Efficient and Effective Interview Process Management

The most important stage in any recruitment process; the interview stages.

From an overviewed stance, one of the most common areas we observe businesses fail to implement a competitive recruitment strategy is their interview process management. Recruiting into a highly candidate led market, such as Technology & IT (Software, Web, DevOps, Projects, Delivery, Creative, Engineering, Development, Testing, Support & more), it is essential you have a structured process to remain competitive and exciting for candidate. Due to the market demand for technical candidates being higher than the availability of technical talent, it has created a scenario in which candidates often have several businesses to choose from; directly resulting in the need for an efficient and effective interview process to remain at the forefront of any candidate’s mindset.

It has never been more imperative you get your process right. Often, when we work with businesses who are potentially struggling to find their ideal candidate, the processes is a considerable factor to their struggles... With this in mind, we have highlighted several key pointers of differentiation where you can fully implement an effective and efficient recruitment process.

Interview Methods

The year is 2020, the world has shifted into a pandemic and the typical interview process has changed for good. Previously, the expectation and general standard across the industry would consist of a telephone interview as a 1st stage, then a 2nd stage face to face with potentially a technical test squeezed in between. The modern approach the interview methods involves a combination of video, telephone and face to face interviews. As businesses have adopted the remote first approach into their technology & IT functions, the industry has heavily swung towards a video interview bias.

With premium accounts across video interview platforms and access into the highest quality interview software, The Candidate are on hand to arrange and manage all virtual interviews.

Technical Tests

There is much debate across the industry as to the relevance and success of technical tests when vetting your next tech hire with several candidates actively removing themselves from processes which demand excessive technical tests. Our expert team at The Candidate can help you ensure that you are approaching technical tests in the most positive manner and discuss all we have found from our experience in the industry.

The key drivers behind candidate success when completing technical tests revolves around the length of the requirement, and the subject itself. Technical tests more than circa 1.5 hours is considered unacceptable and equally, any technical test which may present itself as convertible into business practise and used directly after the completion of a test, is a major deal breaker from a candidate trust perspective.

Transparency & Information Flow

One of the most vital points of information to keep in mind whilst recruiting is; just because a candidate isn’t right for you at this current moment of time, doesn’t meant they will not grow into an essential member of the team in the future.

What do we mean by this?

You interview a candidate, but they are not right for you at the current moment in time. However, in 3 years they may progress into a technical leadership role and be the perfect candidate to help your business achieve its strategic vision. Imagine reaching out to the candidate after this time when they are ready to take your business to the next level, but their experience was negative and full of poor communication. Negative impressions of miscommunication or lack of transparency leave a sour taste in the candidate’s mindset – transparent and clear communications throughout the process regarding the role, the business, the process and the requirements are imperative to creating a lasting impression (even if the candidate doesn’t join you then!)

Timeframes

Time is of the essence when hiring in a candidate short market. If you are slow in your process, it is likely you will lose out on your ideal candidate as another organisation will move quicker. A common flaw in businesses approaches is to assume that candidates are desperate to work for them… Unfortunately, there is an incredible demand for talent across the Software & IT space so any timeframes longer than 2 weeks are likely to reduce the active candidates in your process. You are in competition and speed is the number one factor to secure the best people.

Common Candidate Frustrations

A key frustration across the Technology & IT recruitment market, from a candidate point, is when non-technical stakeholders manage the recruitment process for technical roles. Due to the niche skillset which falls under the ‘tech’ umbrella, it is pivotal there is technical direction from the initial contact with a candidate. As much as there is a variance in the personality profiles across the industry, there is nothing more frustrating for a talented candidate to not feel understood within the process.

What A Recruitment Agency Brings To The Interview Stage

Here at The Candidate, we have a proven track record in helping businesses who are struggling to hire the best talent, find the perfect tech talent for this vision. Providing thorough consultation throughout the entire recruitment process, we can share the most effective and efficient interview process management techniques observed from years of experience in the Technology industry. Ensuring that yourself, and all your potential hires, have a genuinely enjoyable experience throughout the process, we are able to assist in interviewing technical candidates from a vetting perspective to ensure you are confident your next hire can hit the ground running.