to assembling an optimal seasonal workforce.

Are you willing to take a fresh look at your seasonal operations to see where you might improve your staffing? Consider these 10 approaches to fielding workers when the annual rush is on.

Why Soft Skills Are So Important

89% of recruiters say bad hires typically lack soft skills (LinkedIn, 2019)

What exactly are soft skills and how important are they? According to The Balance Careers:

“Soft skills relate to how you work. Soft skills include interpersonal (people) skills, communication skills, listening skills, time management, and empathy, among others. They are among the top skills employers seek in the candidates they hire, because soft skills are important for just about every job.>

Hiring managers typically look for job candidates with soft skills because they make someone more successful in the workplace. Someone can be excellent with technical, job-specific skills, but if they can't manage their time or work within a team, they may not be successful in the workplace.”

How To "Kill It" at Your Next Job Interview

Lately I have dealt with some good candidates who end up interviewing badly. What gives? They have the smarts, education, technical/sales knowledge, and most importantly, the experience. Yet, they fail to connect with the hiring manager or convince the company that they should be their next hire. This can happen for a few reasons:

• Sometimes the person hasn’t interviewed in several years, and their interview style is a bit lackluster.
• In other cases, which I see more in junior people, the candidate is just plain nervous. (Nerves are totally normal because it shows that the person cares and is excited about the job opportunity.)

The hard truth is that not everyone who wants the job will get the job ... Here are some basic pointers for these two types of people I mentioned, or anyone really, so you can present your best self and land the job you’re truly excited for….