Stacey Ustian admits that she struggled to land her first job in the tech sector. She had left her previous job so that she could teach herself the skills she needed to become a data engineer. Feeling like she was finally ready, she jumped into the job market.
“All I did for nine months straight was apply and interview for jobs,” she said. “You go into these interviews and they want people with experience. Of course, I didn’t have it because I was changing careers. I wasn’t having great success.”
On LinkedIn, Stacey started getting messages from recruiters who obviously didn’t have a clue about her career goals.
“Once you mark yourself as ‘open to work’ on LinkedIn, you get all sorts of things from recruiters,” she said. “I would get these messages about the roles that they were recruiting for, and they were totally irrelevant.”
Then Stacey connected with the team here at Averity, and everything changed. Within a couple of weeks she had interviews with three companies eager to make her an offer, including the place she decided on, ActionIQ.
I love telling people this story because it emphasizes the fact that when it comes to finding a job in the tech field, you shouldn’t go at it alone. Finding the right job is a challenge even when the economy is humming along. At a time like today, with so much economic uncertainty, it’s much tougher.
We’ve been talking with a lot of people in the tech industry who landed their current job with Averity. They all agreed with Stacey that having the right recruiter makes the job search easier. But they also mentioned several other reasons that they will always use a recruiter.
Prepping you for interviews.
Are you nervous about the interview process? Maybe, like Stacey, you’re changing careers. Or maybe, like engineer Eleanor Schlechter, you haven’t sat face-to-face with a hiring manager for a while.
“I hadn’t gone through the interview process in a very long time,” she said. “I didn’t really know what to expect, especially because I was in a later stage of my career.”
When Eleanor partnered with Averity, we walked her through the entire process. We let her know exactly who she would be interviewing with, what the process would be like, what she needed to demonstrate to have a successful interview, and when she was likely to hear back from the company.
Giving you feedback
Something very important after you take the time to do either one interview or 5 interviews is feedback. We’ve heard so many stories of candidates doing anywhere between one round to four rounds of interviews, and never hearing about how they did and any specifics. How should a job seeker ever improve their interviewing skills if they don’t receive constructive feedback about their previous interview? This is a very important step that often gets overlooked. “Averity was definitely helpful in prepping me for interviews, but also calling me immediately afterward and asking how it went and offering me feedback,” Eleanor said. “I wasn’t sitting alone in my room wondering what I should do next.”
Getting you the best package.
One of the most stressful parts on interviewing is negotiating things like salary and benefits. Data scientist Shawn Squire said that working with Averity made that part of the process a breeze.
“They handled most of the back and forth with the company,” he said. “And they negotiated for me and I was extremely happy with the result”
Serving as ‘career mentors.’
When she was looking for a job, field engineering manager Jenny Wong knew she wanted someone who would serve as a sounding board. She said she found that in Averity’s Stephanie Grosso.
“If I had anything to talk about, either during the application process or even after I was starting off in the new job, she made it very clear that I could reach out to her,” she said. “It was a pleasant surprise that she would offer her help even after I secured the position. Stephanie really goes above and beyond.”
Expanding your horizons.
One mistake that many job seekers make is only looking for positions at their current level. A recruiter can evaluate your skills and let you know what other types of jobs you should consider. They can also encourage you to think outside the box.
Data analyst James Falasca said that because he had spent so many years in healthcare, he never would have considered another field. Averity’s Mark Howland encouraged him to think about a job in media.
“He approached me about some of the openings at NBCUniversal,” James said. “I told him that I didn’t know if I had the right skills. He said, ‘James, just put your resume in and let’s see what happens. The worst thing they can say is no.’ So without him encouraging me, I would have never thought to apply, especially to a company like NBCUniversal.”
At Averity, we aren’t just trying to help people find a job. We’re helping them build a career. That’s why our focus is on building connections with them that last a lifetime.
Engineer Eleanor Schlechter knew what she wanted in a new job. But more importantly, she knew what she didn’t want. She considers herself a “jack of all trades,” and being stuck in a job with a narrow set of responsibilities wasn’t appealing.
With the help of Averity, Schlechter found the perfect fit at a private equity firm called Insight Partners. We talked with her about her job search, why she went with a recruiter, and the benefits of a “collaborative” process.
Congrats on the new job! You’ve been at Insight Partners just a couple of weeks, right?
Yeah, I think I’m on week four. It’s been absolutely amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a better fit.
What has been the best part so far?
It’s been awesome because there are no limits on what I can do. There are no guardrails, really. I can work on data science stuff, but I can also do data engineering backend work as well.
How is that different from your last job?
I had been working there for about five or six years. I could see that they were making changes across all their business units that had people bucketed to specific tasks. I had jumped around trying to avoid being touched by it, but finally it spread across the entire firm. So it was time for me to look elsewhere.
What was your top concern when you were looking for a job?
I knew I was looking for this unicorn role. There aren’t many jobs out there that give you the flexibility I wanted. I was very pleased and impressed that Averity was able to find one.
Were you already looking on your own?
I had started looking around to see what was out there, but I hadn’t made any moves to start interviewing anywhere. Stephanie Grosso at Averity is the one who reached out to me and got the ball rolling.
Most recruiters will start with something vague like, “We have a perfect opportunity for you.” At Averity, they were more direct, telling me exactly what the opportunity was and what I could expect. Any questions that I had, they were very quick to answer. That’s why I chose to move forward with Averity.
What was the process like with Averity?
They were a great sounding board. I hadn’t gone through the interview process in a very long time. I didn’t really know what to expect, especially because I was in a later stage of my career. They were definitely helpful in prepping me for interviews, but also calling me immediately afterward and asking how it went and offering me feedback. I wasn’t sitting alone in my room wondering what I should do next.
When I told Stephanie that I was looking for this very specific type of job, she talked about it with a few different people on the Averity team. Jennifer Magley brought up the position with Insight Partners. After that, it was always the three of us on the call. It was a very collaborative process.
Averity says that “people hire people.” Is that how this process felt to you?
They definitely were there for me. I felt like I was talking to my best friend about a job. It was definitely very personal and very easy.
Starting a job search can feel like you’re staring into the abyss.
There are thousands of jobs and hundreds of companies that might match your ideal position to varying degrees. Today, that number is exponentially higher than ever before with the option to work remotely. Your job search used to start with where you live or where you want to live but now it’s no longer limited to your location!
At Averity we want to make your job search easier and to do that you have to make it more meaningful. We present: The Job Hunter’s Playbook.
Your job search starts with you. The first play begins with looking at yourself and what story you want to tell. Divided into five sections we give you the rundown on what to do before, during and after your interview.
Don’t get overwhelmed with the vast job market in front of you. Break it down, take it step by step and by the end you’ll feel more confident in your search, in your interview, and eventually in your job choice.
Read the full playbook and feel empowered to start your job search now.
I’m willing to bet that an algorithm didn’t hire you or decide that you had the requirements necessary to be productive and successful at your current job. So why do we feel this incessant need to rely on them?
It turns out that a big part of the problem is the way that many companies are screening applicants. About three quarters of all job applications are never seen by an actual person. They’re fed into a company’s applicant tracking system and given a thumbs up or thumbs down by a machine-learning algorithm.
Who’s getting all those computer-generated thanks-but-no-thanks emails? It’s not just people who aren’t qualified for the job. It’s also those who might have gaps in their resumes, or don’t have the desired degrees, or have experience that doesn’t exactly match that asked for in a job description. That last one often screens out people who are moving to a different industry or coming from the military, where job descriptions are so different than in the private sector.
The result is that there are millions of “hidden” workers who are being screened out by overzealous algorithms. According to a recent study by researchers at Harvard Business School, there are 27 million hidden workers who are either working at jobs below their skill level or unemployed or shut out of the labor market.
And companies are completely aware of what’s going on. When asked by researchers, about 90% of executives said they were aware that highly skilled candidates were being shut out of the process. The problem is that they have grown increasingly reliant on their applicant tracking systems.
How did we get here? Back in the 1990s, companies were looking for ways to increase the number of job applications they were getting. The answer, many of them decided, was to come up with a way to allow candidates to apply online.
Technology solved one problem, but it created a new one. Companies found that they were getting deluged with applications. Technology soon came up with another solution, the applicant tracking system. Using artificial intelligence, an ATS could sort through all those resumes and select the “best” ones. As the software grew more sophisticated, an ATS could schedule interviews with the top candidates and send rejection letters to the rest.
The handful of companies selling the software made a lot of promises. An ATS could streamline the hiring process. It could cut the costs of bringing aboard new hires. And it could help eliminate the bias in the system, creating a more diverse workforce. No wonder companies adopted the technology. According to a survey by Jobscan, more than 99% of Fortune 500 companies currently use an ATS.
But the problem is that an ATS can have biases of its own. Even when you strip out names and other things that might indicate gender or race, an ATS asked to identify “promising” candidates might still recommend more men than women and more white people than people of color. According to MIT Technology Review, one of the largest job posting sites realized that its algorithm was biased, so it built a second algorithm to keep tabs on the first. To me, that’s a good argument for not using an algorithm to make your next hire.
Some algorithm-based recruiting companies tell you that their software finds the person who is likely to be the most successful in a job. But the evidence for this is spotty at best. A recent survey found that 40% of workers who started a job in the past year are already looking for a new position. That’s not a great argument for business as usual.
At Averity, our approach is completely different. We recruit top-level talent in the tech industry, but that doesn’t mean that we are reliant on the latest bells and whistles. We believe, more than ever, that people hire people.
What does that mean? We develop years-term relationships with our clients and understand the types of employees they are looking for. And we reach out to each candidate individually. To us, they’re not just a list of job titles or programming languages. We take the time get to know each of them and what their goals are for their careers and their lives. We believe that’s the only way to truly find the perfect person for a job.
For a taste of what we do, check out Human, Powered by Averity. Our latest platform is designed to let companies browse prescreened candidates and set up interviews with the click of a button. At a glance you can see where they are located, what their relevant skills are, and what starting salary they are looking for. And here’s the most important thing: we include an “X Factor,” meaning the specific skills and experience they bring to the workplace. You get a great feel for the individual in just a few words.
We’ve never stopped building relationships with the people we work with, which is what sets Averity apart. We’ll go head-to-head with an algorithm any day.
Companies who think that salary and benefits are what their employees value most are in for a rude awakening. Did you know that of the workers who accepted a new position in 2021, 40% are already actively looking for another job. That’s a big problem when it can cost at least half an employee’s annual salary to replace them.
According to a recent study, a bad work environment is 10 times more likely to make people quit a job than a low salary. The analysis of more than 34 million employee profiles, published in the MIT Sloan Management Review, found that few reported leaving a job over the level of compensation or the annual bonuses.
Here at Averity, the tech experts that we work with on a daily basis — the most sought-after job candidates in Software Engineering, Data Science and Engineering, DevOps, and — aren’t just in the market for a better-paying job. They are looking for a company where they are valued, where they can feel challenged, and where they can use their skills to the best of their abilities.
Talking with these candidates, they told us when they knew it was time to leave their last job. Here are some of the top reasons they mentioned:
They didn’t believe in their company’s values. If you need proof that money isn’t everything, talk to the people who left because their values didn’t align with those of the company they worked for. A recent study revealed that 9 out of 10 people are willing to accept a lower salary to do work that they believe in.
Their company went in the wrong direction. Whether it was new management, a recent merger, a revised mission statement, or someone new at the helm, they no longer felt confident that their company was headed down the right path. Nobody wants to feel like they are on a sinking ship.
Their job offered little or no flexibility. A survey of 5,000 workers found that more than three out of four want to work from home at least one day a week. Most said that they’d prefer working remotely two to three days a week. In the tech field, where working in the office isn’t always a requirement, this was often a deal breaker.
Work negatively affected the rest of their life. Whether they call it work-life balance, or the more new-fangled “life-work integration,” many people have started questioning whether their job overshadows the rest of their existence. They began to look for jobs that didn’t require working nights or weekends.
They didn’t feel like they belonged. It’s great when companies focus on hiring a diverse workforce, but they have to follow through. A study released last year by McKinsey found that one of the top reasons people leave is not feeling like they are a part of the company culture.
Their skills weren’t being used. It’s never good to have your professional skills go to waste. If your skills are collecting dust, it may be time to take them somewhere else. And employees get burned out quicker when their time is spent doing tasks that could be done by anyone.
There weren’t chances for advancement. A new title isn’t a good tradeoff for an opportunity to move up in the company. According to a study released by the Pew Research Center, 63% of people who left a job last year cited a lack of career opportunities.
There were no learning opportunities. According to the Wharton School of Business, about a third of tech workers say that having the chance to hone their skills is the most important part of their job. The vast majority said they would stay with a company longer if they had more learning opportunities.
They dreaded going to work. This is the big one for most people. Nobody wants to have to force themself to get out of bed and get ready for work every morning. The prospect of actually enjoying what they do for a living prompted them to start looking for their next job.
At Averity, we’re a people-first company. What does that mean? We give our team the tools to do their jobs and the autonomy to accomplish some really great things. When someone comes up with interesting and innovative ways to reach their goals or even push past them, we all cheer them on.
Creating a positive company culture and work experience takes hard work and active intention everyday. At Averity, we believe people hire people and the team we’ve built here centers around that belief. From the beginning, my goal was to have a recruiting agency with a people first culture, both in how we work with candidates but also how we work with each other. Our EVP of Customer Relations, Alex Dubovoy describes working at Averity as:
“It’s a cliche but we genuinely come from the world of ‘We get to be here, we don’t have to be here’. We all work together to achieve one common goal. And that goal is quality, to be the best company anywhere to work for.”
This is why being named the Best Staffing Firm to Work For in 2022, (with a team of 10-20) by Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA), is such an honor for us. Each year we strive to achieve this goal and for the third year in a row we are leading the pack. Companies in the survey are measured on items including teamwork, trust in senior leaders, diversity and inclusion, manager effectiveness, compensation and benefits.
Over the past few weeks you’ve gotten to meet some of our recently promoted team members and hear what brought them to Averity, but now I’d like to introduce you to the rest of the team. In the video above each team member dives into what makes working at Averity so special.
Don’t just take my word for it. Listen to what Averity’s industry-leading team has to say.
-Chris Allaire
When I talk to other business leaders, the topic of working parents comes up a lot. Everyone knows that we have a responsibility to make things easier for our employees who have to juggle responsibilities at work and at home, but nobody seems to know exactly what they should be doing. Here’s our policy at Averity:
Family first, work second. It’s as simple as that.
That might seem like common sense, but it turns out that in the business world common sense is not so common. It’s great if you have generous parental leave when someone becomes a new parent. Same thing for stipends for childcare and other benefits. But it’s time that we stop thinking about policies like these not just as something nice we’re doing for parents, but something important that we’re doing to strengthen our teams as a whole.
After nearly two years of the pandemic, we’ve all seen firsthand the challenges that working parents face when work and family make demands of their limited time. Jennifer Magley, a Talent Advocate in Data Engineering at Averity, put it best when she told me that during the pandemic “it’s not about ‘work-life balance’ but rather ‘work-life blending.’” It’s time that we talk to the people on our teams so we can understand their top priorities.
I reached out to working parents and asked them what they need to succeed. It wasn’t hard because my team is still small enough that I know everyone by name, but even companies with hundreds or thousands of employees should be figuring out ways to do the same thing. Here are some of the insights I heard from my amazing team.
Support from the top
We’ve all had bosses who never opened up about their personal lives. That’s not how we operate at Averity. I’m a parent myself, and so is everyone on the executive team. We talk about it a lot, mostly because we really enjoy having kids.
It turns out that it’s important for the rest of our team to hear about our own challenges. Erica Nagy, a Talent Advocate specializing in Go and Java, said it makes her feel like we have her back.
“What is really refreshing is that the leadership in the company is proud of being parents themselves,” she said. “They are clearly hands-on dads despite being partners in a company that is experiencing tremendous growth.”
More flexible schedules
One thing that has become clear while we’ve all been working from home is that we can’t put parenting on hold during normal business hours. When the two things conflict, it’s work that has to give.
“We have flexibility with our schedules, which is huge,” said Erica. “I actually have on my daily Google Calendar: “Time to start homework.” It’s at 3:45 pm, directly after school, so that my son isn’t too tired.”
She added that she participated in a work meeting from her car as her son was enjoying a Halloween “trunk-or-treat” event at school. (“It’s a suburban thing,” she explained.)
“My boss and my team were totally cool with me being at a school event,” she said. “I feel fully supported in my position and I know that my family comes first.”
Higher level of autonomy
When his kids were toddlers, Senior Recruiting Manager of Backend Engineering Pete Klochaney had the feeling that he was “missing seeing them grow up.” He decided at that point that he didn’t want another job that took him away from his family all the time. That’s part of the reason he joined Averity.
“The obvious answer is to give working parents the autonomy that they need to succeed,” he said. “When I started here they told me, ‘We don’t care what days you take off. If you have to work a little more sometimes and a little less sometimes, that’s fine.’ That’s really instilled in everyone here.”
Jennifer told me that letting people plan their own schedules and set their own goals isn’t just good for working parents — it’s a win for the company.
“Allow your people to set their own goals,” she said. “Their expectations may be higher.”
A ‘work in progress’
I don’t pretend that we have everything figured out. It’s still a work in progress. But I’m pretty confident that we are moving in the right direction because Staffing Industry Analysts, the global advisor on staffing and workforce solutions, recently recognized Averity as one of the top staffing firms to work for the third year in a row.
In the meantime, we’re going to continue doing everything we can to support all our employees, whether they are raising kids, taking care of sick family members, or have other challenges. That will always be one of the pillars of our organization.
There were several moments throughout the past year when the experts predicted that things would soon be back to normal. Remember early in the summer, when it looked like the pandemic was starting to fade, or the fall, when the demand for office space was increasing every month?
It turned out that 2021 had different plans.
Those of us who’ve been closely watching the job market knew that there wasn’t any chance that we’d go back to normal. A new normal had already been established, one where companies had to quickly adapt to changes in the market and adjust their expectations about how quickly they could fill crucial positions. Workers have realized that there are so many available jobs that they can wait to find one that’s the best fit for what they need and what is important to them.
Here at Averity, we’ve noticed several trends over the course of the year. They focus on where we’ll be working, how we’ll find top talent, and what matters most to the people looking for jobs. We wanted to share a few of these insights as you look ahead to 2022.
1. Remote is the new normal
Companies that require their employees to come into the office five days a week are at a significant disadvantage when it comes to finding top tech talent. A hybrid model that lets employees split their time between the office and home is better, but even that won’t get you access to the best people.
A just-released report from McKinsey & Company found that more than two-thirds of the work in the tech sector can be done remotely without any loss of productivity. That’s not news for tech professionals, who have maintained that their productivity has increased during the months they have been working from home. They have made it clear that they don’t want to return to the office. Averity’s own research has shown that one of the main reasons tech professionals quit their jobs is a mandatory return to the office.
Although hybrid models seem to be gaining traction, employees have pushed back hard against corporations like Apple who have announced plans to bring employees back into the office a few days a week. Many professionals have moved away from where their companies are located and have no interest in returning.
The upshot: If you want to keep your best employees and attract the best ones that are currently on the job market, find ways to let them work remotely.
2. It’s a candidate’s market
Demand for top tech talent is at an all-time high. That’s great news for people in the job market, especially those with skills like Data Engineering, DevOps, and Software Engineering, to name a few. Great engineers literally have their pick among hundreds of positions in their field.
It’s not such good news for employers, who are scrambling to find credible candidates. They are being forced to offer salaries that are significantly higher than a year or two ago. That means that — don’t kill the messenger — engineers that were hired at $160,000 before the pandemic are now routinely getting more than $190,000.
Smart employers are starting to cast a wider net, especially with entry-level/junior level staffers. They know that if a candidate has the right “soft skills” — things like creative thinking, problem solving, intellectual curiosity and effective communication — they are likely to be a good addition to the team. You can teach someone the technical aspects of a job. It’s harder to instill intellectual curiosity, emotional intelligence, and the ability to work with others.
The upshot: First and foremost, hire great team members. Don’t focus on finding the right person for the job — find the right job for the person.
3. Brand matters more than you think
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that money is the only thing on the minds of those in this job market (which is almost everyone). At Averity, applicants are telling us that they are waiting to find the right fit. A recent report revealed that 9 out of 10 people are willing to accept a lower salary to do work that they believe in.
People want to work for companies they can relate to. They are looking for corporate values that align with their own. We aren’t seeing nearly as much interest in massive corporations that are in the news for bad business practices or for exploiting their customers. Putting it simply, people want to work for places where they can do some good in the world.
We recently placed a candidate who had gotten offers from eight prominent tech companies. He decided to accept a job with the company he chose because he appreciated the company’s reputation and felt he could have organizational impact there.
The upshot: Get the word out about your company culture, values, and vision. Everyone on your team should be able to talk about not just what you do, but what you believe in.
4. Relationships are more important than transactions
Relationships have always been important, but right now they’re crucial. People want to be in business with someone that they trust. That means that when a key position is open in their company, they are going to go to their relationship base first.
With the current shortage of top-level candidates, Averity has been fortunate enough to receive referrals for some amazingly talented people. These are the types of candidates who aren’t interested in throwing their resume into a pile with dozens of others and don’t necessarily have LinkedIn profiles. We have been able to match them up with companies where they can continue to grow their careers.
We’re getting these referrals because we’ve never stopped building relationships with the people we work with, whether it’s the hiring manager at a major tech company or an engineer looking to take the next step in their career. The simple formula here is relationships > transitions.
The upshot: Your own network is likely to bring the best candidates to your door.
Here’s a final thought: People hire people. That still rings true in today’s market. Companies that put the needs of their people first and provide them with what they need to do their jobs well are going to be the ones who will be able to attract the best new employees in 2022.
When we run across a bad resume, the first impulse a lot of us have is to toss it in the thanks-but-no-thanks pile. Who has the time to slog through a resume that’s incorrectly formatted or poorly organized?
But here’s the thing: Some of the worst resumes are sent in by perfectly good job candidates. A few might even be excellent.
Here at Averity, a top recruiter in technology, we’ve seen a lot of “bad” resumes. Sometimes, especially with younger applicants, they include information that isn’t relevant at all. Those from more seasoned professionals often have the opposite problem. They include all their experience, which can sometimes go on for pages and pages. Either way, it can make reading through them quite a chore.
That’s why we work with all our talent on presenting exactly the information that companies are looking for, including salary range, most relevant skills, goals and motivations for their next career move, reasons for looking, who they are as a person, and what is important to them.
We boil all that down to what we call the “X Factor.” That’s a sentence or two describing what sets them apart from the crowd. We make sure that you know the key information about the candidate right away.
A lot of employers ask us about the best way to read resumes. The first thing we tell them is to actually read them. Don’t rely too much on your company’s applicant tracking system or keyword searches. They are great at searching for certain terms, so there’s no reason not to use them to filter out applicants that don’t meet your basic requirements. But even the best ATS platforms, the ones that take advantage of the latest advances in artificial intelligence, aren’t always on the mark when it comes to deciding which candidates are worth bringing in for an interview.
First, take the time to glance through the applicant’s cover letter. This is where many applicants mention experience that didn’t seem to fit on the resume. It’s also where they might bring up related experience that make them valuable team members. Look for a mention of why the applicant thinks they would be a good fit at your company — that’s a good indication that the applicant has done their homework.
With online applications widely available, job-seekers can apply for a nearly unlimited number of jobs at the same time. But that doesn’t mean that they should send out the same documents to everyone. As you review the resume itself, look for evidence that they have tailored it for the job you have posted. The experience they highlight should be relevant to your company.
Don’t limit your search to candidates with a narrow range of skills. It’s understandable that you want to find the most qualified person for the job. Certain skills are not negotiable. But consider everything the candidate can bring to the table. For example, they might have project management skills that would make them valuable on an upcoming campaign.
Don’t forget the so-called “soft skills” like creative thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication. Often overlooked, these skills are critical when building a strong team. I recently spoke with a business owner who had recently hired two or three entry-level staffers who had less experience than he initially was looking for. He said he was confident that could bring them up to speed on the technical aspects of the job. What he couldn’t do was teach them intellectual curiosity, emotional intelligence, and how to work with others in the department.
It used to be that gaps in a resume raised red flags for hiring managers, but almost half of all employers say that is no longer the case. They realize that many people have left their jobs because of changes in the job market. A gap of more than a few months is something that will probably come up in an interview, but is no longer a deal breaker.
So what should catch your attention? People move from job to job more often than they did in the past, but frequent job hopping can signal someone who isn’t likely to stay around for long. On the other hand, staying at one job too long might show a lack of ambition. The same goes for a series of jobs that don’t show any advancement. All of these are certainly worth asking about.
The point I’m making is that you should keep an open mind when you’re reading through a resume. If someone doesn’t have quite the qualifications you’re looking for, consider their other skills. You might find that someone whose resume doesn’t quite measure up has a lot to offer.
When a prospective employee is about to sit down for an interview with your company, what does it look like on your end? Has your interview panel been carefully chosen in advance? Has it been briefed on the candidate and had plenty of time to look over their resume and other materials? Did they huddle beforehand to hammer out the questions they want to ask?
In a perfect world, the interview process would always be well-planned and executed. In reality, interview panels are often assembled at the last minute and include whoever happens to be around that day. They are missing key team members while including others who probably shouldn’t be present at all. Nobody has been prepped in advance, and it’s clear that some are reading the resume for the first time.
It’s not a good look for your organization, especially when so many companies are competing for the same top talent. Why should that candidate consider joining your team if it can’t even get the interview process right?
Badly organized interview panels are a waste of time for everyone involved. They’re a poor use of your company’s valuable team members, both those who are present and those who may have to conduct follow-up interviews later on. And they aren’t even good at identifying the best candidate for the job.
At Averity, we advise companies of all sizes who are facing challenges in the hiring process. One problem that comes up again and again is the difficulty of putting together the most efficient interview panel. In reality, it’s not hard at all. It just takes careful planning beforehand and picking the perfect group of people.
Picking the right people. After your recruiter decides that a prospective employee is a good match for an open position, they will pass that information along to the appropriate manager or department head. That’s when they should start putting together the interview panel.
The makeup of the panel is extremely important. That doesn’t mean they have to be on the executive team. Unless your company is an early-stage startup, it doesn’t make sense to have a CEO interviewing a mid-level engineer. Look for people who will have some kind of regular contact with the employee.
The size of the panel can vary, but it’s usually between three and five people. For most companies, we usually recommend that a panel include:
A manager. If possible, this should be the supervisor for the role the candidate is interviewing for. This person will be able to address the specific responsibilities of the position, and make a great first impression.
A couple of engineers. They should ideally be from the team with the open position. They should be able to talk about how members of the team work together and what a typical day might include.
A representative from senior management. This might be a director or a vice president. This person is on hand to address the company’s current goals and its vision for the future.
Remember that it can take a week or two to find a time everyone can get together for the interview. This is especially true if it’s going to be an in-person interview. It’s a good idea to get the interview on everyone’s calendar as soon as possible.
It’s not uncommon for someone to have to miss a meeting. Have alternates in mind, and let them know in advance.
Running the interview. The panel should meet together at least 10 minutes before the interview to brief the members about the candidate and discuss their qualifications. It’s a good idea to prepare a list of questions in advance and divide them among all the panelists in advance.
One person on the panel — most likely the manager — will serve as the facilitator for the interview. They run the meeting, make sure it starts and ends on time, and outline the process to the candidate. Remember that the facilitator doesn’t necessarily have to be the highest-ranking person in the room.
The rest of the panel are fact finders. They will have assigned questions to ask, but should all pay close attention, take notes, and ask follow-up questions when necessary. It’s very important that the facilitator and panel are on the same page about what type of person and which skills are essential.
The interviewer should also leave plenty of time for candidates to get their questions answered. These days, engineers are interviewing you as much as you’re interviewing them.
At the end of the interview, the facilitator should finish by letting the candidate know what the rest of the process will be and how long it will likely take. This ends the meeting on a professional note.
An interview process requires work, so avoid the temptation to “wing it.” With careful planning they can be a positive experience for everyone involved.
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