Interview process

#watercooler #recruitment #career

The other week I made a post on LinkedIn. Here it is

I was absolutely shocked at the response. I mean, I've never had so many people interact with me on LinkedIn.

The code test in question was via one of those online platforms. It was pretty soulless. No interaction with the company who had asked me to do the test, in fact before being asked to do the test I'd had some generic emails from them.

This got me thinking about interview processes.

I've been around the block. I've had plenty of interviews. I've held plenty of interviews. I've hired and I've fired people.

But I've come to the conclusion that the hiring process I would favour in the future would be something like.

Initial step, ask the candidate to answer some open ended questions. These might be - Why you want to work for organisation X? What skills and experience do you have that will be useful at organisation X? These questions will enable the candidate to add some personality to the application, and it will also help understand how they communicate with the written word. Essential for remote roles. Notice, no CV, no resume. Just some questions to start off.
If the candidate doesn't make it through then tell them. Give them feedback. They've invested time, so be nice. If they do get through, then use it as an opportunity to open up a dialogue, ask some follow up questions, see if they have any questions.
This step would be an initial video / telephone conversation with the candidate. Just to get a sense of who they are, what they're looking for in a role and also give them an opportunity to ask any additional questions.
Ask them to do a paid days work. Yes PAID. Ask them to do a task, that is realistic to the organisation. Work with them, let them work with the team. And I'll repeat - Pay them. We're not looking for perfection, we're looking to see if the candidate is able to work within the organisation, and to get a sense of how the candidate works.
A Follow up discussion on the work they've produced.
IF all goes well, then they get to meet the wider team (if they've not done so before) and a bit more of a discussion on the role. If not then they get good solid feedback why they're not suitable.
If they've made it to here, they get offered the role.

I don't pretend this will work for all organisations. But I genuinely feel it would be a sensible approach for many organisations, and be a pleasant experience for the candidate.

Hiring takes time, it's an investment - and it should be seen as such.

Also, be transparent early on about the salary for the role, the benefit for the role - these are things people want to know early on - so they can make an informed decision before wasting peoples time.