How to recruit talent for a company - structuring the process (Part 2/3)

As promised, here comes the second part of a series of articles on recruitment. In the previous one, I talked about different ways of finding candidates. 

In case you missed it here is the link to the first part here

In this article, I want to focus more on how the process of hiring could be structured.

Simplicity is the key

Let’s assume that you got a CV from any of the sourcing channels we mentioned in the past article and you are convinced you have a candidate worth-interviewing. 

Now it’s time for the interview! But wait a second, how do you go about it? How many interviews do we do? 1, 3, 7? What is the theme of those interviews?

Keep in mind that these suggestions apply mostly for small and mid size companies (up to 150-250 employees). Bigger corporations have more resources and they can spend more time assessing candidates - the reality of a startup is much different.  

If I am known for something, besides my strong character, it is because my teams achieve quite decent results with very simple approaches. Indeed, I am a big fan of KISS (Keep It “Super” Simple).

In this case, the simplicity of the process remains in 3 easy steps:

• Soft skills interview (~45 min)
• Technical and practical interview (~60-90 min)
• Interview with stakeholders (~45-60 min)

Let’s break them down, shall we?

1. Soft skills interview

When hiring a tech/product/ops member, a lot of emphasis is put on the technical abilities of the candidate but their soft skills are not less important. You need to create a comfortable environment for the candidate and structure a conversation (not a questionnaire) that will help you to understand the communication skills, career goals, critical and creative thinking, curiosity, time management and the work ethic of the candidate. 

Equally important is preparing a good exposition of the company: history, current status, vision and mission,  team structure, role and how a day-to-day looks like for the candidate to have a real picture.

The essential part of this interview is to assess that the candidate is a good fit for the company but even more important that your company is a good fit for the candidate!

2. Technical and practical interview

For technical and practical interviews (they can be separate or included in the larger interview), focus on questions that will help you assess the technical knowledge, skills and abilities required for the job. 

This article doesn’t intend to develop how to structure the technical/practical knowledge of a candidate since there is enough material to write a book about it. Additionally this topic is very controversial since every team has their own way to structure technical interviews based on past experiences and other recommendations.

The only important advice is to adjust the technical questions to the role you are trying to fill, no more no less. As my friend Zhorzh says:

Make sure that you don’t search for an astronaut to build a Frontend App. 

3. Interview with stakeholders

Once the main interviews are finished and it’s quite clear that the candidate is a finalist, I believe it’s important to engage other team members and stakeholders to have a 360degree picture of the candidate. 

Remember on a job interview the candidate is also evaluating us, therefore it is also important for the candidate to meet other employees that he/she will interact with on a regular basis to have a more global picture on how the new environment is. 

Additionally, I recommend the participation of a C-level representative on table to provide additional details and be able to answer questions from first hand.

What the process is not

Recruitment is not a unidirectional process. This is an arrangement between two equal parties. Information should be exchanged from both sides and one side is not more important than the other one. 

Recruitment is not the art of selling/tricking any side. A company that oversells their reality will generate higher expectations than the actual. These unmet expectations will turn into employee’s frustration and an early departure of the new employee, and you will need to start the process again. It is OK to sell the vision of the company but be realistic with the current stage of the company. You will find candidates who are OK joining a company that is not its best shape but they are willing to contribute with their effort to help with your mission.

Recruitment is not a discrediting game. Unfortunately, and I experienced this several times in my life,  there are recruitment processes built to discredit the candidate. These processes gravitate around the idea to find reasons why this candidate is not good for the position. Personally I think it should be the other way, you should consider how this candidate can improve your company to be a bit better and how you can help the candidate to reach the next level.

Recruitment is the platform where two parties exchange equally information to learn and discover their past and assess if they can build a future together. 

Consider that even when the outcome of the recruitment is not successful it does not mean it was a waste of time. You might have won a customer or perhaps a recommendation among the candidate’s network or perhaps today is a "no" that in few months can turn into a "yes".

Thank you so much for reading the second part of this article and stay tuned for the third and final part.