By:Erica Woods || Related Tips:More > Professional Development Interviewing
ProblemWe're hearing it from Managers and Clients more often"I keep missing out on strong candidates I want to hire" or "I've had multiple people turn down an offer" or "I'm losing candidates throughout the interview process to other companies/jobs." The market is becoming increasingly tough when it comes to attracting, engaging, and hiring strong technology professionals! You need to ensure you know the major pitfalls when it comes to missing out on talented individuals you want to hire, while also creating a quality "interview experience" for candidates.
SolutionAwareness is essential to ensuring you have a quality application, interview and selection process that attracts, engages and then keeps job seekers engaged! We've outlined the major trends in mistakes we've seen clients make, which resulted in them missing the window on strong technology professionals.
1. Application, interview, and selection process is too lengthyIt's somewhat baffling when a Manager really wants to hire a candidate, but then is surprised when that individual is no longer available weeks later when they are finally able to extend an offer. Information Technology is an in-demand skill set across the world, especially with certain skill sets like full stack Developers. Therefore, it's only a very short matter of time until a strong technology candidate receives multiple job offers.
When you have a job opening you need to hire for, you should view "complete hiring activities" as part of your daily responsibilities matrix. This could include responsibilities such as:
Writing a quality job specification/description Reviewing resumes Scheduling interviews Completing candidate score cards and providing interview feedback Following up with HR/Recruiters on hiring Scheduling candidates you want to move forward with for facility tours and/or conversations with HR to discuss benefits Quick calls to candidates you want to move forward with to provide a status and timeline for next stepsThere's always going to be the issue of not enough time to write a new or thorough job descriptions or not enough time to interview, but if you prioritize writing job descriptions that include key information that could attract the right candidates, interviews and other tasks associated with hiring, it will save you time in the long run by not missing out on good people and having to start the process over!
We've seen some clients with 3-5 steps in their interview process, or more! On top of that, there are major scheduling delays, so it could take a week or more in between steps. If someone is actively looking, not working, has a huge network, etc., the chances are that you'll miss them do to a long process and/or extensive delays. Do your best to have a process that's manageable on both sides and one that's completed as quickly as possible with strong candidates.
2. Candidates aren't "sold" on the opportunity, environment, team, company, etc.How do you market your roles? The group and team this individual will join? The environment and culture of that environment? The specific goals and priorities they'll have? Working at the organization itself? The major benefits and perks of working there? The current and future technical landscape/roadmap?
If you want to attract quality talent to your job openings, you need to put on your "marketing hat!" Companies and Managers lose strong candidates to other offers which seem more appealing, whether that's a true or perceived reality. Don't allow yourself to miss out on a candidate you want because they don't understand the perks of working there, the growth potential that exists, the complete technical landscape, all the wonderful team members they'll work alongside, etc. For every job you're hiring for, take 2 minutes and jot down why you think an individual would get excited about it, and communicate that to the individuals who'll be recruiting for you.
3. Rigorous interviews or overall bad interview experienceI've lost count of how many quality candidates called after an interview to say "I was completely crushed right from the start with technical questions." While asking deep technical questions is necessary during the process, there are best practices and guidelines to consider so a candidate is prepared and still has an overall positive experience during the interview. First, try to invest the first few minutes of every interview in an approachable, positive and friendly light. You could achieve this by showing appreciation for their time, welcoming them to the interview, introducing yourself and where you fit in, making small talk, setting expectations, and/or learning about their motivators. Second, set expectations around the interview process and at which phase they'll be doing coding exercises/demos, panel interviews, or just have to answer a number of highly technical questions. Third, ask them questions about what they're concerned with, such as their career and technical interests/goals. Fourth, provide more insight into the major priorities and aspects of the role.
4. "Over-Interviewed" for roleIt's surprising how the line and level of questioning often times doesn't align with the level of the role. Especially with newer interviewers, they need to be reminded to ask questions for that level. For example, is it relevant and effective to ask extremely complex custom coding questions for an individual who'd be in a mid-level production support role? What's the benefit of asking design and architecture questions for a more junior level individual who's recently graduated college? For each new position you're hiring for, frame your questions accordingly, and provide guidance around appropriate and effective interview questions/scenarios to other team members who will be involved in the interviewing process.
5. Unrealistic expectationsAs a Manager, seek guidance on supply vs. demand related to the talent pool of the skill set you're hiring for. Don't fall into the situation where your "wish list of requirements" doesn't exist in one person, or will only generate a candidate pool with a market rate far above what you're able to pay. Also, factor in the "skill vs. will" concept. What's better, to identify a candidate with 80% of the technical skills you're looking for a strong will to learn, or someone with 100% of the technical skills who doesn't have strong initiative and a desire to learn new skills/approaches? I think the majority of hiring professional would take the former in a heartbeat!
6. Inaccurate or incomplete Job DetailsIssues around quality job descriptions are one of the most apparent hiring concerns. Without an accurate job description that does an adequate enough job of highlighting key details job seekers are interested in, and distinguishing between true requirements and the "nice to haves," how are the individuals working to identify candidates for you going to quickly find the top tier of talent out there?
We often hear candidates mention that they went to an interview and were asked about technologies / duties that weren't specified on the original job description. Or we hear from candidates that the interview went great, but it's for a job completely different than what they thought they were interviewing for! Unfortunately, this is a waste of everyone's time. Having a clear foundation of what your opening entails, and what a candidate's day to day responsibilities will be, is essential to every job description. Spend the time up front to write strong job descript
