Having a qualitative process must be priority number one, but keeping your Hiring Process short and sweet is key as well. In this white paper, we explain in detail how you can gain a competitive edge in the war-for-it-talent.
But there are a few simple steps you can already implement to improve your Hiring Process as well:
- Inform the HR department to the fullest
- Keep the number of interviews to a minimum
- Make speed & flexibility one of your priorities
Informing the HR department through the hiring process
You’re an IT Manager and need a new Infrastructure resource. From your position, you perfectly know what competencies a Support Engineer, System Engineer or Network Engineer needs. Your HR Department, however, might not have the same technical understanding.
This means it is important to be as complete as possible when you inform your HR Department.
Give them the ammunition they need to persuade your new Infrastructure Engineer.
Give them:
- An overview of your department’s USPs
- An overview of IT projects that are on the agenda
- An overview of the competencies that are in the IT Team today
- An overview of the growth possibilities within the team
- A clear explanation of the Technical must-haves & nice-to-haves
- An overview of technical competencies that are similar to the must-haves & nice-to-haves. (Somebody who has 5y experience with Juniper equipment can operate in your Cisco-environment as well, don’t you think?)
Download here our easy-to-use “Position Request Template” to inform your HR department of an open vacancy within your department.
Interview set-up within IT
Making sure that all stakeholders are on the same page is important when selecting your next candidate. Make interview blocks however where more than one stakeholder is involved.
For example: Do you want to organize a “pre-selection” by HR before you meet the candidate as an IT Hiring Manager? Sure, but why organize a separate interview? If you’ve done Step 1 thoroughly (informing your HR department), they should already have a very clear understanding of the competencies that are required. They can filter this through a first phone check. When the first phone interview is positive, you can organize an interview where both you and your HR colleague are present. You can check for technical skills and team fit. Your HR colleague can check for matching company values & overall cultural fit.
Result?
If calendars sync, you did your hiring in 2 weeks. Week 1 was the interview & Week 2 was the salary proposal.
Our interview process?
STEP 1: Phone Interview (30−45 minutes): we discuss the main drivers (job search driver, salary expectations, relevant work experience, language skills, other opportunities, …)
STEP 2: Face-to-Face Interview: in-depth CV discussion, short & long-term career goals, cultural fit, technical competencies, …
Make speed and flexibility one of your priorities
You’ve informed HR thoroughly about the position, and you’ve identified the number of interviews you should organize in the process. How do you proceed? Speed is tricky. You can predefine it in some ways, but in other ways, it’ll be defined by the candidate as well.
That’s where flexibility & good qualification comes into the picture. First of all, in the current market when you are looking for an IT professional, clearing your schedule for interviews should be your main priority. If it isn’t a major, business-threatening subject on your calendar, then you should clear it for the interview with a candidate. HR is going to love you for this one.
Second of all, it’s important that from the first contact with your candidate, you know whether or not the candidate has other opportunities. The answer to this one will define the speed & flexibility of your hiring process as well.
Just think: Do you really need to involve all those different stakeholders in your hiring journey? Is every step in your process as important as you think?
Move fast & adjust to the rhythm of your candidate. Above all, inform them about all the steps within the process. By informing them about these steps beforehand, they can evaluate whether or not they want to take the time to go through every step.
Want to know whether or not your Hiring Process is up-to-date?
Schedule a free 20 min. call with one of our colleagues.