Recruitment of Web designers Cambridge

Well what can I say about my recent efforts related to the recruitment of Web designers for Cambridge area. If truth be told I have struggled with recruitment of the last year or so, it must be my fault or it’s the way I was trained! My ethics are simple if doing a task be prepared & deliver with excellence!
Stage one of the Interview process , CV reviews they all look good, use the right language so what so I discount the CV’s that do not provide examples of their work. Its the first thing I look for, then I read the CV!
The majority of my clients are commercial business that sells to both domestic and commercial clients across Cambridgeshire & surrounding counties. So I have to understand weather this particular designer is a commercial designer of an arty arty designer who walks around in slippers talking nonsense over a skinny latte! I was particulary looking for web designers who had knowledge of WordPress websites , Magento / E – commerce websites , Jquerry & a basic knowledge of SEO. Once I had found potential candidates I contacted them and asked them to complete a home page & sent them a detailed brief.
That’s when you see what there really capable of, you will be amazed how many people think there web designers when actually there people whom work part of a team and there given certain parts of a site to complete, which always amazes me. My belief is simple the person who is building that site needs to control of development , design and client contact. Anyway back to my point you really see how good these people are who want 25k a year for a web design job in Cambridge . The home pages were close to appalling, poor design, not finished , past set deadlines and they do not validate.
So once I went through 16 home pages with an open mind I picked 6 that scored a 5 – 7 out of 10 in all areas. So I commenced the interviews process. So for the interview I wanted to test their commercial understanding along with the ability to self critic and improve along with the process that put in place before commencing a project. 2 out of the 6 passed, 2 did not even show up prepared so those interviews did not last two long!!! 2 were ok and if I did not see the other 2 they would have been in with a chance because they had potential & there motivated to learn!
So 2 left , the best designs , the best process and one had a great attitude and a fantastic smile ! I made my choice on the following, experiance, capability and attitude.
The person I finally hired, was not as advanced as the his rival , but his potential shown through , he showed improvement on all the projects he completed. Very prepared for the interview and could show me his progression in a very detailed manor. Of course it still a risk But i felt that he would not only fit in but would naturally progress with his own steam and want to get better day by day!
As I say I hope it works out and we are getting busy developing and designing websites in Cambridge!