How We Can Make Your Hiring Better Than In-Person
We Would Not Just Switch In-person Interviews To Video Conferencing And Call It a Day.
With the vast majority of people who can work from home now doing so, the hiring process at Pause Factory Resource Limited has gone virtual.
With a little extra coordination, onsite interviews are taking place via video conferencing and there are ways we can make hiring process for your company and experience as seamless as possible on both ends.
But as any hiring manager or recruiter could tell you, the in-person interview is only one piece of the hiring process.
We can make hiring not just remote-friendly, but on par with (or better than) an in-person experience which requires careful attention and a bit of additional effort at all stages.
Pre-interview stage
Entering into an agreement with us at Pause Factory as the the hiring / recruiting company and all other relevant parties are put on the same page from the start.
As soon as the new role of being the hiring company is approved, the next thing is considering holding a dedicated meeting where we can hash out the following:
Interview stages
Selling points of the role for passive candidates
Ideal candidate profile
Candidate evaluation criteria
Salary range and target start date
Hiring (team) roles and responsibilities
We can ensure to designate one person as the notetaker and distribute a *Google Doc after the meeting — that way others can make changes if necessary, and the team has a living “single source of truth” about the role.
Regular catch-up meetings between the hiring manager comes in handy to schedule from the start, so there’s dedicated time to reflect on learnings and communicate changes as the search progresses.
Interview stage
Besides ensuring all onsite interviews are swapped with video links, here are additional considerations when candidates are going through the interview process.
First, is to figure out the “phone screen.” It can be hard to differentiate between the “phone screen” and “onsite” stages when they’re both taking place remotely. It’s fine for phone screens to continue to be voice calls, moved to video, or skipped entirely — just to make sure that whatever option chosen is clearly communicated to all parties (hiring managers, recruiters, and most importantly, candidates), and that the same format is used for each candidate to mitigate bias.
Next, overcommunicate in the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Make it a best practice for Pause Factory (hiring managers) to put all communication about candidates in the ATS instead of or in addition to one-off Slacks, emails, or Zooms. This way, there’s less chance of misalignment or critical information falling through the cracks.
Then, we can offer a virtual office tour. The physical office space often factors into candidates’ decisions. In lieu of an office visit, we can put together a video office tour and share with the candidate before their “onsite” interview.
Of course, our interviewers are experienced in conducting a virtual interview coupled with the knowledge of the logistics and rules of thumb for virtual interviews and that it’s largely still just a normal conversation.
Also technology is well tested. There are inevitably similar limits and loopholes with any technology but we make sure we take tools for a test drive first to be able to prevent potholes later.
And finally, we seek feedback from each candidate.
Post-interview stage
Having a deliberate debrief process is best practice regardless of whether hiring is in-person or remote, but becomes even more important when everyone is virtual.
After a candidate interviews, the hiring managers have a call to discuss next steps inform of panel debrief. The process works well as long as it’s consistent among all candidates and understood by everyone involved.
Written feedback about candidates — whether captured in a scorecard or someone else — also becomes crucial in a remote scenario.
Even when workers return to the office and candidates can visit in person once again, these tips is still helpful for the team to stay aligned, and deliver an excellent candidate experience every time.
AUTHORED BY EMMA BRUDNER AND EDITED BY TESLIM FOLORUNSHO
