Overview
Deciding whom to hire is the most important task leaders have to make. Our job is to help you get that decision right.
We've helped dozens of tech companies hire for their team. In the process, we've developed our own hiring playbook. It's the product of continuous iteration with deep real-life testing.
Most ideas shared here aren’t new - you’ve likely heard them one way or another. What we’ll share with you is our process. A process that can be implemented easily and produce results quickly. If you follow the process laid out here, you will start getting results in days.
What We'll Do
When we started helping tech companies hire, a job description was enough to kick off a search. This helped us get started quickly but it ended up costing us a lot of time. It also led to a lot of frustrated clients as we ended up sharing candidates that were not a great fit.
So we took a step back and refined our process. Inspired by the Lean Startup movement, we realized we needed a better understanding of the roles we were hiring for and shorter feedback loops. Today, our process has 2 main stages: Discovery and Delivery.
In the Discovery stage, our goal is to find job-candidate fit.
Step 1 is Role Definition. We developed our 1-Page Hiring Plan template , which includes everything we need to know to start hiring for a role, but nothing more.
Think of it as our Minimum Viable Job Definition.
Once that's done, we move on to Step 2 - Candidate Review.
This step confirms we have a clear understanding of the role and validates we're on the right track. It's nothing more than sharing 3-5 candidates with the Hiring Manager with a short sentence describing why they seem to be relevant for the role.
This step builds confidence in the Hiring Manager that we're on the right track. It also lets them rule out any potential details we might have missed. And it gets them engaged in the process.
This seems like an additional, unnecessary step but it severely reduces time wasted. For every candidate the Hiring Manager doesn't like we save at least 30 minutes. We then advance to the Delivery stage, where our goal is to share candidates that have job-candidate fit as well.
Step 3 is Attracting Candidates. Recruiters can't create candidates. We can only find them.As a result, the quality of our hire is only as strong as the quality of our pipeline. We work to make sure you get a good sample of candidates to choose from.We find and attract candidates to open roles using a set of sourcing channels.
Network
The first step is to search for potential candidates in our network. This included our candidate pool with over 10,000 candidates and referrals from our team.
We usually shortlist 15-20 candidates and contact them with your role details. This enables us to generate 3-5 candidates within a 24-hour.
Active Candidates
We broadcast your role out into the world, making it visible for candidates actively searching for roles. We use our Jobs page and paid Job Boards (like LinkedIn) to generate interest from candidates looking to change.
Finally, for tech roles there are often online tech communities frequented by specialists (e.g., Meetup groups, Reddit subreddits, and Slack communities). These communities usually have a "jobs section where companies are encouraged to share open jobs.
Passive Candidates
We finally go after candidates who are not actively searching for a new role but are open to the right opportunity. Sharing open roles on social media helps bring them to the attention of some of these candidates.
If by this point we don't have strong candidates in the pipeline, our LinkedIn Recruiter Corporate account allows our Recruitment Team to search and message candidates with the required skills and are open to work or actively updating their profiles.
Step 4 is Assessing Candidates
Once we have a list of candidates in the pipeline, we need to assess them properly to make sure they match what you are looking for.
In the 1st interview, we assess candidates' soft skills, their communication skills and motivation to switch jobs.
We also conduct technical screening of candidates. We have a set of Technical Questions we use to understand how well candidates fit the position they are applying for. These are questions that have been used in the past by our team and that help us get a feeling for the level of skill. They vary by functional area and even by stack.
Finally, we can also set a take-home challenge or technical testing platform (HackerRank, CodeFights, Devskiller, etc.) to make that easier for you.
These challenges should be short and not too complex, just enough that you can see how candidates approach them. You shouldn't make challenges too long or complex because you don't want to risk that the best candidates self-select out of the process.
Step 5 is Sharing Candidates
The way we share candidates varies depending on our client's systems and tools.
Some companies have their own ATS and provide us access as a third-party recruiter. This is usually the case with Lever, Rippling, Manatal, Greenhouse, Lever, or Workable.
Other companies' tools associate each role with a specific email address where we can send candidates (e.g., Comeet).
Finally, those who don't have any system in place. For these customers, we set them up with our own simple solution for this: a Trello board. We apply our template, which includes all the necessary collaboration and notification features required.
What We Expect From Clients
Working with an external partner for recruitment does not guarantee success. It takes both knowledge and commitment to get results. We bring the knowledge; you need to bring the commitment.
With very rare exceptions, we don't ask for money upfront. We start working on your roles without any guarantees that we will be able to fill them. That means we're taking all the risk.
The good news is that we know what we're doing. We're comfortable taking a higher risk because we believe in our process. We know that if we follow the steps outlined above we are very likely to be able to successfully hire for any role.
But ultimately, you - the client - make the hiring decision, not us. And for that reason, we want to make sure we're aligned on the process before we accept starting to work on any role.
In order to kick-off any search, we typically have 2 requirements:
Role Intake Call.You will have a call with us and share details on the role by filling out our Role Intake Document .
Interview Booking Link. You will create and share a link for candidates to book the interview step after our interview (ex: Calendly, Cal.com, etc.). This is not mandatory but it helps move candidates along faster, once we get your approval to move them to the next step. Recruitment is a lot about timing.
Then, once we've started working on a project, there are 3 things we want in place to make sure the project is successful:
Weekly / Biweekly Review Call.You'll have a recurring meeting with us to align expectations on our recruitment work - weekly or every 2 weeks. This puts pressure on us to deliver and on you to make progress.
Candidate Feedback in 48 Hours. You'll share positive or negative feedback on the candidates so we can adjust our search. This helps us move fast and learn with a short feedback loop.
Shared Slack Channel. If you use Slack, you have access to an open communication channel to move fast on candidate decisions. If you don't we will communicate over email.
If you're serious about hiring and you want results, this is our gameplan. We're flexible to adapt some details but if multiple of these conditions are dealbreakers for you, we might not be the best partner for you.
How We're Different
We have been doing tech recruitment for a long time. Our goal is simple: to help you get the highest quality of hire with the minimum number of interviews.
In order to do that, we do 3 things differently from most other recruitment firms:
- Deep Discovery.
- Focus on High Quality, Low Quantity.
- Excellent Communication.
These may at first glance sound like small differences. But, as the saying goes, when it comes to success in recruitment the devil lies in the details.
1. Deep Discovery
We call Discovery to the initial part of our engagement, where we understand and document exactly what you're looking for.
The most common mistake that happens in recruiting is this: not having clarity on the role you're looking to fill. Equally important is to make sure your expectations are realistic based on what you have to offer.
This part requires a bit more of your time upfront. It's worth it. Spending one hour here saves dozens of hours wasted reviewing and meeting poor candidates.
We've developed our own framework of approaching this stage of Recruitment. It starts out with a meeting to fill out the Role Intake Document . This document includes 3 main sections:
- Business Problem (why we're hiring)
- Ideal Candidate Profile (who we're hiring)
- Candidate Pipeline (how we're hiring)
Once we have clarity on this, we go back to the drawing board and share the profiles of 3-5 candidates for you to review. We're looking for additional feedback so we can calibrate further our search.
2. Focus on High Quality, Low Quantity
You're hiring us to do the heavy lifting for you.
If you were looking for many, unqualified candidates you would likely just post the job on LinkedIn or some other job board. That is not what we do.
We help you get clarity on what you want and what you can get. Then we deliver those candidates to you.
We typically share just a few candidates per week for your open roles. Sometimes even fewer candidates, if the role is very niche or has a smaller target candidate pool.
But each candidate shared includes all their relevant details, why they are a good fit for the role and typically extensive interview notes from our conversations with candidates.
Our average client makes a hiring decision after meeting 4-5 candidates.
3. Excellent Communication
Working with external partners can be challenging, unless the communication is excellent.
This is why we insist that when starting new projects we have periodic recurring meetings and a shared Slack channel (if you use Slack).
We know that a fixed date in the calendar will:
- Pressure us to deliver results before every meeting.
- Provide an opportunity for you to provide feedback about candidates, our work and your priorities.
Some clients are also interested in data reporting on our work for their open roles. The number of candidates we've contacted, the ones we interviewed and other meaningful details. We prepare these reports internally and can share them with you if you're interested in them.
I believe our communication is the reason why we get such strong reviews and a lot of referral business.
4.9/5 on
The goal of this page is to replicate what we say in the first call we have with clients who don't know us. It's a collection of opinionated beliefs and approaches we use to solve recruitment for our clients.
If you feel like you could benefit from working with us, I'd love to jump on a call with you. Just click the button below and book a call with us!
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