During my recent job search (in fall 2020), I observed a wide range in the attractiveness of job descriptions and recruiting processes.
I took notes on my preferences (tried to assemble “the best of the best”) in case it would be useful for when my future teammates needed to recruit someone new.
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Attract excellent candidates.
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Quickly and efficiently filter down to the best match.
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Assess whether they are a “culture add” (seeking to diversify our team and also share values)
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Test their problem-solving logic
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Test their written communication skills
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Way more important than most people acknowledge.
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Test their leadership skills
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Test their coding skills
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Assess their personality
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Treat candidates fairly.
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Avoid biases against candidates based on:
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Skin color, birth sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, culture, national origin, ancestry, marital status, parental status, physical or mental disability, veteran status, etc (and keep in mind that discriminating against candidates with tight schedules is a bias too)
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Gather a reserve list of candidates for future openings.
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Generate a positive impression of our company (high Net Promoter Score).
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Clear, friendly, quick communication
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Comply with laws.
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Advertise our product (mostly relevant for small employers)
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To our reserve list of past great candidates
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On our public website
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Frequently mentioned in internal communications to gather referrals from existing team.
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Countless times I’ve heard that referrals are the source of the best candidates in the easiest and quickest (and probably cheapest) way. But usually companies don’t do nearly enough to take advantage of this channel.
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Special networks like https://alumni.bridgewater.com/
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AngelList https://angel.co/jobs
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StackOverflow https://stackoverflow.com/jobs
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Indicates whether listing poster has a high response rate
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LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/talent/post-a-job?trk=homepage-jobseeker_talent-finder-cta
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EasyApply
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Glassdoor
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Reviews of company, EasyApply, estimated salary
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https://weworkremotely.com/categories/remote-programming-jobs#job-listings
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Certain email newsletters that developers subscribe to
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When the company is large enough to need it: Filterable job openings (by location, department, role type, title, level of education, salary range, etc)
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Detailed job description for each position
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Special pages like these:
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Diversity, inclusion, equality page
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Link to bios of the team (like Angel List Talent https://airtable.com/shrAAuVMHFM00buwR/tblJjU91vFsSvjBCL)
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And also links to personal websites and blogs
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Engineering blog?
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Point to those important pages on our website.
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Provide compensation info (such as a range of possible base salary).
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Lack of compensation range is such a deterrent for candidates (who don’t want to risk wasting tons of time in the process of a company that ultimately won’t be a fit).
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List out benefits, including intangible ones (flexible hours, moral equity).
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Include powerful, inspirational short mission statement about the company at top
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Mention that we care more about ability to learn, grow, think logically, and be creative than we do about past skills and specific languages.
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(Sometimes it might even be best to say “We’re language agnostic.”)
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Add sections like “We’ll be crazy impressed if you…”
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Offer a fast-track scheduling process such as at https://web.archive.org/web/20200901125446/https://angel.co/company/guitar-mastery-intensive/jobs/957027-mid-stack-frontend-engineer-for-fast-scaling-music-learning-platform
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I think some of the biggest factors that matter to applicants are clarity of feedback and speed of progress through the process. Job hunting tends to be very boring and frustrating and unclear, so we want to be the antidote to that.
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I thought this was a good couple sentences about diversity and inclusion (although something more company-specific would be better):
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[Capital Rx / Company Name] values a diverse workplace and celebrates the diversity that each employee brings to the table. We are proud to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, medical condition, genetic information, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
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Provide the expectations for first 1-6 months:
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GU might require internal changes first, and then these features would be great to add:
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See “We are committed to continuous improvement and track our team’s progress with this Product Development Team Self-Assessment. (Ask us for our latest scores with commentary!)”
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Add a note like: unlike nearly every other company, instead of treating negotiations as adversarial, where we'd withhold as much information as possible in order to spend the least possible on a new hire, we go ahead and treat our recruits with the full respect they'd have if they were already long term employees. We want to be as transparent as possible. We know that it adds risk, but investing early in our long term relationship of care and trust is important.
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Each step’s goal should be to quickly and fairly filter out candidates without taking up much of our time.
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So even the first step should be an easy test where if a candidate doesn’t get the correct answer, we don’t even bother reading the resume or cover letter.
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Each step gets progressively harder but still doesn’t cause delays or take much time. The candidates need to see quick feedback and know that each next step is available very soon.
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Try to minimize our bias:
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https://diversity.ucsf.edu/resources/state-science-unconscious-bias
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https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/unbiasing-raise-awareness/steps/watch-unconscious-bias-at-work/
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https://www.linkedin.com/learning/paths/diversity-inclusion-and-belonging-for-all
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Consider using personality assessments such as https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
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Figure out how to gauge their natural passion for what they’d be doing with us on a daily basis. We want fits that feel aligned / automatic / flowing.
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Consider hiring the candidate on a trial basis (perhaps they moonlight during nights and weekends for a week or two) to give both sides a clearer idea of what working together would be like.
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Don’t require candidates to screenshare in an interview since candidates are on personal computers and have private stuff visible (especially if no prior notice was given).
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Don’t require signing an NDA at any point in the recruiting process until the candidate and the company have decided a mutual fit and that the candidate will be joining. It’s obnoxious when a company puts up that wall of legalese as one of their first interactions with a candidate.
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Once the candidate chooses to join, what can we do to offer huge congratulations?
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The candidate could feel like he/she just finished some impossible challenge like the Iditarod, so the typical “We’re happy to have you” could sound like a major letdown. Show major enthusiasm and appreciation.
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Maybe we could have a special webpage with fireworks and a welcome video from the team, etc.
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After signing, before start date: send a welcome package with a warm letter (maybe including a photo of the team) and swag (such as fleece, mug with company logo, etc).
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The candidate busted their tail during the process and chose you. Extra warmth will be a great beginning to a hopefully very long and fulfilling relationship (not just as employer-employee but hopefully real friendships too).