VIRTUAL HIRING PART 2– HOW TO ATTRACT, ENGAGE AND SECURE THE BEST CANDIDATES REMOTELY

In my blog last week I looked at how companies (both those currently hiring and those not) should be advertising and attracting tech talent in the current crisis. Here, I explore how you can ensure that you’re hiring the best talent remotely. 

You will all have your own interview process whilst we are working from home, however the key element is that if you are conducting interviews, they should be with the aim of offering a role and onboarding a candidate within a reasonable timescale rather than just a way of biding time before you can meet the candidate in person to make an offer. Let’s get started:

Designing the process

It’s more important than ever to ensure that the people you hire are capable, competent and can hit the ground running. It’s therefore essential to incorporate varied assessment into your process. As an example process you may want to consider:

Step 1 – A video call to introduce the role and to carry out a structured interview in addition to getting a feel for person fit. In normal circumstances, if you expect to receive a high volume of applicants it may be worth adding in a technical assessment or pre-recorded video as a stage one to filter candidates out. However, given that job security is of paramount importance to candidates at the moment, a more engaging and personal introduction is what I would opt for.

Step 2 – Assessment. You may not currently use assessments in your process, however I would recommend asking candidates to complete technical, cognitive or psychometric tests as a second stage. This will give you the confidence to make the right hire when it comes to offer stage, rather than simply relying on ‘gut-feel’ (although you should likewise be wary of relying overly on assessments).

Step 3 – Final video interview. This is where I would introduce additional colleagues to review the candidate. I would also highly recommend carrying out a work sample assessment to determine how the candidate would manage typical on-the-job challenges and problems.

Above all, ensure that the process is reasonable and appropriate for the level and skillset of candidate you are looking to attract. It’s also important to be upfront about the process to manage expectations and keep candidates bought-in. An unnecessarily long selection process could put off the best candidates or lead to dropout where there’s no transparency about the process, but likewise you need to ensure that you are testing the candidates in a way that will give you the best results. 

Video Interviewing

It sounds basic, but when conducting a video interview, the same rules apply as if you were in person. However, as I’m sure we have all experienced, video interviewing can be awkward and uncomfortable for those involved. If you are hoping to continue hiring, these barriers must be overcome if an interview is to be successful. Here are some key considerations for undertaking video interviews:

Prepare the candidate - Make sure the candidate is at ease with the process that is about to take place. Ensure sure that they have all of the access details or software required to conduct the interview and advise the interviewee to sign on to the software several days prior to the interview to check that it works. If you plan to use a particular tool with regularity, prepare a tip sheet to give to your interviewees with some answers to commonly asked questions.

Expect Delays - There is commonly at least a slight delay when using video conferencing. Allow for this by allowing a long pause between the interviewee’s answer to a question and the start of your next question to ensure that you don’t speak over them.

Check your Surroundings - When you carry out a video interview, the attention of the candidate is concentrated into a relatively small space and the smallest details stand out more clearly. Make sure desks are clean, with no confidential paperwork on view. Even if your space is clean and tidy, having too much in the background could be a real distraction. Minimise distractions and you will capture the candidate’s attention far more effectively.

No Interruptions - Our final tip is ensuring that there will be no interruptions. Obviously being interrupted during any kind of interview is less than ideal, and it can’t always be guaranteed at home, especially if there are children running around etc. But treat a video interview with the same professionalism that you would a normal interview. Turn off your mobile and emails too, as it can be just too tempting to check them instead of focussing on the candidate. 

Selling Yourself

It is imperative in candidate-short markets where job security is the ultimate priority to ensure that throughout the interview you sell the benefits of working for your organisation whilst remaining authentic.

Before closing an interview you have an opportunity to re-clarify what is expected in the role you are recruiting for in addition to selling the benefits of this position. It is crucial to remember that the candidate is also interviewing you as their potential future manager and will want confidence that you are going to help develop their career.

If you are still hiring during the crisis one of the key selling points would be that you have the ability to onboard candidates remotely and are still able to hire.

Through providing a positive experience, even candidates who aren’t successful will be telling their networks what a great company you would be to work for.

When selling your role to a candidate, consider the key elements of what you offer as an organisation and as an employer.

We recently released our whitepaper ‘What Tech Candidates Want’ to cover this exact area, click here to download a copy of the research.

Diversity and inclusion

Inclusive and diverse organisations innovate, outgrow and outperform less diverse and inclusive competitors. If you are active in hiring new staff for your organisation, you have your part to play in ensuring you are as inclusive as possible when interviewing.

Always complete your scoring immediately after the interview, review notes immediately and add to them if necessary while thoughts are still fresh in your mind.

When trying to build a friendly rapport during an interview, it can be easy to innocently stray into ‘grey’ areas which may seem harmless but are less than persuasive when offering an inclusive environment. Please be mindful of the way you word your questions.

Another crucial element to be aware of is Unconscious Bias. Unconscious bias affects us all, and happens when our brain makes quick judgements and assessments of people and situations, influences by our background, cultural environment and personal circumstances. Recognising your unconscious biases, and counteracting them, will help ensure that your decisions are accurate and fair.

Ultimately, through preparing for interviews you will be well set-up to avoid unconscious bias in having set questions and marking criteria, using offline technical and other assessments and multiple interviewers. However it is important to be aware of unconscious bias and how it can creep in when interviewing.

To find out more around building an inclusive recruitment process, click here for our whitepaper.

If you still haven’t found your feet with virtual interviewing or any element of remote hiring, don’t worry! This is a steep learning curve for all of us and you’re probably doing better than you think. But, if you would like any additional help or advice on any element of your remote recruitment, please get in touch with me – I’d be more than happy to help. You can watch a full copy of the webinar here.