Neil Roseman, a former Technology Vice President for Amazon and Zynga, has expressed his opinion that many recruiters place too much emphasis on a candidate’s credentials when making hiring decisions. According to Roseman, recruiters tend to look to qualifications such as grade point averages, Ivy League educations, and SAT scores as a primary determinant of a potential employee’s suitability. However, Roseman believes that the recruitment process involves more than simply asking a series of technical questions.
Steven Roseman, a seasoned recruiter, has conducted hundreds of interviews throughout his career. He is of the opinion that each phase of the interview process should be carefully planned to acquire detailed information pertaining to an applicant’s skills, accomplishments, compatibility with the work culture, and leadership potential. Additionally, Steven believes that it is the responsibility of recruiters to create an environment that is conducive to allowing applicants to openly share their employment history and habits.
In this blog post, John Roseman shares his approach to designing interview processes that are effective for companies of any size or resource level. He explains how to build an efficient organisation from the ground up, highlighting the importance of a well-structured interview process.
Thoroughly examine resumes
Roseman is always on the lookout for indications of excellence on resumes. “I’m always scanning for accomplishments that are quantifiable, particularly if they have to do with relative improvements or proportions,” he explains. “For instance, I may have augmented income by fifty percent or reduced downtime by thirty percent,” he adds.
During an interview, it is important to move beyond being a mere observer and instead strive to understand the level of performance and contribution that the candidate had in their past roles. Even the most successful companies will have a discrepancy between those individuals who are making the greatest impact, and those who are not. According to Roseman, this is a key indicator of how well the candidate has grasped their prior organisation’s objectives and can be used as a reliable measuring stick.
Applicants may think they will impress potential employers by making grand claims such as, “I increased system availability by 50%,” however, when interviewing someone for a system engineering role, it is vital to know the details of what was achieved. According to Roseman, in the majority of cases, when these sorts of statements appear on resumes, the individual has either not done the stated task, or had limited involvement in the project. On the contrary, outstanding candidates are always able to provide a comprehensive explanation of the work they have completed, no matter how deeply questioned.
Craft clever questions
It is essential to create suitable technical interview questions in order to ensure that the hiring process is as effective as possible. Ideas for questions can be sourced from online networks such as Glassdoor and Quora, which provide valuable insights based on the experiences of previous interviewees. According to Roseman, it is perfectly acceptable to use questions from various sources, provided that they are tailored to the specific requirements of the job.
At a later stage, your team may wish to consider the merits of posing a particular question, what the optimal response would be, and whether further research into the subject would be beneficial even if the information is already publicly available online.
Roseman has a particular affinity for questioning engineering candidates about product design. He believes that excellent engineers should not simply be taking instruction; rather, they should be actively participating in product creation. To gain a true understanding of an applicant’s capabilities, it is important to explore the products they have previously worked on, and request that they design a succinct portfolio program. Depending on the position, the applicant might also be asked to elaborate on a broader design challenge, such as constructing an ATM/Elevator specifically for the visually impaired, or a more specialised task.
Build a formidable recruiting squad
The formation of an effective recruiting team is essential for gaining high-quality employees. Unfortunately, many organisations fail to allocate adequate resources to ensure current employees are adequately trained to be able to effectively perform peer interviews. According to Roseman, the consequences of this oversight can be dire.
Every hiring must be carefully considered. As a result, leaders must train interviewers and investigate their decision-making processes.
Furthermore, the recruiting team’s criticism should be succinct and conclusive. Roseman emphasises the importance of two points:
1) If you can’t offer specific comments, you’ve wasted your time, the company’s time, and the candidate’s time.
2) If you finish an interview and all you have to say is, “Yeah, I sort of liked them, I think they’d be excellent,” you’ve wasted everyone’s time.
Generic responses create uncertainty among team members, so be specific about what you like and dislike about a possibility.
Here is a condensed breakdown of the recruiting guidelines indicated above:
- Begin with a good introduction to calm everyone’s worries.
- Take the time to go over the resume in detail
- Applicants should not be treated as guinea pigs for the purpose of testing out new questions. A list of pre-defined questions may help your recruitment team identify outstanding answers more quickly.
- Don’t rush the coding process! In many cases, this coding step is disregarded
- Test out different approaches to algorithm design, data structure analysis, code documentation, and user experience
- Inquire about the design. Investigate people’s big-picture thinking
As a recruiter, it is your responsibility to evaluate a candidate’s qualifications, determine their compatibility with the company culture, and assess their potential for future growth. You are the face of the company and should always strive to represent the company’s values and ethical standards.
Are you finding it challenging to vet software engineers/developers on your own? If so, Works can help. Our automated platform makes it easy for businesses to hire senior, pre-vetted remote software developers with just a single click. We provide access to the top 1% of over 700,000 developers with impressive technical and communication abilities who work in their own local time zone. There is no need to worry, as we offer a complimentary two-week trial period to guarantee that the developers you hire meet your expectations.
Visit Works Hire page for more information.
