Nowadays, more and more candidates who apply for Household Staff jobs are invited for an initial video interview prior to a face to face meeting with their potential employer.
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It makes sense because interviews via Skype, Whatsapp, Facetime, etc save a lot of time for both an employer and a candidate, and help avoid unnecessary travel expenses, especially if the candidate is abroad.
That is why Morgan & Mallet International decided to provide some tips on how to prepare yourself for a successful video interview.

• Video setting up. An integral part of a video interview is the quality of the sound, video and internet connection. Make sure that your interlocutor will hear and see you well. It is also very important to set up your camera at eye-level so that you are looking directly into the camera in order to make a proper eye contact.

 

• Choosing the location make sure that you have selected some quiet place with good lighting and presentable or neutral background. We would not recommend having an interview in a café, park, your car or while walking as you or your interviewer may be distracted by the background noise or your background in general, and finally it may leave a negative impression.

 

• Your outfit. Even though you are at home where you are used to wearing casual clothes, it is essential to look smart and presentable for a video interview, so preferably wear a shirt or a suit. You have to take video interviews as seriously as interviews in an office. Make sure that you have your CV in front of you and you are ready to follow it with the interviewer. It may demonstrate that you are an organised person.

Those are some basic things that you can do in order to make a good impression on your potential employer.

Consider a video interview as a privilege of technological progress that was made to save your time, especially if you are looking for a job in other countries.

When candidates are invited for an interview, they try to prepare themselves for it as thoroughly as possible.

​First of all, they try to find useful tips on the Internet like what kind of questions to expect and how to answer properly.

But the thing is that a professional recruiter will always have an individual approach to each interview because all the interviews as well as candidates and their experiences are different, each position (especially in a private household sector) is different.

In this article we would like to provide some information on how normally Morgan & Mallet International conducts interviews with candidates, what information we pay attention to and how we decide if the interview is successful.

Morgan & Mallet International’s main goals are to find a suitable candidate, to save the time of our clients while looking for household staff, and to make the recruitment process carefree for them, that is why our interviews normally last for one hour in order to understand if the candidate will be suitable for a particular position.

In the example of a Chauffeur's vacancy, we will try to explain the logic of our interviews and what we expect to hear from a candidate. Our consultants pay special attention to candidate’s skills during the interview.

• Interviewing chauffeurs, we will check if they are able to estimate the approximate travel time. This skill is important because any busy client would not like to be late for a meeting or to come too early for an appointment and waste time in a car or reception area waiting for the arranged time. 

 

• Some clients that have just moved to a new city or are just visiting may ask to recommend luxury restaurants or clubs in the central part of the city. That is why our consultants always ask to name several good restaurants and their location in order to see how familiar with the area the candidate is.  

 

• All our clients have luxury cars or supercars in their fleet. That is why we will definitely ask a chauffeur how they normally take care of luxury cars for example if they will be willing to wash the car by themselves. For some clients such a thing is important in terms of safety, as they do not want anyone to have access to their private car.

 

• Recruiting for a family with children, we will check if a candidate is child-friendly, what normally they need to have in a car while driving children and what rules should be followed.

 

• Our consultants also check the knowledge of parking rules as a good chauffeur will always plan the route so they are parked on the right side of a pavement and it is convenient for the client to get out of the car.

 

• We will also provide imaginary stressful situations in order to check how the candidate will act, and a lot more.

After the candidate has passed this part of the interview successfully, we will discuss their experience working for private families or clients.
Our consultants will ask the reasons why the candidate left the previous positions and in what environment he/she worked. This part of the interview will help to understand if the candidate will be able to stay in a particular position long.

The consultants of Morgan & Mallet International always have an individual approach to each request that we receive from our clients.
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In case you are looking for household personnel and want to make sure that you will not waste your time reviewing dozens of resumes of unsuitable candidates, please feel free to contact our agency.
​We will be happy to do that job for you. 

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Before starting the recruitment process, our consultants always have a fruitful conversation with the client, as it is important to understand the needs and expectations (and sometimes negotiate some points of the position) or give a piece of advice to the client.
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One of the most essential factors for initiating the search is to determine the salary for the right candidate.

Conducting around a hundred interviews per month with candidates from all over the world, our consultants can recommend the best range of salaries taking into consideration candidates’ expectations, marked rate, certainly client’s budget and much more.

Here are some factors that should be considered while determining the salary :

• Market range is the basis for setting salary for a candidate. It is advisable to keep in mind that apart from “market” there are other factors that can affect the income of the candidate and we are going to speak about them further.

• Duties. It goes without saying that each position depending on a household has its own specifics in terms of duties. It is a common practice that for example hiring a Butler, clients usually expect them to perform some House manager jobs, or hiring a Housekeeper cooking or babysitting is required. In that case, the market salary for average Butler jobs or Housekeeper jobs may not be enough. Our candidates are always flexible in terms of duties and willing to utilise all their skills fully but a good and multitasking employee should be rewarded and valued properly.

• Schedule. We would also recommend taking into consideration the working schedule, as for example a candidate who used to work 9 hours per day will expect a higher salary while working 12 hours per day or 6 days per week. 

• Experience. It is an obvious fact is that the salary of a candidate with 10 years of work experience in private families will be different than the salary of a candidate with 3 years’ experience. If a client is willing to hire a person with many years of experience working for different clients and in different households, our consultants would recommend adding some extra amount to the initial market salary.

• Skills. Here we are not talking about such skills as problem solving, communication or any other general skills that cannot be checked without long-term cooperation with the candidate. We are rather talking about such skills as knowledge of other languages, cooking, staff management, facility management and even driving. We also have to take into consideration trainings that the candidate has completed, as the investment into professional development and additional knowledge should be rewarded. 

• Location. Finally, an insignificant detail such as location plays its role in determining the salary too. For instance, not all candidates are used to living in isolated areas or ready to leave their country that is why if a client wants a good and professional candidate to stay in a position for a long time or relocate to distant countries they will have to offer a competitive salary.

Why should you work with Morgan & Mallet International ?

First of all, our main goal is to find the right and loyal candidate for each client.
Having around 50 000 candidates registered with us, our consultants always have suitable candidates in mind after a conversation with our clients.

And the last but not the least, Morgan & Mallet International always respects our clients’ needs and wishes. 

If you are still looking for the right recruitment agency then please do not hesitate to contact any of our offices worldwide.  

We are what you are looking for.