The Staple Ingredients to Your Hire Search
You need skilled Art Directors to join your creative team – perhaps to onboard permanently, or to oversee a project. Title aside, do you know who it is you’re really looking for?
Your hiring strategy must begin with knowing what skills you must seek, attract, and identify in your candidates to make a strong hire. Getting it wrong could be costly. A Harvard Business Review discovered 80% of employee turnover is due to bad hiring decisions.
Bringing the wrong person onboard can:
- Delay company goals
- Produce poor-quality work
- Damage team dynamics and engagement
- Increase staff attrition
Here are the skills you should base your hiring strategy on for Art Directors.
Technical Ability
The project and scope of your Art Director’s role will define the technical skills required, but you must ensure this is clearly set out in the job description. Outline essential qualifications, education, and technical ability that are essential to hit the ground running.
Creativity
Translating the ‘language’ of the project requires heaps of imagination and creativity for high-end results to be executed and envisioned across a team.
Vision
Certain individuals can broaden their thinking to extend and align with someone else’s. Strategic thinking based on the industry, project, client, and company allows Art Directors to create a trending picture – but bigger.
Leadership
Effective leadership is different to management. Though your Art Director will be managing quality and performance across the team, they must also support and encourage, engage, and onboard each team member to produce strong results from a productive and collaborative team.
Communication
Art Directors must understand client needs, and this can only be achieved with advanced communication skills to interpret and present them to a team. The ability to listen is equally crucial.
Coordination, Planning, and Time Management
Involved heavily throughout the project and with numerous departments and skillsets, an Art Director must exhibit exceptional coordination and organizational skills for a streamlined process. Good time management skills for creative jobs are essential to keep work on track.
Ability to Cope with Pressure
You’ll often see this skill on resumes, yet many do not truly cope well with pressure. The ability to handle pressure and manage stress must be emphasized to ensure errors aren’t concealed, quality is maintained, and burnout is eliminated.
Attention to Detail
The quality of art is in the detail. Though the responsibility of the role is vast, details must still be in focus too.
Diverse Viewpoint
Listening is a key attribute, and diversity must be encouraged. Criticism must also be received constructively. Ask about their weaknesses or past failures, and assess how they respond.
Flexible
Some Art Directors will be required at short notice, per project, or for longer hours. Flexibility to adjust to workflow is essential.
Focused
With multiple targets, teams, and deadlines to oversee, the ability to focus and concentrate on the task in hand is crucial to monitor progress and deliver exceptional results.
3 Best-Performing Skills for Art Directors
You want your business to excel and leave competitors behind. Onboard an Art Director with these booster skills:
Motivating and Inspiring
Imagine the difference it would make to your business to have an Art Director who can engage with both clients and teams. With a strong understanding of client needs, they can inspire imaginative creativity to translate criteria into something bigger.
Your team will be fully engaged, with the space to brainstorm, collaborate, and deliver way beyond the expectations of the company and your clients. Great leadership stems from a motivational and inspiring leader who oozes optimism and gets creative juices flowing.
Company Advocates
Your strongest candidate gets you. As a company. They see your vision and mission, and while they strive for success and a creative kick that accelerates business growth, they also align with your brand – and sell it.
Adaptable
Client needs and demands change. Skills required within the team must develop. Software and technical prowess continue to evolve to feed the innovation we all crave. You need an Art Director who doesn’t fear change, but thrives on it, providing encouragement and guidance across the team.
Find the Skills You Need in Your Art Directors and Company Future
Now you know who it is you’re looking for, it’s time to go out and find them. You’re off to a great start, yet hiring can be an odyssey in today’s creative tech shortage. Here at TECHEAD, we have advanced experience in providing the creative staffing solutions bespoke to your business needs. Contact TECHEAD today and discover the skilled Art Directors waiting for an opportunity with you.