Once you have identified candidates how the next steps happens decides how fast and efficient the hiring happens.
Here are some things to consider you are having the right hiring process
Spend Time to Decide on the process
Picture the usual scenario – A candidate walks in, told to wait, a lead or manager has a discussion and it is either decided to go ahead to next round or not. Sometimes the candidate does not know the outcome. Now what happens if a different person had taken the interview? Would it be the same?
When this is done there are a ton of things we are missing out on.
First have a process clearly defined, even if it is not very elaborate.
- How many rounds we would need?
- What types of interviewing are needed?
- Who would be available in which round?
- What are the skillset we need to evaluate?
- What would be a criteria for assessment at each stage?
- Which attributes would be given preference?
Defining the process opens the door for objective evaluation. Also it brings the consistency of accessing multiple candidates.
Communication Within
Decide how the communication happens within the company on hiring. There are various interactions that happen throughout the lifecycle of hiring. Having it decided makes the communication consistent and also helps the recipient to take the next steps.
Communication With Candidate
Always keep the candidate informed.
- What is the next action?
- How many more rounds they might have?
- What all they should bring, if any?
- How would the interview be conducted?
- What are the things they need to research about?
- What information they can look from the company website?
Keeping the candidate informed solves lot of pain points that can arise later. This way the candidate is very clear on the process and expectations.
Once the candidate is in, explain the process of current round and make sure they understand.
Assessment criteria
Discuss with specific managers and get a list of skills to be assessed. And discuss how they would be assessed.
Presentation skills, communication, writing, negotiation
Algorithms, Cloud Deployment, Performance, Scalability
When you list these down then a structure is formed on the evaluation front. Having a short presentation could become part of the interview process.
When these are decided, document them and have them as part of assessment outcome. The candidates can be scored on these attributes and the scoring can be shared and compared.
The scoring card need not be elaborate, it can simple but it need to be consistent.
If it is a tech interview, decide on the interview type.
- Whiteboard analysis of a problem
- Coding test
- Algorithm evaluation
- Online test
- Discussion of a problem statement
Once decided, make it a pattern for all candidates. Only then the candidates can be evaluated objectively.
Have Room for Exceptions
Sometimes you want to have one more round, you want to test a candidate for another skill. All that is fine.
It is good to go for additional inputs before you decide but make sure the candidate and teams are informed about the reason for this.
Also use this as a feedback to tweak your hiring process if it makes sense.
Do not keep candidates in the dark
For candidates who are not going to the next round or offered, please inform them at the earliest. Do not assume that no response would send the message. Once they have given their time and effort, it is very much necessary for the company to let them know the status.
This gesture goes a long way as most companies do not do this step consistently.
If there are constructive feedback it can be passed for the candidates to do better next time. Most times the candidates feel they have done well and are surprised when they are not offered.
Get Feedback
Getting feedback should be part of the process. The HR should always request for feedback irrespective of the hiring decisions made.
The feedback opens the door to get some unbiased view and then it can be used to see if anything need to change. Also it sends a strong signal to the candidate about the culture of the organisation.