Interviewing “Wrapped”
A few weeks ago, we sat down with Madeline Laurano, Founder of Aptitude Research, during our December webinar. Madeline brought Spotify’s “Wrapped” list to talent acquisition and provided her take on the 5 trends that shaped 2022. You can find our recap blog and the full webinar here if you’re interested.
Interviewing was one of Madeline’s key trends and is worth diving into as there has been so much change this year. If you remember all the way back to the beginning of 2022, a lot of TA teams were primarily focused on hitting aggressive hiring goals. With all the change that’s happened this year, things look very different now, and we’re having a lot of conversations around operational efficiency and quality of hire.
Through these changes, I’ve had the privilege of working with and speaking to hundreds of TA leaders. So, I thought you’d like to hear the 3 biggest challenges I’ve heard time and time again and provide insight as to what they’ve done to move the needle.
1.) Challenge = Need to Move Fast
Needing to hire as quickly as possible has been a common challenge throughout the year. The top 10% of candidates are only on the market for an average of 11 days. When you compare that to the length of an average recruiting process, it’s no wonder companies struggle to hire the best.
One tech company came to Pillar with this challenge earlier in the year. They were pushing too many candidates to second and third round interviews, which was taking up a lot of Hiring Managers’ time. Now they’re recording their live interviews and sharing video highlights with the hiring team early on in their process, which has led to:
- 150 hours/month recruiter time saved
- Reduction in later stage interviews by 48%
- Cutting 12 unnecessary interviews per requisition
We’re also seeing that the hiring team is using live interview snippets to review favored candidates to make a more informed hiring decision.
2.) Challenge = Inconsistent Interviews/High Turnover
When it comes to quality of hire, the one big factor is consistency of interviews. Many of the TA leaders I spoke with this year discussed how each candidate interviewing for the same role didn’t receive the same set of questions. This ultimately leads to bias, comparing candidates skills unfairly, and an unpredictable candidate experience.
One of our consulting firm customers had this challenge and solved it by using in-interview guides. They now have structured interviews where each candidate is asked the same set of questions. This has changed the metrics in their business…they’ve seen:
- 18% lower turnover rate within the first year (better questions leads to better hires)
- $128K saved per bad hire
It sounds basic, but a clear structure where you’re able to compare the candidate’s answers to the skills required makes a huge impact. Each candidate is given a fair and equitable shot and the company is able to hire the best person for the role based on data, not gut feeling.
3.) Challenge = DEI Goals Unmet
A common challenge for most companies today is the level of diversity within teams. This causes all sorts of issues within a business, especially with an undiverse mindset.
We’ve been working with a leading professional services firm to remove the biased tendencies in interviews that are common with an undiverse team. By recording interviews and having the ability to replay interview clips, their team now has the data and confidence to level the playing field and to support diverse candidates. This has resulted in an increase in their offers to diverse candidates by 26% and a 64% decrease in biased feedback.
As we all know, TA teams have had a lot to deal with over the past few years, and I’m proud of how the industry has stood up to the challenge. It’s been a pleasure to work with so many TA leaders this year to help them improve their operational efficiency and quality of hire and meet their DEI goals.
As we close out the year, I’d love to hear what your biggest recruiting challenge was in 2022. Drop me a message here.
Cheers to 2023,
Mark Simpson
CEO
