Anatomy of a Successful Hiring Process
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Hiring Process meets Candidate Journey
A well-designed recruitment process will help ensure that the right professionals are selected for your organisation. To start, it is important to understand the Candidate Journey. The Hiring Process meets the Candidate Journey about halfway. Our colleagues at Paltron would say that the last 4 steps of the Candidate Journey follow: selection, hiring, onboarding and optimisation.
The first step should be to check whether the requirements of all parties (company, HR and candidate) are met. So to speak, the foundation in the hiring process.
Company: Will the new recruit meet all the professional criteria, make a sustainable contribution to solving business-related problems and deliver the required added value?
HR department: Does the new recruit fit in with the corporate culture and the cultural fit?
Candidate: Is the job offered in line with my expectations, is there a corresponding career perspective / further training measures and are the general conditions right?
Afterwards, it's time to get down to business. A speedy recruitment process signals both professionalism and that the company knows exactly what it wants. In order to find out the right qualifications, the specialist department comes into play. This means that someone from the HR department is only there as a supplement.
Our experience at alphacoders shows that the more technical the position, the more candidates want to have their technical questions answered in the first interview: Which technologies are currently used and will be implemented in the future? How do the teams make decisions and what development methodology is used? Answering these questions can help attract top talent to your organisation. On the other hand, if an organisation does not have the right answers here, the hiring process may end right there. We recommend that you work as a duo at this point, or train less tech-savvy interviewers accordingly.
Generally, a short hiring process is beneficial for all parties involved. However, several rounds of interviews allow the skills and personality of the candidate to be assessed from different perspectives. This can also be solved with interviews in which several stakeholders of an organisation are represented at the same time. For example, as already mentioned, the first interview is with one person each from the department and the HR department. In another round of interviews, employees can be included. This ensures that the new employee is a good fit for the team.
Steps in the Hiring Process
These 2 interview rounds are also our recommendation and rule of thumb for the number of rounds in the recruitment process. In our experience, this scenario is repeatedly a success. Of course, for highly technical positions or management this can vary, but try to keep it as compact as possible. As you know, time is money and speed is a sign of professionalism. And, to be honest, it's more fun for you.
Do your homework
The candidates (hopefully) come fully prepared, and they expect the same from you as an organisation. Do not ask questions that could have been answered in advance through research. In the field of software development, for example, you can check the GitHub profile for activity and repositories. Generally, many people also have personal homepages, portfolios or job-relevant profiles on social media. On Xing and LinkedIn, the previous position with the associated tasks is usually given in detail, so often you don't have to spend a lot of time researching. So do your homework. The shortage of qualified professionals is real - especially in IT.
And last but not least: Appreciation
If there is one highly underrated thing that is so incredibly effective for the hiring process as well as the candidate journey, it is this: appreciation.
We often forget that people always work with people and not for a system or some other abstract construct. The workforce is what makes a company and is solely responsible for its success. Appreciation can become the all-important factor in the recruitment process. When potential new colleagues are treated with respect and appreciation during the hiring process, they are more likely to feel valued as individuals, leading to higher job satisfaction over time. Appreciation also contributes to a positive candidate experience, allowing potential candidates to better understand what it would be like to work for your company. Last but not least, this respect also helps to retain talent - otherwise there is a likelihood that they may otherwise look for another job or apply to the competition. So take the time to show appreciation to ensure you create a positive candidate experience that sets your company apart from the competition.
The Employee Journey is already waiting
The previous mission was a complete success and the candidate is starting in our company. And already the next question comes up: How do I retain my employees in the company in the long term? The foundation is laid by a thorough onboarding that answers all the newcomers' questions. Here, corporate values, guidelines and processes are promoted and an introduction to the work processes follows. We want our new employees to feel at home, so we help them adjust to their new working environment. That's right, appreciation helps immensely, and not only in onboarding.
Regarding long-term retention, we at alphacoders have written a white paper "Retention", for which and other questions you are welcome to contact Simon Stock (simon@alphacoders.de)! We look forward to the exchange!
